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PD ISO IEC TS 24748 — Systems and Software Engineering Life Cycle Management (ISO/IEC TS 24748)
Systems and Software Engineering — Life Cycle Management (ISO/IEC TS 24748 Series, 2016 Edition)
📘 PD ISO/IEC TS 24748 is a BSI Published Document implementing ISO/IEC TS 24748 in the UK, developed under Technical Committee IST/15 (Software and systems engineering). The series addresses life cycle management for systems and software engineering, providing a coherent framework for organizations to plan, perform, review, and improve the development and operation of complex systems and software. This batch covers two parts: Part 1 (Guidelines for life cycle management) and Part 6 (System integration engineering). Together they form the backbone of life cycle management from concept definition through system integration, and are key references for coordinating processes, products, organizations, and stakeholders in systems and software engineering practice.
💡 Life cycle management is at the heart of systems engineering: ISO/IEC TS 24748 organises a system and software life cycle into processes and emphasises a hierarchical view of “process, stage, activity, and task”, making interdisciplinary and cross-organisational collaboration orderly and traceable.
1. Series Overview 📌
The ISO/IEC TS 24748 series is a set of technical specifications on life cycle management developed within ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 (Software and systems engineering). It inherits and explains the process models of ISO/IEC 15288 (Systems engineering — Life cycle processes) and ISO/IEC 12207 (Software life cycle processes), while offering operational guidance on the management issues organisations face when implementing those processes. As a Technical Specification (TS), the series provides a stable, citable intermediate document for topics where a full international standard has not yet been agreed, allowing industry to adopt the guidance early.
The UK edition is published as a Published Document (PD), meaning BSI directly adopts the ISO/IEC technical specification as a UK publication for reference in contracts, projects, and organisational process frameworks. The document states explicitly that “this publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract” and that “compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations”, reflecting its status as a voluntary technical document rather than a mandatory regulation.
⚠️ Note that ISO/IEC TS 24748 exists as a “technical specification” rather than a full “international standard”; its content is more advisory and explanatory than prescriptive. When citing it, judge the depth of applicability against the project type and contract terms.
2. Series Structure and File List 📋
The PD ISO/IEC TS 24748 series files covered in this batch consist of two parts, both built on a unified life cycle management framework but each with a distinct focus. The table below lists the series files involved.
| Standard Number | Part Subject | Year | Core Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| PD ISO/IEC TS 24748-1:2016 | Guidelines for Life Cycle Management | 2016 | Life cycle concepts, system structure, process and stage definitions, management framework |
| PD ISO/IEC TS 24748-6:2016 | System Integration Engineering | 2016 | System integration process, integration strategies, interface management, integration verification and validation |
Structurally, Part 1 acts as the “master” document, defining the basic concepts on which life cycle management relies (system, system structure, process, stage, stakeholders, etc.) and the organisational relationships between processes and stages. Part 6 focuses on “system integration”, a critical engineering activity within the life cycle, providing methods from integration requirements analysis and planning through implementation to verification. The two parts complement each other to form a complete body of life cycle management knowledge.
3. Guidelines for Life Cycle Management (Part 1) 🔧
Part 1 first clarifies basic concepts that are often confused in systems and software engineering. It defines the “system structure”, explaining that a system can be decomposed into system elements, which in turn may be composed of subsystems, components, and parts. This decomposition–synthesis view is fundamental to understanding subsequent life cycle processes: any complex system can be organised into a hierarchy from a chosen perspective, making it manageable, analysable, and controllable.
Building on this, Part 1 explains the relationship between life cycle processes and life cycle stages. Processes describe “what to do” — requirements, architectural design, implementation, verification, operation and maintenance, and so on. Stages describe “when and in what order” — concept, development, production, utilisation, and retirement. The standard emphasises that processes and stages are not one-to-one: a process may be executed in multiple stages, and a stage may reuse multiple processes. Organisations should tailor their own process–stage matrix according to project characteristics.
At the management level, Part 1 sets out several guiding principles for life cycle management, including: driving by stakeholder needs, establishing clear baselines early in the life cycle, measuring and continuously improving processes, and maintaining traceability of documentation and configuration throughout. These principles give organisations a practical starting point for establishing a project-level process framework.
✅ Key value: Part 1 provides the basis for “tailoring” life cycle processes. It does not force every project to use the same process set, but guides organisations to select and customise a suitable process set from the reference framework based on system complexity, risk, and contract requirements.
4. System Integration Engineering (Part 6) ⚙️
System integration is the engineering activity of assembling developed or procured system elements and subsystems into a coherent, operational whole system. Part 6 provides systematic methods and requirements for this activity, focusing on:
- Integration strategy: determine the order and combination of integration — commonly “bottom-up” (elements progressively combined into subsystems and the system), “top-down”, and incremental integration — chosen according to system structure and risk.
