ISO/IEC 25040:2011

Overview

ISO/IEC 25040:2011 defines a standardized evaluation process for assessing software product quality as part of the SQuaRE (Systems and software Quality Requirements and Evaluation) family. The standard specifies requirements and recommendations for planning and performing software quality evaluations - applicable to pre-developed products, commercial off‑the‑shelf (COTS) software and custom systems, during or after development. It clarifies core concepts, maps the evaluation reference model to other SQuaRE documents, and replaces ISO/IEC 14598‑1.

Keywords: ISO/IEC 25040, SQuaRE, software product quality evaluation, evaluation process, COTS evaluation

Key technical topics and requirements

• Evaluation reference model: Describes the conceptual model for aligning quality characteristics, measures and evaluation activities within SQuaRE.
• Evaluation process (Clause 6): Core lifecycle activities include:
  • Establish the evaluation requirements (6.3)
  • Specify the evaluation (6.4)
  • Design the evaluation (6.5)
  • Execute the evaluation (6.6)
  • Conclude the evaluation (6.7)
• Documentation and conformance: Requirements for documenting inputs, outcomes and evidence; conformance requires satisfying Clause 6.
• Roles and scope: Intended roles include developers, acquirers and independent evaluators; explicitly excludes evaluation of functional, process or business requirements.
• Supportive guidance and annexes:
  • Annex A: Evaluation levels and guidance on techniques by level
  • Annex B: Example evaluation methods
  • Annex C: Cost-effectiveness examples for methods
  • Annex D: Relationships to lifecycle processes
  • Annex E: Evaluation report template
  • Annex F: Activity input/output/resource diagrams

Keywords: evaluation reference model, evaluation levels, evaluation methods, documentation, conformance

Practical applications and who uses it

• Developers use ISO/IEC 25040 to design and document product-quality evaluations during development and testing.
• Acquirers (procurement teams) apply the process to assess vendor software and COTS solutions against non‑functional quality requirements.
• Independent evaluators and certification bodies leverage the standard to produce consistent, repeatable evaluation reports.
• Typical applications include reliability, maintainability, performance and recoverability assessments aligned with SQuaRE evaluation modules.

Practical benefits:

• Consistent, auditable approach to non‑functional quality evaluation
• Clear linkages to SQuaRE quality models and measurement modules
• Templates and annex guidance reduce setup effort and improve repeatability

Related standards

• ISO/IEC 25041 - Evaluation guides for developers, acquirers and evaluators
• ISO/IEC 25042 - Evaluation modules (structure and content for evaluation modules)
• ISO/IEC 25045 - Example module for recoverability
• Part of the ISO/IEC 25000 SQuaRE series (replaces ISO/IEC 14598/9126 legacy series)

Keywords: ISO/IEC 25041, ISO/IEC 25042, SQuaRE series, ISO/IEC 25045

For teams establishing a formal software quality evaluation capability, ISO/IEC 25040 provides the process framework, terminology and supporting annexes needed to plan, execute and report evaluations consistently across projects and suppliers.