This part of ISO/IEC 14598 introduces the other parts. It provides an overview of the other parts and explains the relationship between ISO/IEC 14598 and the quality model in ISO/IEC 9126. This part of ISO/IEC 14598 defines the technical terms used in the other parts, contains general requirements for specification and evaluation of software quality and clarifies the general concepts. Additionally, it provides a framework for evaluating the quality of all types of software product and states the requirements for methods of software product measurement and evaluation.

ISO/IEC 14598 is intended for use by developers, acquirers and independent evaluators, particularly those responsible for software product evaluation. The evaluation results produced from the application of ISO/IEC 14598 can be used by managers and developers/maintainers to measure compliance to requirements and to make improvements where necessary. The evaluation results can also be used by analysts to establish the relationships between the internal and external metrics. Process improvement personnel can use the evaluation results to determine how processes can be improved through study and examination of the project's product quality information.