- Interface management: identify and control interfaces between elements, between subsystems, and between the system and its external environment (physical, electrical, information, human-machine, etc.), ensuring interface definitions are clear and version-controlled.
- Integration environment and tools: specify the test rigs, test equipment, software tools, and data environment needed so integration activities are repeatable and traceable.
- Integration verification and validation: perform appropriate verification after each integration step, confirming that the integrated parts meet the required interface and performance requirements, and accumulating evidence for subsequent system-level verification and validation.
System integration engineering emphasises “early, continuous, verifiable” practice. The standard recommends that integration activities run throughout development rather than being performed once after all elements are complete; continuous integration exposes interface defects early, reduces rework cost, and improves delivery quality.
🚨 System integration is one of the riskiest stages in complex system development. Interface mismatches, timing conflicts, and environmental dependency differences often surface only during integration, so they must be managed through a controlled integration plan, a clear interface baseline, and staged integration verification.
5. Engineering Practice Applications 🛠️
PD ISO/IEC TS 24748 is widely applicable, particularly in the development and operation of large complex systems and software-intensive products:
- Aerospace and defence: managing the life cycle of spacecraft, satellites, weapons systems, and other complex equipment, ensuring controlled subsystem development, integration, and in-orbit operation.
- Automotive and industrial automation: developing vehicle electrical/electronic architectures and industrial control systems, guiding co-design of hardware and software, subsystem integration, and vehicle-level validation.
- Information and communication systems: building and operating large software platforms, telecom networks, and enterprise information systems, guiding version integration, interface management, and continuous delivery.
- Organisational process improvement: establishing or assessing organisational systems engineering and software engineering process frameworks, serving as a process reference for models such as CMMI.
In practice, engineering teams typically apply the series in a closed loop: “define a life cycle model → determine processes and stages → develop an integration and verification plan → execute and measure → review and improve”. The normative references and terminology also facilitate cross-organisation and cross-discipline communication, reducing ambiguity in requirements and interfaces caused by inconsistent terminology.
6. Frequently Asked Questions ❓
❓ Q: What is the relationship between PD ISO/IEC TS 24748 and ISO/IEC 15288 / ISO/IEC 12207?
A: ISO/IEC 15288 (systems life cycle processes) and ISO/IEC 12207 (software life cycle processes) are process standards, while ISO/IEC TS 24748 provides management-level interpretation and guidance for those processes — the process–stage relationships, conceptual framework, and tailoring advice. They are often used together.
A: ISO/IEC 15288 (systems life cycle processes) and ISO/IEC 12207 (software life cycle processes) are process standards, while ISO/IEC TS 24748 provides management-level interpretation and guidance for those processes — the process–stage relationships, conceptual framework, and tailoring advice. They are often used together.
❓ Q: Why is it published as a Technical Specification (TS) rather than an International Standard?
A: A TS is an intermediate publication used by ISO/IEC when international consensus on a topic is not yet reached; it balances early industry adoption with the flexibility to be upgraded to a full standard later, so its clauses are more advisory.
A: A TS is an intermediate publication used by ISO/IEC when international consensus on a topic is not yet reached; it balances early industry adoption with the flexibility to be upgraded to a full standard later, so its clauses are more advisory.
❓ Q: How does Part 6 “system integration engineering” differ from ordinary “software integration”?
A: Part 6 addresses integration at the system level, covering hardware, software, human-machine interfaces, data, and environment as a whole — not merely merging software modules. It emphasises interface management, the synergy of physical and functional integration, and system-level verification.
A: Part 6 addresses integration at the system level, covering hardware, software, human-machine interfaces, data, and environment as a whole — not merely merging software modules. It emphasises interface management, the synergy of physical and functional integration, and system-level verification.
🔍 Q: How can an organisation tailor the series to a specific project?
A: The standard encourages tailoring based on project scale, complexity, risk, and contract requirements. A common approach is to identify the applicable life cycle stages, select the necessary processes and activities for each stage, and then define the personnel, tools, deliverables, and review points for each activity.
A: The standard encourages tailoring based on project scale, complexity, risk, and contract requirements. A common approach is to identify the applicable life cycle stages, select the necessary processes and activities for each stage, and then define the personnel, tools, deliverables, and review points for each activity.
📋 Q: Is this series mandatory?
A: It is not mandatory. BSI Published Documents are voluntary technical documents; they become binding only when explicitly referenced by legislation or contract. The document itself states that compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.
A: It is not mandatory. BSI Published Documents are voluntary technical documents; they become binding only when explicitly referenced by legislation or contract. The document itself states that compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.