THE CREATION OF SYSTEMS AND SOFTWARE STANDARDS BY AN EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS

Improving the efficiency of the development of software and systems is essential to all modern companies. For one UK organisation, this has led to a concerted effort in developing and applying standards, training, pilot projects, promotional activities, and setting up centres of expertise. The results for both software and systems have been almost totally positive. A relatively small investment has made systems and software developments more professional, and this approach is being extended across the whole organization. A continuous process improvement approach has been adopted, with the initial effort focused on achieving ISO 9001 certification for software. The second iteration has used experience gained to enhance the original standards. The goals for Phase 2 were to cover large systems, to improve metrics, and to cover feasibility work. The systems process was itself used to define a coherent architecture for the standards, along with the training and organisational implementation. The wider professional community has been involved in the standards process, including the DERA's customers and associates, industry, as well as members of the UK INCOSE Chapter. This paper records the experience in evolving the standards.