COTS Acquisition Evaluation Process: Preacher's Practice

This paper reflects a successful effort to apply commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)-based engineering principles to a software acquisition by the Financial and Business Services (FABS) and Information Technology (IT) departments at the Software Engineering Institute. The team responsible for the execution of the project was guided by the principles taught in the COTS-Based Systems for Program Managers and COTS Software Evaluation for Practitioners training programs conducted by the COTS-Based Systems Initiative at the Software Engineering Institute. Some of the major expectations set and realized included precise comprehension of requirements and preferences, ability to identify weak links in the proposed solutions, support for the "buy versus build" decision and the product recommendation, the promise of a shorter implementation phase, and brimming confidence based on a well-informed project approach.