IEEE/ISO/IEC 26531-2015

This standard states requirements for efficient development and management of content produced throughout the life-cycle of a system and software product; for the provision of user documentation for systems and software; for the management of IT services. This standard is independent of the tools, protocols, and systems used for content management. It does not address configuration management of software assets. The content to be managed with this standard includes user information such as topic collections, manuals, guides, embedded user assistance, style guides, videos and other media, and other content that supports the effective use of a system or software product; product life cycle information such as design documents, use cases, personas, project management plans, feature requests, models, scripts, testing plans, test scripts, defect reports; service management items such as service-level agreements, records, policies, procedures, and other documents. The purpose of this standard is to define a process for content management and the requirements of a component content management system through which content is gathereed, managed, and published, including the requirements of a system that is supported by an electronic database. Such a database should support documents or topics and content units that may be assembled to produce complete documents for print, electronic output, or content collections published through electronic media. This database is defined as a Component Content Management System (CCMS), which differs from a document management system. The objective of component content management is to create content objects once and use them through linking mechanisms in multiple output formats, including but not limited to documents. The intended users of this International Standard are managers and developers of information (technical documentation) and acquirers and suppliers of content management systems. Any organization that develops content, regardless of size, can benefit from maintaining an effective content management solution and following best practices for the development and management of technical content. Systems conforming to this standard can fulfilll business needs for content development and management, especially the need for a single source of authoritative information. Content objects that are unique and are maintained as independent database objects are efficient to review, approve, and update; may be combined to produce multiple deliverables; and are cost-effective to translate. This standard is not a management system standard. The content management process presented in clauses 6 through 11 of this International Standard is a specialization (lower-level process) of the Information Management process required in ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2008 and ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207:2008.



New IEEE Standard - Superseded. This International Standard provides requirements for the management of the content used in product life cycle, software, and service management system documentation. Content management allows an organization to control the storage and retrieval of content objects, track content revisions, maintain a content audit trail, and enable a collaborative environment. Component content management supports the reuse of content objects among deliverables and supports multiple deliverable formats. Content objects that are unique and are maintained as independent database objects are efficient to review, approve, and update; may be combined to produce multiple deliverables; and are cost-effective to translate. The standard defines the characteristics of an effective and efficient process through which content is gathereed, managed, and published, including the requirements of a system that is supported by an electronic database. Such a database should support documents or topics and content units that may be assembled to produce complete documents for print, electronic output, or content collections published through electronic media. This database is defined as a component content management system (CCMS), as distinct from a document management system. The objective of component content management is to create content objects once and use them through linking mechanisms in multiple output formats including but not limited to documents. Systems conforming to this standard can fulfilll business needs for content development and management, especially the need for a single source of authoritative information. The standard includes business case considerations for acquisition of a content management system. This International Standard is independent of the software tools and markup languages that may be used to manage documentation content, and applies to both printed documentation and on-screen documentation.