Introductory Notes

The Verification process area involves the following: verification preparation, verification performance, and identification of corrective action.

Verification includes verification of the product and intermediate work products against all selected requirements, including customer, product, and product-component requirements.

Verification is inherently an incremental process because it occurs throughout the development of the product and work products, beginning with verification of the requirements, progressing through the verification of the evolving work products, and culminating in the verification of the completed product.

The specific practices of this process area build on each other in the following way:

• The Select Work Products for Verification specific practice enables the identification of the work products to be verified, the methods to be used to perform the verification, and the requirements to be satisfied by each selected work product.

• The Establish the Verification Environment specific practice enables the determination of the environment that will be used to carry out the verification.

• The Establish Verification Procedures and Criteria specific practice then enables the development of verification procedures and criteria that are aligned with the selected work products, requirements, methods, and characteristics of the verification environment.

• The Perform Verification specific practice conducts the verification according to the available methods, procedures, and criteria.

Verification of work products substantially increases the likelihood that the product will meet the customer, product, and product-component requirements.

The Verification and Validation process areas are similar, but they address different issues. Validation demonstrates that the product, as provided (or as it will be provided), will fulfill its intended use, whereas verification addresses whether the work product properly reflects the specified requirements. In other words, verification ensures that "you built it right"; whereas, validation ensures that "you built the right thing."

Peer reviews are an important part of verification and are a proven mechanism for effective defect removal. An important corollary is to develop a better understanding of the work products and the processes that produced them so that defects can be prevented and process improvement opportunities can be identified.

Peer reviews involve a methodical examination of work products by the producers' peers to identify defects and other changes that are needed.

Examples of peer review methods include the following:

• Inspections

• Structured walkthroughs