External Standard: These are the standards made by an entity external to an organization. These standards are standards that a product should comply with, are externally visible and are usually stipulated by external parties.

The three types of external standards are :

• Customer standard: refer to something defined by the customer as per his /her business requirement for the given product.

• National Standard: refer to something defined by the regulatory entities of the country where the supplier / customer reside.

• International Standard: are defined at international level and these are applicable to all customers across the globe.

  Some IEEE standards devoted for software :

  By Different Organizations are:

  ISO - International Organization for Standardization

  SPICE - Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination

  NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology

  DoD - Department of Defense