Modeling COTS-based development and related selection methods processes with MAP

Abstract

COTS-based development (CBD) process consists in five main steps including identifying COTS products candidates, selecting the most appropriate one and assembling it with the other components. In practice, this process is not yet obvious to follow. Many methods are proposed to support one or several steps of the process. But, which method to use and how to apply it still remains problematic. The MAP is a process meta-model proposed to support methods specification and their enactment. We have already used the MAP to express the CBD process, and the MAP was also used to express PORE, a COTS selection method. In this paper, we propose to generalize the use of the MAP to express both the CBD process and COTS related methods, especially selection ones. As a result, the developer is guided in the process of choosing the appropriate method and its application.