PPT - Software Engineering II - University of Southern California

University of Southern California

Center for Systems and Software Engineering

COTS Selection

Sergio Romulo Salazar

April 28, 2010

University of Southern California

Center for Systems and Software Engineering

Outline

•
Background

•
COTS Knowledge Base

•
Benefits

•
Challenges

•
Questions


2

04/21/2010

University of Southern California

Center for Systems and Software Engineering

Background


•
Living Advantage Contact Management
System (VALE)

–
Manage fundraising campaign

–
Manage contacts


•
LANI D
–

Base System

–
Assist in the management of large construction
projects

3

04/21/2010

University of Southern California

Center for Systems and Software Engineering

Background

•
COTS Selection Process

–
ICM guidelines assist in the evaluation of COTS
products

•
Filtering high
-
risk COTS combinations

•
Evaluating integration costs (iStudio)


–
However, no tool to assist in the identification of
COTS candidates

•
Internet search result can be difficult to filter

•
Limited COTS online documentation (Cost,
support, Ease of integration/customization)

4

04/21/2010

University of Southern California

Center for Systems and Software Engineering

Background

•
Salesforce

–
COTS product introduced to team by Living
Advantage external consultant

–
Enabled our team to complete VALE system in
one semester

5

04/21/2010

University of Southern California

Center for Systems and Software Engineering

Background

•

Applied Knowledge: LANI D
–

Base System

–
Recognized that Salesforce could be applied to
other projects

–
Used previous knowledge of Salesforce to
convert LANI D
-
Base system from agile to
NDI/NCS project

–
Completed project in one semester


6

04/21/2010

University of Southern California

Center for Systems and Software Engineering

COTS Knowledge Base

•
Develop a knowledge base to store
information regarding previously used
COTS products

•
COTS products would be searchable

•
Stored based on a set of defined metrics

•
Cost (License, Integration)

•
Potential Uses

•
Product Support

•
Etc.

7

04/21/2010

University of Southern California

Center for Systems and Software Engineering

Challenges

•
Defining metrics

–
What metrics should be used?

–
Poorly defined metrics could result in useless
or excessive information


•
Knowledge Base Maintenance

–
Updating COTS information


•
Research would be needed to determine
how challenges can be overcome

8

04/21/2010

University of Southern California

Center for Systems and Software Engineering

Benefits

•
Decrease cost of development

•
Reduce cost of identifying potential COTS
products

•
Leverage knowledge gained by previous
csci 577 projects

9

04/21/2010

University of Southern California

Center for Systems and Software Engineering

Questions


10

04/21/2010

University of Southern California

Center for Systems and Software Engineering

Bibliography

•
Abts, C. M. (1997).
COTS Software Integration Cost Modeling Study.

Los Angeles:
University of Southern California.


•
Bhuta, J., & Boehm, B. (N/A).
A Framework for Identification and Resolution of
Interoperability Mismatches in COTS
-
based Systems.

Los Angeles: University of
Southern California.


•
Boehm, B., & Abts, C. (1999). COTS Integration: Plug and Pray?
Management

, 135
-
138.


11

04/21/2010