Concept
CONCEPTA practitioner, working group, or IFO4 staff member has identified a gap in the standards landscape and submitted a formal standard proposal. The Standards Council is evaluating the proposal for viability, domain fit, and resource availability.
Draft
DRAFTThe working group is actively developing the standard text. Draft standards undergo multiple internal review cycles and may be substantially revised during this stage. Internal drafts are not publicly available. Organizations wishing to preview draft standards may apply for working group observer status.
Technical Review
TECH REVIEWThe Technical Committee is conducting a comprehensive review of the working group draft. The Committee checks for technical accuracy, internal consistency, alignment with existing standards, and testability of requirements. This stage may involve one or more revision cycles between the working group and Technical Committee.
Public Comment
UNDER REVIEWThe Technical Committee-approved draft is publicly available for 60 days of open comment. Any person or organization may submit written comments. The IFO4 announces the comment period at least 30 days in advance. Organizations may implement the draft standard experimentally during this period, but implementations carry risk of requirement changes before final publication.
Final Review
FINAL REVIEWThe Technical Committee reviews the post-comment draft and comment disposition report. If significant substantive changes were made in response to comments, a second comment period may be required. The Certification Alignment Board reviews certification implications. The Technical Committee issues a formal recommendation to the Standards Council upon completion.
Published
PUBLISHEDThe Standards Council has ratified the standard by majority vote. The standard is assigned a version number, a DOI, and a publication date. Published standards are the only IFO4 standards that may be cited for compliance purposes. Published standards enter the maintenance lifecycle immediately, with a scheduled annual review.
Deprecated
DEPRECATEDA deprecated standard has been formally retired from active use. Deprecation occurs when a standard is superseded by a substantially revised version, when the domain it addressed is no longer relevant, or when the standard is merged into another standard. Deprecated standards remain publicly accessible for historical reference but should not be used for compliance.
Version Numbering Scheme
IFO4 uses semantic versioning (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH) adapted for standards governance. The version number carries important information about the nature and significance of changes.
Substantial changes to scope, requirements structure, or fundamental methodology. Breaking changes to compliance requirements. Requires full public comment period.
Addition of new requirements, new sections, or significant clarifications that expand the standard's scope without breaking existing compliance. Requires Technical Committee review and 30-day comment period.
Editorial corrections, typographical fixes, clarifying language that does not change the meaning of requirements. Technical Committee approval only; no comment period required.
Versions below 1.0.0 indicate draft standards that have not yet been published. Draft version numbers are assigned by the working group and do not follow the same increment rules as published versions.
Compliance note: When citing an IFO4 standard for compliance purposes, the full version number must be specified (e.g., "IFO4-S-004 v3.0.0"). Compliance against a major version applies to all subsequent patch and minor versions of that major version unless a new major version is published with breaking changes.
Deprecation Policy
Deprecation is a formal decision to retire a standard from active use. IFO4 deprecates standards sparingly and only when there is a clear public interest reason to do so.
Amendment Process
Published standards are living documents that evolve as practitioner knowledge and cloud technology advance. The amendment process ensures changes are rigorous, transparent, and proportionate to their significance.
Any IFO4 member may propose an amendment to a published standard. The proposal must identify the specific requirement(s) to be changed, the rationale for the change, and the proposed new requirement text.
The owning working group reviews the amendment proposal at their next regular meeting. Minor amendments (Patch or Minor version) may be adopted by working group consensus. Major amendments require a full drafting cycle.
All amendments require Technical Committee approval before proceeding to publication or comment period. For Patch versions, approval is by email ballot. For Minor and Major versions, formal review is required.
Minor version amendments require a 30-day comment period. Major version amendments require a full 60-day public comment period. Patch amendments do not require a comment period.
Major version amendments require Standards Council ratification. Minor and Patch versions may be approved by the Technical Committee alone, with notification to the Standards Council.
The amended standard is published with an incremented version number, a new publication date, and a changelog entry documenting the changes. Previous versions remain in the version history archive.
See it in action
Browse the standards that have completed the full lifecycle, or learn how governance bodies oversee the process.