Author : Vikram Bali and Sushila Madan

Software has become the backbone of every organization. The benefits achieved by using it are tremendous but at the same time it has made mankind dependent on it. Literature suggests that software crises have been a matter of concern among the researchers. Every business has got some parameters which are essential for its success and they are known as Critical Success Factors (CSFs). These parameters vary from business to business. In this work, we have tried to identify and categorize the CSF for software developed using COTS components. The identified parameters are categorized into five different factors – Organization Factor, People Factor, Vendor Selection Factor, Cost Factor and Technical Factor. Each factor further contains the sub-factors which are relevant to it. A detailed analysis is performed in order to identify critical success factors for software developed using COTS.

Keywords: Critical Success Factors, COTS, Component based software system, COTS Evaluation and selection

Article published in International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, Vol.5, No.4 (Aug-2015)