Using software risk management for deriving method requirements in COTS assessment & selection

The use of Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) software products in software and systems engineering has grown tremendously during the past few years. 99% of all executing computer instructions come from COTS products. Industry and research have identified COTS software and related topics as a field of major potential and interest. However, still there are many unsolved problems coming with the use of COTS software in development and/or maintenance projects. Many authors reflect or report on practical problems and risks they experienced when working in software development. Moreover, no comprehensive problem and risk overview regarding the process and phases of COTS based development has been presented so far. Nevertheless, such a comprehensive overview is very helpful for designing, developing, and putting into practice processes and methods for handling COTS-based approaches in a risk-mitigating way. From a software risk management view on the phases of COTS-based software development, this paper derives guidelines and requirements for methodological and management support of the COTS Assessment & Selection phase in COTS-based development that aim at risk mitigation in COTS-based software development (CBSD).