Experience in using business scenarios to assess COTS components in integrated solutions

ABSTRACT

Constructing software by integrating commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components is widely practised, particularly in the IT service industry. For vendors of COTS components, requirements engineering is particularly challenging. To continually improve their products, vendors must identify and analyze problems that occur when their components are used in a wide variety of integrated solutions, and they must anticipate new applications in which their components could be used. In this paper, we describe a scenario-based framework developed at the Software Group division of IBM Corporation (IBM SWG) The framework mimics the solution integration process for new business opportunities, allowing the development teams to evaluate their components, discover and re-solve integration issues, and to surface new requirements for future releases. This paper describes the framework, gives an example of its use in a business scenario, discusses the experience of using this framework at IBM SWG, and relates the lessons learned.

REFERENCES

• 1: {1} International Conference on COTS-Based Software Systems. http://www.iccbss. org/.
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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.3 Software Management

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.9 Management
          Subjects: Software configuration management

  J. Computer Applications
  J.1 ADMINISTRATIVE DATA PROCESSING
      Subjects: Business

General Terms:
Design, Experimentation, Measurement, Performance

Keywords:
business scenario, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS), software integration