Towards a unified catalogue of non-technical quality attributes to support COTS-based systems lifecycle activities

Several activities of the COTS-based systems lifecycle are supported not only by the analysis of their technical quality but also (and sometimes mostly) by considering how they fulfill some non-technical quality features considered relevant (licensing, reputation, costs and similar issues). Whilst many catalogues of technical quality features exist, it is not the case for non-technical ones, which are often managed in an ad-hoc form. In a recent work, we proposed a catalogue of non-technical quality features, designed to integrate smoothly into the ISO/IEC 9126-1 standard. In this paper, we detail the process used for the composition of the catalogue, which embraces the inclusion of several non-technical quality features already identified in the literature as well as others which have emerged form our own experience in industrial COTS components selection processes. We also outline some potential applications of the resulting catalogue, intended to support several activities of the COTS-based systems lifecycle. Finally, we describe a COTS selection process carried out in a telecommunications company.Peer Reviewe