Technical & Non-Technical requirements of COTS selection

What is COTS ?  COTS - commercial off-the-shelf,

an adjective that describes software products that are ready-made and available for sale to the general public

Microsoft Office is a COTS product that is a packaged software solution for businesses

COTS products are designed to be implemented easily into existing systems without the need for customization

Usually built by a third party vendor. COTS can be purchased, leased or even licensed to the general public

Strengths of COTS Reduced cost

More reliable because its reliability is proven through the use by other organizations

More maintainable because the systems documentation is provided with the application

High quality because competition improves the product quality

High complexity because specialists within the industry have developed the software

ISO/IEC 9126

Fundamental objective of the standard is to address some of the well known human biases that can adversely affect the delivery and perception of a software development project

Biases include changing priorities after the start of a project or not having any clear definitions of "success."

By subsequently converting abstract priorities to measurable values ISO/IEC 9126 tries to develop a common understanding of the project's objectives and goals.

Technical requirements for COTS Functionality - A set of attributes that bear on the existence

of a set of functions and their specified properties. The functions are those that satisfy stated or implied needs

Suitability, Accuracy, Interoperability, Security

Usability - A set of attributes that bear on the effort needed for use, and on the individual assessment of such use, by a stated or implied set of users.

Understandability, Learnability, Operability, Attractiveness

► Reliability - A set of attributes that bear on the capability of software to maintain its level of performance under stated conditions for a stated period of time.

Maturity, Fault Tolerance, Recoverability

Technical requirements for COTS

Efficiency - A set of attributes that bear on the relationship between the level of performance of the software and the amount of resources used, under stated conditions.

Time Behaviour, Resource Utilization

Maintainability - A set of attributes that bear on the effort needed to make specified modifications.

Analyzability, Changeability, Stability, Testability

Portability - A set of attributes that bear on the ability of software to be transferred from one environment to another.

Adaptability, Installability, Co-Existence, Replaceability

Non-Technical requirement for COTS

3 aspects : Supplier, Business and Product

Challenges in cots selection

COTS selection process is prone to some potentially problems

Domain coverage

Time restriction

Costs rating

Vendor guaranties

Domain coverage

Components have to provide all or part of the required capabilities necessaries to meet core essential customer requirements, where non-functional requirements play a critical role during the assessment process

Extra new components may be needed to meet the shortfalls

Time RestrictionCompanies operate with very rigid development schedule, on which their competitiveness depends. Selection is a time consuming activity, a considerable amount of time is necessary to search and screen all potential COTS candidates

Costs Rating Available budget is a very important variable

The expenses when selecting a particular COTS will be influenced by factors such as: acquisition license, cost of support, adaptation expenses, and maintenance prices

Vendor GuarantiesAn important aspect to consider during selection activity is verify the technical support provided by the vendor

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