process

A set of interrelated activities, which transform inputs into outputs, to achieve a given purpose. (See also “process area,” “subprocess,” and “process element.”)

There is a special use of the phrase “the process” in the statements and descriptions of the generic goals and generic practices. “The process,” as used in Part Two, is the process or processes that implement the process area.

The terms “process,” “subprocess” and “process element” form a hierarchy with “process” as the highest, most general term, “subprocesses” below it, and “process element” as the most specific. A particular process can be called a subprocess if it is part of another larger process. It can also be called a process element if it is not decomposed into subprocesses.

This definition of process is consistent with the definition of process in ISO 9000, ISO 12207, ISO 15504, and EIA 731.