The purpose of the COTS Package Dossier is to accumulate and organize information sufficient to:
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Record the history of consideration and use of the COTS package
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Record raw (unfiltered) information about the COTS package gathered directly from the vendor (documentation,
claims, price lists, demonstration versions, response to a Request for Information Request for Proposal, etc.), and from third parties (such
correspondence and reviews by other users, trade journal articles, business/financial analysis, etc.)
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Record 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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Record the 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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Capture 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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Record the history, rationale, and specific tasks for customization and tailoring of the COTS package
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Record the history, rationale, and specific tasks for integration of the COTS package
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Record the history of version releases
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Record the history and rationale for upgrade decisions and certification tasks
The COTS Package Dossier artifact can best be understood as an index that identifies and locates
all of the information that represents the current understanding of a COTS package. This information is produced and
stored in different formats. Some of it (for example, high-level functionality of the COTS package) might be physically
stored as part of the COTS Package Dossier. Other information might be indexed by the COTS Package Dossier but stored
elsewhere. For example, the executable for a COTS package might be represented in a tape library, COTS package
documentation might be at a network address, and reports produced by the vendor or the organization considering the
COTS package might be represented in a file cabinet.
A COTS Package Dossier is a living document that represents the state of knowledge about a COTS package during the time
it is considered, used in, and maintained in an Executing System.
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