In search for a widely applicable and accepted software quality model for software quality engineering

Software Quality Engineering is an emerging discipline that is concerned with improving the approach to software quality. It is important that this discipline be firmly rooted in a quality model satisfying its needs. In order to define the needs of this discipline, the meaning of quality is broadly defined by reviewing the literature on the subject. Software Quality Engineering needs a quality model that is usable throughout the software lifecycle and that it embraces all the perspectives of quality. The goal of this paper is to propose the characteristics of a quality model suitable for such a purpose, through the comparative evaluation of existing quality models and their respective support for Software Quality Engineering. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]