QSOS process is made up of several interdependent and iterative steps:

• Definition of frames of reference used in the following steps (licenses, communities, functional grids by software family, …).
• Evaluation of software on three major axis: functional coverage, risks for the user and risks for the service provider (expertise, training, support services). Each axis contains several criteria. For instance, the User’s risks axis includes: intrinsic durability, integration, technical adaptability, industrialization and strategy. These criteria are themselves made up of lower criteria.
• Qualification of a specific user’s context (company or individual) by weighting of the previous criteria
• Selection and comparison of software fullfilling the requirements.

This process generates software ID cards and software evaluation sheets. This step by step approach, the multiple criteria of analysis and the scoring model defined by QSOS allow objective and traceable evaluation of free and open source software. This proves relevant when studying migration opportunity or when selecting the best open source solution in a given context.