IJCIRISSN 1996-1065 [Online]
ISSN 1818-1139 [PRINT]

Volume 1 (2) 2007

Title:	Decision Support for the Selection of COTSSC
Authors:	Tom Wanyama, Agnes F. N. Lumala, Behrouz H. Far
Published:	©IJCIR Vol1 (2) 2007, PP. 31-41
Language:	English

Abstract:
Commercial-Off-The-Shelf-Software-Component (COTSSC)-Based Software Development (CBSD) has the potential to reduce time and resources required to develop software. However, in order to realize the benefits, which COTSSC bring to software development, it is imperative that the “right” COTSSC products are selected for projects, because selecting inappropriate COTSSC products may result in increasing time and cost of software development; which CBSD aims at reducing. COTSSC selection is a major challenge to COTSSC-based software developers, due to the multiplicity of similar COTSSC products on the market with varying capabilities and quality differences. Moreover, COTSSC selection is a complex decision-making problem that is characterized by the following: uncertainty, multiple stakeholders, and multiple selection objectives. Therefore, the process of selecting COTSSC products requires addressing multiple challenges, which in turn necessitates using multiple Decision Support Applications (DSA) as well as multiple information repositories. This paper describes an agent-based Decision Support System (DSS), which integrates various COTSSC selection DSA and repositories to address a variety of COTSSC selection challenges. Besides managing the COTSSC selection DSA and repositories, the agents are used to support communication and information sharing among the COTSSC selection stakeholders. View full Article

General Terms:

Design, Experimentation, Human Factors Additional Key Words and Phrases: Decision Support System; Negotiation; Selection, Group-Choice, Stakeholders; Preferences

Categories and Subject Descriptors:

K.6 [Management of Computing and Information Systems]: Project and People Management - Systems analysis and design; Systems development; K.6.3 [Software Management]: Software development, D.2 [Software Engineering]: Requirements/Specifications - Methodologies (e.g., object-oriented, structured; Tools; D.2.10 [Design]: Methodologies