ISO/IEC 25010:2023 Restructures Quality Model — Flexibility Added, Dependability Consolidated

The updated SQuaRE quality model adds Flexibility as a top-level characteristic and consolidates Safety and Security under a Dependability tree. Traceability from quality characteristics to operational scenarios is now explicitly required.

What Is SQuaRE?

ISO/IEC 25010 is the product quality model within the SQuaRE series. It defines a hierarchical structure of quality characteristics used to specify and evaluate software and system product quality.

Key Changes in 2023 Edition

New Characteristic: Flexibility Flexibility has been elevated to a top-level characteristic, covering adaptability, scalability, and configurability. This was previously scattered across Maintainability and Portability.

Dependability Consolidation Safety and Security have been restructured as sub-characteristics under a new Dependability tree, aligning with IEC 61508 and ISO 26262 terminology.

Traceability Requirement Quality characteristics must now be traceable to operational scenarios defined in the system context of use — a significant addition for systems engineers performing quality requirements derivation.

Transition

Organizations have until December 2026 to transition from the 2011 edition.