ABSTRACT

This chapter begins the discussion of a framework for evaluating Open Systems Dependability (OSD), with the emphasis on the evaluation of the whole lifecycle of a system. This is in addition to the traditional one on the system itself using dependability metrics (cf., ISO/IEC 9126-1:2001 and ISO/IEC 25000:2005). The evaluation determines not only how much but also how well dependability is achieved by examining the description of what the lifecycle of the system accomplishes as well as how and why. The description to be examined is an assurance case; in particular, it is a D-Case when the lifecycle is the DEOS process.