This International Standard was developed to assist users of systems and software life cycle processes to manage information items (documents). It is based on the life cycle processes specified in ISO/IEC 12207:2008, Systems and software engineering - Software life cycle processes; ISO/IEC 15288:2008, Systems and software engineering - System life cycle processes; and the service management processes specified in ISO/IEC 20000-1:2005, Information technology -- Service management -- Part 1: Specification; and ISO/IEC 20000-2:2005, Information technology -- Service management -- Part 2: Code of practice. The IEEE Computer Society and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC7 participated in the joint development of this International Standard. IEEE contributed IEEE 12207.1-1997 Industry Implementation of International Standard ISO/IEC 12207: 1995 (ISO/IEC 12207) Standard for Information Technology-Software life cycle processes- Life cycle data as a source for this standard. Information items are essential to preserving what transpired when using system life cycle processes, and may be identified as deliverable documents. The information items identified in ISO/IEC 15289 aid in planning, producing, and evaluating the results of the life-cycle processes. This International Standard identifies the purpose and content of systems and software life cycle information items (documentation) as required for the various life cycle processes. The information item contents are defined according to generic document types and the specific purpose of the document. This International Standard may be applied to any of the activities and tasks of a project, system or software product, or service life cycle. It is not limited by the size, complexity or criticality of the project. It may be applied to all forms of information items, information item content, and document delivery media. Information items may be combined or subdivided as needed for project or organizational purposes.