The Realities of Buying Commercial Off-The-Shelf Systems Herb Potter, Brewer Consulting Services Ann Thompson, City of Olympia Ron Seymour, Dept. of Financial Institutions Tom Neitzel, Health Care Authority

Today’s Goals Bust myths about COTS systems Share our experiences Provide you with more information so that you can make informed decisions Not to frighten or discourage you

What’s a “COTS” Why All The Hoopla Over Them? A product that is –Sold, leased, or licensed to the general public –Offered by a vendor trying to profit from it –Supported and evolved by the vendor, who retains the intellectual property rights –Available in multiple, identical copies –Used without modification of the internals Not to be confused with public domain software, COTS-based systems, or “freeware”.

What’s a “COTS” Why All The Hoopla Over Them? COTS Systems can fulfill a need without full-scale development Vendor can provide varying levels of support (part or all of it) Some support from other users of the COTS system

Where Do We Start? Strategic business plan Understand what business you’re in Understand the organizational culture Organization must be ready for change Opportunities for business process improvements Skilled project management is crucial Inform everyone – This will be hard work! Get used to it!

The Acquisition For most state agencies, it starts with the IT Portfolio, feasibility study or funding request. Business requirements gathering –Don’t overlook the “automagic” –Be mindful of technical standards and installed infrastructure Include the right people – those who have to live with the selection

The Acquisition Perhaps issue an RFI Develop the RFP, which should reflect the business requirements –Use cases, business models, process flows –Get all the costs – licensing, consulting, training, maintenance Include source code escrow requirement Evaluate responses according to the requirements Short list of vendors

The Acquisition Demos (make sure the right people participate) – compare to responses On-site visits to customer sites (without vendors present) Check references…and then some Check the vendors’ business financials Make the selection Negotiate and sign the contract

The Implementation Effective project management practices Users must be involved in the planning Plan for data conversions and interfaces

COTS “Horticulture” COTS systems tend to spring forth “seeds” Access FileMaker Excel InterfacesCustom Add-ons Reports Word Queries

COTS Care & Feeding Expect maintenance costs of 20% - 25% of purchase price COTS version upgrades Operating system upgrades Hardware upgrades Good project management practices are crucial (note the theme here) General support will likely involve IT staff

Vendor Relationships Preview offered by other users during reference checks First impressions Vendors and VARS How long will the marriage last? –When all is blissful –Irreconcilable differences

Summary – Lessons Learned More to COTS than meets the eye Must have executive level support and user support Organizational culture can make or break the project The purchase is just the beginning Vendors must be evaluated thoroughly Effective project management is critical

Summary – Lessons Learned The relationship with the vendor may last for several years Organization must make the COTS fit the business or make the business fit the COTS It’s not just the software, so identify all the costs of using it Implementing and supporting COTS can be as labor intensive as building it yourself

More Information – Will Be Posted on the IPMA Web Site Software Engineering Institute web site –COTS Product Evaluation Process paper and other documents Tom Neitzel’s presentation to the DIS CAB OFM Enterprise Roadmap – – Dye Management paper on why projects fail