A cots product is usually a computer hardware or software product tailored for specific. Cots products are designed to be implemented easily into existing systems without the. The set of rules for cots is defined by the federal acquisition regulation far. Short for commercial off the shelf, an adjective that describes software or hardware products that are readymade and available for sale to the general public. The term is sometimes used in military procurement specifications. In particular, the use of commercial offtheshelf cots products as elements of larger systems is becoming increasingly commonplace, due to shrinking budgets, accelerating rates of cots enhancement, and expanding system requirements. In the united states, commercial offtheshelf cots is a federal acquisition regulation far term for commercial items, including services, available in the commercial marketplace that can be. Cots software means commercial offtheshelf software that is readily purchasable or general purpose third party software that is installed and used in the operation of the business of company without customization or integration e. Cots software legal definition of cots software by law. Commercial offtheshelf software cots definition it. Definition of commercial offtheshelf in the dictionary. As part of the cuny efficiencies for reinvestment initiative eri, cuny central office has embarked on expediting university purchases for commercial off the shelf software or cots. I suspect that there are really two usages of cots floating around in practice, both of which can be reliably sourced.
Jun 18, 2018 it means that the software comes ready to be used by the organization without the need for customization. Furthermore, in the case of commercial offtheshelf software, the contractors obligation to make the source code promptly available to the parties for a purpose set out in subsection 1. Commercial offtheshelf or commercially available offtheshelf products are packaged solutions which are then adapted to satisfy the needs of the purchasing organization, rather than the commissioning of custommade, or bespoke, solutions. Offtheshelf definition and meaning collins english. These algorithms are available as commercial off the shelf software solutions and can be integrated into the data architecture with ease. If the offeror has to substantially modify or program the software. Accounting software is used by just about every business, so there are an enormous number of flavors to choose from quickbooks, microsoft dynamics, mas90, etc. Commercial off the shelf software security veracode.
A related term, milcots, refers to cots products for use by the u. Cots provide powerful tools at a costeffective price to meet your companys needs. What is commercial offtheshelf software definition it. Examples at the smaller end of the spectrum are most antivirus programs, games and even computer utilities, such as word processors, database managers, spreadsheet creators and so on. Commercial offthe shelf software, commonly known as cots, is the type of computer application that can be purchased at any computer retail store or from a software vendor. Cots, mots, gots, and nots are abbreviations that describe prepackaged software or less commonly hardware purchase alternatives. Cots software legal definition of cots software by law insider. Commercially available specialized software designed for specific applications such as legal or medical billing, chemical analysis, statistical analysis that can be used with little or no modification. Short for commercial offtheshelf, an adjective that describes software or hardware products that are readymade and available for sale to the general public. Commercial off the shelf software is therefore defined as the software that is commercially produced and sold in a retail store or online, ready to use without any form of modification by the user.
Human resources hr, retail point of sale, case management, finance etc. This one size fits all approach is bound to create some unfortunate mishaps for some customers, but. Not wanting to get a development team in to build a bespoke solution. Say you owned a bank and you loan money to people based on their income, their age and their credit score.
Systems which are manufactured commercially, and then tailored for specific uses. Far commercial off the shelf items cots contracts definition. Offtheshelf definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Cots software is designed to be implemented easily into existing systems. The management dictionary covers over 7000 business concepts from 6 categories. In government contracting, the commercial off the shelf and far 12 far commercial items refer to whether commercial items are readily available without substantial modifications. Cots software is a computer application that can be purchased commercially at most retail outlets. For example, microsoft office is a cots product that is a packaged software solution for businesses. Commercial offtheshelf cots is a term that references nondevelopmental items ndi sold in the commercial marketplace and used or obtained through government contracts.
Modifying the core code of a commercial offtheshelf cots product should be avoided. If you buy something off the shelf, you buy something that is not specially made for. Commercial off the shelf software cots refers to any software prebuilt by a thirdparty vendor and purchased or licensed for use by an enterprise. A commercial offthe shelf cots item is one that is sold, leased, or licensed to the general public. It is possible to add code to the existing product, to make the product operate in a way it was not intended to do outofthebox. Purchasing an already made final software solution. Part 12 acquisition of commercial items acquisition. This can be really useful if youre enjoying these updates for free, as youll get new functions that may open up new ways to tackle your business needs. Information and translations of commercial offtheshelf in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Commercial software was once considered to be proprietary software, but now a number of free and opensource software applications are licensed or sold to end users. The world of software development has evolved rapidly in the last decade. A software product that is developed for the general market, i. The primary focus of the text mining algorithms are to process text based on userdefined business rules and extract data that can be used in classifying the text for further data exploration purposes. Commercial software is any software or program that is designed and developed for licensing or sale to end users or that serves a commercial purpose.
These include customdeveloped, governmentowned, and commercial offtheshelf cots software. Cots software is designed to be implemented easily into existing systems without the need for customization. Furthermore, in the case of commercial off the shelf software, the contractors obligation to make the source code promptly available to the parties for a purpose set out in subsection 1. Means any item of supply including construction material that is a commercial item item that can be sold, leased, or licensed to the general public.
