IEC 62443-4-1 Templates Compared
If you want to build a secure development lifecycle under IEC 62443-4-1, you do not have to start from a blank page. The market offers ready-made template packages, a free model process document, and our own package. The offers differ less in scope than in how much they leave you on your own. This article shows what each one covers and where it stops. The scope and content of the packages change over time; this article describes how the offers are structured, not what they contain on any given day.
Contents
- exida: a solid process base without vulnerability management
- A German example: free overview from Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Hannover, no templates
- TÜV SÜD: auditor reputation with a built-in limit on consulting
- The three offers compared
- Our template package
- Why IEC 62443-4-1 templates must be ready for the CRA
- How to recognize a useful template package
exida: a solid process base without vulnerability management
exida offers template packages for asset owners and for OEMs. For manufacturers, the OEM package is the relevant one.
It consists of editable Word documents and covers the core development processes: configuration management, requirements specification, security design, threat modeling, test planning, and the review of your own process. A coding standard and a user manual are also included.
Two areas are missing. The package provides neither processes nor templates for vulnerability handling, and supplier management is only touched on. Both are topics that auditors notice first, and they also matter first when you build evidence for the CRA. If you buy the package, you must close these gaps with your own work or with external support.
For companies that already develop securely and only want to structure their processes, this is a usable starting point. Beginners lack completed examples that show what a finished artifact looks like.
A German example: free overview from Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Hannover, no templates
In Germany, the publicly funded Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Hannover provides a model process to support IT-secure product development (in German). It traces the product development lifecycle of IEC 62443-4-1, is freely available online, and can be downloaded as a PDF.
For getting started, it is the cheapest option on the market. The model process names the relevant topics and shows their order in the lifecycle. A head of development who comes across IEC 62443-4-1 for the first time can understand what it is about within an hour.
It is not enough for implementation. The model process stays at the conceptual level, with no document templates and no completed examples. Translating it into company-specific processes and documents is left entirely to the reader.
TÜV SÜD: auditor reputation with a built-in limit on consulting
TÜV SÜD, a testing and certification organization, offers a template package for implementing IEC 62443-4-1, which you can extend with workshops.
The name helps. A package from a recognized testing and certification organization is easier to push through internally, and the processes it sets out are aligned with the requirements of the standard.
The catch lies in the same role. As an independent testing organization, TÜV SÜD may not provide extensive consulting on implementation, because that would put its independence in a later audit at risk. For the same reason, the accompanying workshops are limited in scope. You buy templates from an organization that may help you only to a limited extent when you fill them in.
As with exida, completed examples are missing. The structure is there, but you develop the content yourself.
The three offers compared
| Provider | What is included | What remains open | Suitable for |
|---|---|---|---|
| exida (OEM package) | Word templates for the development process, requirements, design, testing, and process review | Vulnerability handling, supplier management, completed examples | Manufacturers with existing security experience |
| Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Hannover (Germany, in German) | Model process across the development lifecycle, PDF, free of charge | Templates, examples, implementation details | Getting started and internal awareness |
| TÜV SÜD | Template package aligned with the standard, optional workshops | Completed examples, consulting on implementation | Manufacturers planning certification |
Our template package
Our templates for the secure development process under IEC 62443-4-1 are now part of the CRA template package, as the module “Development process and SDLC”. It contains process descriptions with roles, inputs, outputs, and evidence, plus templates for security requirements, secure design, verification and testing, and risk assessment and threat modeling. You can get the module on its own, without the full package.
Two limits apply. The package does not replace an existing quality management system, and you must buy the standards themselves. The templates assume a basic understanding of IEC 62443-4-1.
Why IEC 62443-4-1 templates must be ready for the CRA
Two dates matter for manufacturers. Since September 11, 2026, the reporting obligations for actively exploited vulnerabilities and severe incidents apply. From December 11, 2027, the Cyber Resilience Act applies in full, including evidence and conformity assessment.
The three offers described above are tailored to IEC 62443-4-1. None of their content descriptions lists a mapping of their artifacts to CRA requirements.
That does not make them worthless, but it pushes work back. A process manual that an auditor accepts under IEC 62443-4-1 does not yet answer the question a conformity assessment body will ask: which document provides evidence for which CRA requirement? Building this mapping afterward costs more than keeping it from the start. If you buy templates now, check whether they can make the step into CRA evidence. The page on CRA templates for manufacturers lists the documents you need for this.
How to recognize a useful template package
Four questions separate templates that save work from templates that create work:
- Are there completed examples? An empty form with headings costs almost as much time as a blank page. A worked example artifact shows the level of detail and the language expected.
- Are roles, inputs, outputs, and interfaces named? Most friction arises between development, quality management, product management, and purchasing, not within a single process step.
- Is there a mapping from requirement to evidence? Without one, you only find out during the assessment which document is missing.
- Are the documents editable and adaptable to your processes? You can read a PDF, but you cannot take it over into your management system.
A package that meets all four points does not replace your own implementation. It shortens the path from the requirement in the standard to reliable documentation, and that is exactly what templates are for.
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An overview of the modules, formats, and use cases of the CRA template package, with a price indication. We usually reply within 24 hours.
