Poster Title: AIAA (Draft) Guidebook ”Managing the Use of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Software Components for Mission Critical Systems”

Abstract

Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software products are being included in ever more complex and critical systems. There are clearly advantages to considering the use of COTS in such systems, but given the rigorous needs of such critical systems or subsystems, there are concerns about the suitability of COTS software for such applications. The AIAA’s Software Systems Technical Committee and the AIAA’s Computer Systems Technical Committee have undertaken an effort to produce a guidebook that captures issues related to the consideration and use of COTS products in these large, complex systems, with a special emphasis on those risks and risk mitigation approaches that relate to mission critical systems. This guidebook identifies a set of characteristics of mission critical systems that makes the consideration, selection and validation processes of COTS products (hardware, software, subsystems, etc.) an emerging factor in systems definition, development and acceptance. The guidebook discusses a large number of risk areas related to using COTS software products in mission critical systems and identifies various mitigation approaches to the risks. It includes detailed processes for selecting and evaluating the products and considerations for using COTS software products within the overall context of the software development life cycle standardized in IEEE/EIA 12207. Mission critical system characteristics such as reliability, safety, availability, maintainability and certification tend to influence whether or not COTS software should be considered for a given application. Once the suitability of COTS software has been determined, then it is possible that additional requirements may be placed on the product and/or the product’s vendor for such mission critical applications. Further, it is possible that certain system requirements and expectations may need to be modified because of the inclusion of COTS software products in that system. As COTS products continue to be considered as candidates for inclusion within mission critical systems, there are likely to be additional concerns and factors to emerge that will influence how both acquirers and suppliers decide if and/or when to use COTS products. Ongoing monitoring of this technology area seems to be warranted.