Software Engineering Institute

This monograph offers a practical rather than theoretical approach to the issues of COTS and open systems. While there are several potential issues with COTS and open systems that need to be considered when making actual decisions, this paper is principally aimed at clarifying the general understanding of what each is. Thus, it does not attempt to address the drawbacks and pitfalls of using either COTS products or an open systems approach, but rather is intended to reveal the conceptual relationship between COTS products and open systems.