The question often becomes should i build a custom app that fits my needs exactly, or can i adopt offtheshelf software to get close enough. Offtheshelf software a lot of customers in the market nowadays prefer a software that is easily adapted to their needs with little setup time. Commercial offtheshelf cots avionics software study. These solutions have enabled its employees to collaboratively develop and share content through such tools as blogs and wikis. Jun 09, 2017 commercial offtheshelf cots is a term that references nondevelopmental items ndi sold in the commercial marketplace and used or obtained through government contracts. Cots commercial offtheshelf describes readymade products that can easily be obtained. Dec 17, 2014 what is cots commercial off the shelf.
Item that is commercially available, leased, licensed, or sold to the general public and which requires no special modification or maintenance over its life cycle. There are some commercial software packages you can buy that have aftermarket customizable support, which allows you to start with a strong foundational base and tweak it to fit your needs using a thirdparty software company who often specialize in that field. Make sure everything is documented and properly filed and archived. The use of commercialofftheshelf cots items, including nondevelopmental items, can provide significant opportunities for efficiencies during system development but also can introduce certain issues that should be considered and mitigated if the program is to realize the expected benefits. Apr 05, 2020 these include customdeveloped, governmentowned, and commercial offtheshelf cots software. Over the past four years, lockheed martin has developed and deployed proprietary social media solutions across its own enterprise based on commercial off the shelf software. Program managers are faced with choosing between custom software development or the implementation of commercial off the shelf cots software to meet complex system requirements. Cots commercial off the shelf lifecyle model methodology. Performing organization name and address united technologies research center 411 silver lane east hartford, ct 06108 10.
This, however, significantly increases program and total lifecycle costs, and turns a. Cots software means commercial off the shelf software that is readily purchasable or general purpose third party software that is installed and used in the operation of the business of company without customization or integration e. Sold in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace. Offtheshelf software doesnt tend to be static most will undergo new versions and updates to iron out bugs and add in new features. Commercial offtheshelf how is commercial offtheshelf. Custom offtheshelf as is mentioned above, i have mostly seen the term cots expanded as custom offtheshelf, but it is usually in computing contexts. Commercial offthe shelf software is therefore defined as the software that is commercially produced and sold in a retail store or online, ready to use without any form of modification by the user. The conventional wisdom is that custom software development is too expensive and risky, and that buying a software package is much less so. In summary, commercial off the shelf software validation, while complicated, is not impossible and is certainly not beyond the abilities of most companies as long as companies work with the software supplier and follow the guidelines identified above. Purchasing a solution that is tried, tested and trusted in the industry already.
Commercialofftheshelf dictionary definition commercial. Cots or commercial off the shelf software, also known as package software refers to a software application that is specifically designed to meet the needs of particular business type e. Over the past four years, lockheed martin has developed and deployed proprietary social media solutions across its own enterprise based on commercial offtheshelf software. Commercial offtheshelf cots software can be an attractive buy in for many companies when it comes to. Commercialofftheshelf cots software the city college. For example, technology related items, such as computer software, hardware systems or free software with commercial support, and construction materials qualify, but bulk cargo, such as agricultural or petroleum products, do not. Commercial off the shelf cots items in government contracts. Custom off the shelf as is mentioned above, i have mostly seen the term cots expanded as custom off the shelf, but it is usually in computing contexts. Software and hardware that already exists and is available from commercial sources. Cots products are designed to be implemented easily into existing systems without the need for customization. Commercial off the shelf cots software is becoming an everincreasing part of organizations total it strategy for building and delivering systems. Css is also referred to as commercial software or commercial offtheshelf software cots but both expressions may be misleading to the extent that commercial distributions of oss are now available on the market.
These algorithms are available as commercial offtheshelf software solutions and can be integrated into the data architecture with ease. Commercial offtheshelf cots a commercial offtheshelf cots item is one that is sold, leased, or licensed to the general public. Some examples of this type of software includes microsoft office and most antivirus software packages. Oct 09, 2014 in the united states, commercial off the shelf cots is a federal acquisition regulation far term for commercial items, including services, available in the commercial marketplace that can be. Offtheshelf software legal definition of offtheshelf. Browse the definition and meaning of more terms similar to commercial offtheshelf software cots. Commercial offtheshelf software article about commercial. Commercial off the shelf or commercially available off the shelf cots products are packaged solutions which are then adapted to satisfy the needs of the purchasing organization, rather than the commissioning of custommade, or bespoke, solutions. A common perception held by many people is that since a vendor developed the software, much of the testing responsibility is carried by the software vendor. The use of commercial off the shelf cots items, including nondevelopmental items, can provide significant opportunities for efficiencies during system development but also can introduce certain issues that should be considered and mitigated if the program is to realize the expected benefits. Nist sp 800161 under commercial offtheshelf cots nist sp 80064 rev.
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