JReality

Java^TM Virtual Reality Applications and
Related Technologies

"Freedom" Service-Oriented Methodology
Build Versus Buy Process

Overview Process Levels Models Definitions Papers Training

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Principles -- Build Versus Buy

Buy Principle: Don't build when you can buy
Survey the market for software that meets the requirements within budget before developing new software. Buying, when possible, is usually more cost-effective than building.

Develop Preliminary Software Requirements

Preliminary software requirements specify the desired system in a manner and format suitable for obtaining needed information from Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) software vendors. Preliminary software requirements include a list of desired input and output from a user's perspective, critical performance and reliability data, types of host systems on which the software must run, any desired implementation constraints such as brands of data bases supported or programming language in which the software must be written, and requests for information regarding price and trial copies.

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Survey Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) Candidates

The survey of COTS candidates results in a list of COTS vendors and candidate products that might potentially meet the preliminary software requirements. The preliminary software requirements are sent to the vendors on the survey list along with a cover letter. Vendor responses are collected, and any vendor questions are answered.

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Evaluate Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) Candidates

Evaluation of COTS candidates is performed by organizing the preliminary software requirements and vendor survey responses into a table for easy comparison of candidate vendor products. A customer technical representative should assist in reviewing the table and determining which COTS products best meet the preliminary software requirements and should be forwarded to customer management for final selection.

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Select Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) or Custom

The final selection of a COTS product is made by customer management after reviewing the subset of the requirements-products table containing the most promising candidate products. Usually, the decision will be made based on which product meets the requirements at the lowest price within the acquisition budget, although other criteria such as vendor reputation may be considered as well. If no candidate product meets the requirements within budget or satisfies the other criteria considered, customer management may elect to initiate a new custom software development project.

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