COTS Software:
Commercial Off The Shelf "Boxed" Software ranging from smaller tactical apps to
enterprise-wide strategic apps.
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A Matter of Approach
Program managers are faced with choosing between custom software development or the implementation of
COTS Software to meet complex system requirements. ResQSoft's adaptive reuse
technology is equally proficient at developing custom applications from scratch
or leveraging Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) Software to build these systems. The key to success is our
approach.
Minimizing Risk
The COTS Software approach is typically selected as a method of reducing risk.
The concept is deceptively simple: less
custom code is required, hence, there is less opportunity for defects and lower risk. The truth is that
the COTS Software approach can be just as complex as custom development, especially where mutliple components
of COTS Software are involved - and the cause is configuration and customization. In order to meet
the requirements of the users, the COTS Software must be customized (modified), which increases
risk dramatically.
A Novel Solution
ResQSoft's approach to customizing COTS software for complex systems starts with
the user interface, which is built using
Engineer. Engineer produces the functionality
required to interface and control the COTS software on the backend of the system. This
approach greatly limits the need to modify the COTS software internally, which eliminates
a level of risk. More importantly, by adhering to a single development architecture,
changing requirements are easily addressed over the life of the project. With Engineer,
building the user interface and code that commands the COTS software, changing
requirements are managed from one tool, rather than being spread across a development
team where modifications are done separately downstream. We can add screens, we can extend
the COTS package database and capture additional data elements to meet user requirements, we
can build additional reports, and we can generate additional functionality and system interfaces.
ResQSoft Succeeds
More than 50% of large software projects based on COTS software fail. With ResQSoft,
success is achieved by using an approach that greatly reduces risk. Engineer
manages the modification of COTS software - one or many - and easily accommodates
changing requirements as the project progresses.
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"Requirements are like water. They're easier to build on when they're frozen."
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