This document defines a product quality model, which is applicable to ICT (information and communication technology) products and software products. The product quality model is composed of nine characteristics (which are further subdivided into subcharacteristics) that relate to quality properties of the products. The characteristics and subcharacteristics provide a reference model for the quality of the products to be specified, measured and evaluated.

NOTE 1 In this document, a product refers to an ICT product that is part of an information system. ICT product components include subsystems, software, firmware, hardware, data, communication infrastructure, and other elements that are part of the ICT product.

This model can be used for requirements specification and evaluation of the target products’ quality throughout their lifecycle by several stakeholders, including developers, acquirers, quality assurance and control staff and independent evaluators. Activities in the product lifecycle that can benefit from the use of this model include:

— eliciting and defining product and information system requirements;

— validating the comprehensiveness of requirements definition;

— identifying product and information system design objectives, and design necessary process for achieving quality;

— identifying product and information system testing objectives;

— identifying quality control criteria as the part of quality assurance;

— identifying acceptance criteria for a product and/or an information system;

— establishing measures of product quality characteristics in support of these activities.

NOTE 2 Usage of the quality model for measurement is explained in Annex C.