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== Definitions == === Government entity === ''See'' [[Council on Technology Services]]. === Software === '''COTS''' (an acronym for '''C'''ommercial '''O'''ff-'''T'''he-'''S'''helf) is {{Quote|a commercially marketed [[product]] which is readily available for [[procurement]] and normally used without [[modification]].<ref>NATO Standardization Agency, NATO Glossary of Terms and Definitions 2-C-10 (2008) ([http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/other/nato2008.pdf full-text]).</ref>}} {{Quote|a product that is 1) Sold, leased, or [[license]]d to the general public; 2) Offered by a [[vendor]] trying to profit from it; 3) Supported and evolved by the [[vendor]], who retains the [[intellectual property right]]s; 4) Available in multiple identical [[copies]]; 5) Used without [[source code]] [[modification]].<ref>[[California Technology Agency]], Enterprise Architecture Glossary 2 (Apr. 2011) ([http://www.cio.ca.gov/Government/IT_Policy/pdf/SIMM_58C_Enterprise_Architecture_Glossary_04132011.pdf full-text]).</ref>}} {{Quote|[a] term for [[software]] or [[hardware]], generally [[technology]] or [[computer]] products, that are ready-made and available for [[sale]], [[lease]], or [[license]] to the general public. Commercial off-the-Shelf (COTS) products are often used as alternatives to [[in-house]] developments or one-off Government-funded developments.<ref>[[Glossary of Security Terms, Definitions, and Acronyms]], at 38.</ref>}} == Overview == "A COTS product is often provided in large quantities and at relatively low cost to meet the demands of a wide range of user needs." "The goal with COTS is to employ [[standard]], widely used [[hardware]] and [[software product]]s wherever possible so as to decrease costs and increase the likelihood that [[system]]s will be [[interoperable]] with other [[system]]s. The COTS strategy must grapple with a basic tension: even as government seeks through COTS to obtain a greater degree of [[flexibility]] that enables future [[vendor]] choice, [[vendor]]s have an incentive to maximize the [[proprietary content]] of a [[system]] in order to increase the likelihood of future sales. Agencies thus face the dual issue of selecting an appropriate [[framework]]/[[architecture and managing the consequences of that commitment. In other words, once an organization has made decisions about overall [[system design]], this constrains future decisions and limits which [[software product]]s and vendor product lines will be compatible."<ref>[[Information Technology Research, Innovation, and E-Government]], at 98.</ref> "Normally, for COTS [[software]], [[source code]] is not provided and [[maintenance]] is provided by the manufacturer under [[licence]]."<ref>[[Glossary of Communication Electronic Terms]], at 2-39.</ref> "The use of COTS products is being mandated across many Government and business programs, as they may offer significant savings in [[procurement]] and [[maintenance]]. However, since COTS [[software]] [[specification]]s are written by external sources, Government agencies are sometimes wary of these products because they fear that future changes to the product will not be under their control."<ref>[[Glossary of Security Terms, Definitions, and Acronyms]], at 39.</ref> == References == <references /> == See also == * [[commercial orbital transportation services]] * [[Commercial software]] * [[COTS software]] [[Category:Acronyms]] [[Category:Technology]] [[Category:Business]] [[Category:Definition]]
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