Costing of COTS-Based Systems: An Initial Framework

Costing is an important part of COTS-based system development. Many development process activities and costing activities are intricately related, and thus best be addressed in tandem. Like the development process itself, costing should be treated as a continuous activity in COTSbased development. The necessary infrastructures must be in place for its support and monitoring. In this paper, we address the main features of a rudimentary costing model for COTS-based systems with these features, and identify some additional areas for improvement.