Goal oriented software sustainability evaluation model for sustainable software development

Software sustainability refers to the development of software that emphasizes on the integration of three dimensions; environment, economic and social in ensuring the continuity of system performance. The evaluation of software sustainability is deemed necessary because there is a lack of support from the software practitioners that seem to have an insufficient understanding of the issue even though they are aware of its importance. Unfortunately, the existing software sustainability models do not integrate these dimensions. In addition, the existing holistic evaluation mechanisms are not clearly defined. Hence, this study aims to construct an integrated-Software Sustainability Evaluation Model (i-SSEM). The objectives include: (1) to identify the software sustainability criteria that emphasizes on the environment, economic and social dimensions, (2) to organize the identified criteria using the Quality Function Deployment tool, (3) to develop an assessment mechanism for the holistic evaluation model based on the Evaluation Theory and Goal Question Metric (GQM) method, and 4) to evaluate the proposed model through expert review and case study approaches. Systematic Literature Review and exploratory study were applied to identify and organize software sustainability criteria. Six components of Evaluation Theory were adopted and the adaptation of the GQM method was used to construct the i-SSEM model. Analytic Hierarchy Process and Weighted Sum Method were applied in assessment process to obtain the scores that will be used in identifying a Sustainability Achievement Index (SAI). The model was verified using an expert review approach involving seven (7) experts and it was then validated using a case study. Results of the expert review provides the verified software sustainability criteria. From the validation, holistic assessment mechanism has been accurately determined by the practitioners, which consist of evaluation criteria, dimensions, and completed assessment. The i-SSEM contributes as a reference standard of software sustainability evaluation model particularly in sustainability software development. From the practical perspective, the outcome of this model can be used by software practitioners to gain the achievement level of the software sustainability through SAI for continuous improvement in the observed organization