SPICE (Software Process Improvement Capability dEtermination)

ISO/IEC 15504 also known as SPICE (Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination) is a framework for the assessment of software processes developed by the Joint Technical Subcommittee between ISO International Organization for Standardization and IEC International Electrotechnical Commission

This lists out a set of activities that might (and should) occur in a software project, it does not set out the order in which such activities should be carried out. It is a set of categories in which the assessors can place the evidence that they collect during their assessment, so that the assessors can give an overall determination of the organisation's capabilities for delivering software.

The Process dimension defines the process divided into five process categories of:

• Customer-Supplier
• Engineering
• Supporting
• Management
• Organization

There are 6 Capability levels as defined in the following scales:

• Level 0 - Incomplete Process
• Level 1: Performed Process
• Level 2: Managed Process
• Level 3: Established Process
• Level 4: Predictable Process
• Level 5: Optimized Process

Uses of ISO/IEC 15504 are broadly in 2 contexts:
a) Process Improvement
b) Capability Determination (i.e., evaluation of supplier's process capability)