Abstract: A system, method and computer program product is disclosed for evaluating system architectures from a long term sustainability perspective, sustainability in the presence of rapidly evolving information and networking technology, rapidly evolving customer requirements and expectations, and rapidly evolving standards and protocols. The multi-attribute architecture evaluation method can include specific architectural characteristics. At the top level the present invention can include four architectural characteristics or attributes: modularity, commonality, standards-based, and reliability/maintainability/testability (RMT). The attributes can be further classified into sub-attributes and metrics to facilitate the comparative evaluation of candidate system architectures.