Architecture design concepts · 3.4.7
Stakeholder
A role, position, person, organisation or class of these holding a right, a share, a claim or some other interest in an entity. Stakeholders can be direct, engaged in conceiving and elaborating the architecture, or indirect, affected through intervening factors.
What this term settles
The definition widens the usual list beyond the people in the room. A regulator, a customer, a supplier and a future operator are all stakeholders if they have a claim or interest. It also separates direct from indirect stakeholders, which matters because indirect stakeholders are the ones most often missing from a concern register.
What to do in your practice
Build a stakeholder register with the role, the interest, the direct or indirect status, the representative and the engagement route. For each indirect stakeholder, name the intervening factor that connects them. Review the register when the entity boundary changes.
Who it binds
The role that owns the practice area the term governs. A definition binds nobody on its own; it binds the reader who adopts the term in a method, a description or a contract.
Evidence an auditor or regulator asks for
- A stakeholder register with direct and indirect status.An auditor asks whose interests were considered and how they were represented.
- A named representative for each stakeholder class.Shows the interest has a voice, not just a row.
- The engagement record per major decision.Proves the stakeholders were engaged rather than listed.
- The change log for the register.Shows the register follows the entity.
Common gaps this page catches
- The stakeholder list is the project steering committee.
- Regulators and future operators are omitted because they are not present.
- No representative is named, so the register cannot be used.
What to prepare before publication
Add indirect stakeholders to the current register, with the intervening factor for each. Name a representative and one engagement action. Review at the next design authority.
Common questions
- What does Stakeholder mean in ISO 42024?
- A role, position, person, organisation or class of these holding a right, a share, a claim or some other interest in an entity. Stakeholders can be direct, engaged in conceiving and elaborating the architecture, or indirect, affected through intervening factors.
- What evidence should we keep for 3.4.7?
- A stakeholder register with direct and indirect status. A named representative for each stakeholder class. The engagement record per major decision.
Related units
Source. ISO/IEC/IEEE DIS 42024, Clause 3.4.7, Terms and definitions. Open the official record. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/en/#iso:std:iso-iec-ieee:42024:dis:ed-1:v1:en
ISO catalogue record 87510, the status, stage and page count.
Claim level: definition. The definition is in the public preview. This page states it in our own words and does not reproduce the text.
Last updated: 2026-10-21 · Markdown version · Check your practice