ASPICE · VDA Scope

The Blueprint: A Free Template QMS for ASPICE

ASPICE refuses to give you a blueprint. So we wrote one. Every VDA-scope process area — outcomes, work products, and the concrete tool artifacts they map to — grounded in one configuration-management data model.

In short

The Blueprint is our free, open template QMS for ASPICE: one page per VDA-scope process area (SYS.1–5, SWE.1–6, SUP.1/8/9/10, MAN.3, ACQ.4), each mapping the standard's process outcomes and work products to concrete artifacts and issue types in the tools you already run — Jira, Polarion, Codebeamer, DOORS Next, Enterprise Architect, Confluence — all grounded in one configuration-management data model. Take it and implement it yourself, or have us implement it with our agentic solutions on a partner headless ALM.

ASPICE's original sin: there is no official blueprint anywhere — it grades you against a checklist and refuses to tell you how to build the thing. The Blueprint is our answer. Each page below takes one process area, states its purpose and process outcomes from the standard, lists its work products, and — the part nobody else publishes — maps every work product to the concrete issue type, work-item type or model element it becomes in your actual tools. All of it grounded in the configuration-management data model, the enabling layer that caps every process's maturity. Free to use. We also implement it with agents.

System engineering (SYS)

SYS.1

Requirements Elicitation

Gather, agree and track evolving stakeholder requirements — the top of the V.

SYS.2

System Requirements Analysis

Stakeholder requirements → analysed, verifiable system requirements.

SYS.3

System Architectural Design

System architecture, requirement allocation, interfaces — traced to SYS.2.

SYS.4

System Integration and Integration Test

Integrate system items; test interfaces & interactions vs the system architecture.

SYS.5

System Qualification Test

Confirm the integrated system meets the system requirements (SYS.2).

Software engineering (SWE)

SWE.1

Software Requirements Analysis

System requirements → software requirements, with verification criteria and traceability.

SWE.2

Software Architectural Design

Software architecture, requirement allocation, interfaces — traced to SWE.1.

SWE.3

Software Detailed Design and Unit Construction

Detailed design + the software units (code), traced to architecture.

SWE.4

Software Unit Verification

Verify units against the detailed design — static analysis + unit test, traced.

SWE.5

Software Integration and Integration Test

Integrate units into the software; test interfaces & interactions vs architecture.

SWE.6

Software Qualification Test

Confirm the integrated software meets the software requirements (SWE.1).

Supporting processes (SUP)

SUP.8

Configuration Management

The enabling layer — the CM data model every other process is capped by.

SUP.1

Quality Assurance

Independent assurance that work products and processes comply — non-conformances tracked.

SUP.9

Problem Resolution Management

Identify, analyse, track and close problems — with cause, impact and trends.

SUP.10

Change Request Management

Record, impact-assess, approve and track changes — traced to affected work products.

Management (MAN)

MAN.3

Project Management

Plan, estimate, schedule, monitor and steer the project to its goals.

Acquisition (ACQ)

ACQ.4

Supplier Monitoring

Track and steer supplier performance against the agreements.

Supply / release (SPL)

SPL.2

Product Release

Control the release: content, build from CIs, release notes, approval, delivery.

Frequently asked questions

What is the VDA scope in ASPICE?

The VDA scope is the set of process areas German OEMs typically assess in a plug-in/VDA assessment: SYS.1–SYS.5 (system engineering), SWE.1–SWE.6 (software engineering), and the supporting/management processes SUP.1, SUP.8, SUP.9, SUP.10, MAN.3, and ACQ.4.

Is The Blueprint really free?

Yes. The Blueprint is a free, open template QMS: every VDA-scope process area mapped to its work products and the concrete tool artifacts they become, grounded in the configuration-management data model. You can implement it yourself; we also offer to implement it with our agentic solutions on a partner headless ALM.

Which tools does The Blueprint map to?

The typical ASPICE toolchain: Jira (issues/tests via R4J, Xray/Zephyr), Polarion, Codebeamer, IBM DOORS Next, Enterprise Architect (architecture/design models), and Confluence (plans, reviews, records). Types are configurable, so the mappings are the common ASPICE setup, not the only one.

Where should I start?

Start with the configuration-management data model (SUP.8) — it is the enabling layer that caps the maturity of every other process. Then work the V: system requirements (SYS.1/2), architecture (SYS.3/SWE.2), software requirements (SWE.1), detailed design and code (SWE.3), and verification up the right arm (SWE.4–6, SYS.5).

Part of the ASPICE explainer series

Grounded in the standard, honest about the theater: What is ASPICE · Automating ASPICE with AI agents · Agile ASPICE · Best ASPICE tools

The whole V-model, generated from your code.

Vera builds the work products and traceability for every VDA-scope process area, inside your tools, with a confidence score and audit trail on every artifact.or book a compliance teardown →

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