Reengineering the software acquisition process using developer off-the-shelf systems (DOTSS)

2 approaches to software development, namely, extensive use of commercial practices and reuse of software, are considered. Both a Secretary of Defense Memorandum and a Defense Science Board report have reinforced the former. In the latter area, the DoD and the NIST, as well as others, have emphasized the development of software components that will ultimately serve as building blocks for the software developer. In this paper, we introduce a reengineered software acquisition process called Developer Off-The-Shelf Systems (DOTSS) in which entire systems are reused. This process has the potential for software acquisition process reform with extensive savings in both time and cost. Leverage is gained by taking advantage of sunk investments as well as proven software development architectures and successes