Evaluate and Screen Relevant COTS Packages and Vendors
In this step, it is important to learn as much as possible about each COTS package under consideration.
The COTS package(s) under consideration may come from a variety of sources, and the published information about them
might differ widely. It might, therefore, be necessary to bring demonstration versions of the most promising COTS
packages into Experimental Facility where the capabilities and limitations of each COTS package
can be determined. Using the Experimentation Facility, each COTS package that is
considered critical to the success of the solution is further evaluated to verify vendor claims, to understand the
embedded user business processes and architectural assumptions, and to explore critical functional and critical
nonfunctional behaviors of the COTS package. It is important to make sure that the COTS package does what is needed in
supporting both the user business processes and the architecture and that there are no unintended side effects from
features not directly needed in the solution (for example, watch for the impact of additional or unanticipated features
on solution performance).
As part of the evaluation process, COTS package(s) will be screened against the criteria in the COTS Package Screening Criteria and Rationale. Capture the rationale for removing a
COTS package(s) from further consideration in the COTS Package Dossier.
As understanding grows regarding the stakeholder's needs and the solution, the COTS package screening criteria needs to
evolve to include criteria used by previous screening to eliminate other COTS packages and candidate solutions from
consideration.
Optionally, in order to help evaluate and screen relevant COTS packages, an Request For Proposal (RFP) could be produced and sent to identified vendors. Vendors would
then be invited to demonstrate their COTS package in the context of an evaluation workshop (see the tasks Prepare for Vendor/COTS Package Evaluation Workshop and Conduct Vendor/COTS Package Evaluation Workshop).
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Update COTS Package Information
Update any changes to the understanding of a COTS package using the COTS Package Dossier
specific to the:
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History of consideration and use of the COTS package
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Raw (unfiltered) information about the COTS package gathered directly from the vendor (documentation, claims, price
lists, demonstration versions, response to a Request For Information and Request For Proposal, and so on), and from
third parties (such correspondence and reviews by other users, trade journal articles, business/financial analysis,
and so forth)
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Processed (filtered) data obtained during consideration of the COTS package including the results of investigations
into the COTS package, information describing the exact configuration of the COTS package evaluated, and data
gathered during evaluation tasks and benchmarking
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Analysis of the COTS package, including COTS package strengths, weaknesses, related COTS packages and ensembles,
and architecture or usage constraints identified during evaluation
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Characteristics of the COTS package architecture and functional capabilities, standards supported, required
hardware and software configurations, nonfunctional requirements such as usability, supportability, reliability,
interoperability, portability, and scalability, and quality of documentation, costs, and licenses
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Update Vendor Information
Update any changes to the understanding of a vendor using the Vendor Dossier specific to the:
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History of contacts with the vendor regarding a COTS package(s) they sell or support
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Raw (unfiltered) information about a vendor gathered directly from the vendor and from third parties (for example,
correspondence and reviews by other users, trade journal articles, business/financial analysis, and so on)
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Processed (filtered) vendor data obtained during due diligence, including vendor financial/ business strengths and
weaknesses
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Development and managing of the relationship with a vendor
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Update Options for Licensing COTS Packages
As part of the initial market research conducted in the inception phase, an understanding of licensing options that
other customers in the market segment received was captured in the Market Segment Information. Now it is important to narrow the investigation of
options as part of COTS package evaluation as the project begins to converge on a more narrow set of COTS packages and
candidate solutions. When a COTS package is actually selected in the elaboration phase, the specific COTS package's
license information will be captured in the COTS Package Dossier.
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