<P> Motivations for using COTS components include hopes for reduction system whole of life costs . </P> <P> In the 1990s many regarded COTS as extremely effective in reducing the time and cost of software development . COTS software came with many not - so - obvious tradeoffs--a reduction in initial cost and development time over an increase in software component - integration work, dependency on the vendor, security issues and incompatibilities from future changes . </P> <P> Commercial - off - the - shelf (COTS) software and services are built and delivered usually from a third party vendor . COTS can be purchased, leased or even licensed to the general public . </P> <P> COTS can be obtained and operated at a lower cost over in - house development, and provide increased reliability and quality over custom - built software as these are developed by specialists within the industry and are validated by various independent organisations, often over an extended period of time . </P>

Commercial off the shelf components in embedded systems