COTS vs. MOTS

For a more indepth look at MOTS, we have produce a Whitepaper entitled "Modifiable Off-The-Shelf Software and the Emerging Business Process Management Paradigm." Please contact the Earthwon Business Development Manager for your copy.

Are you seeking a pre-configured COTS application?

Prospective customers who are seeking only to update their information technology typically define critical success in terms of quick wins their business will achieve by implementing modern exemplary technology. There is little or no attempt or desire to document or review current business rules and standard operating policies and processes in order to improve customer service while making internal processes more effective and efficient.

These customers typically seek a pre-configured Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) business application offering an 80 per cent fit that can be implemented relatively quickly. Any changes in business rules and standard operating procedures are implemented only to accommodate the limitations of the hard-coded software application. Although there may be some claim as to flexibility, the system’s “configurability” may be limited to specific functions.

Pre-configured COTS business systems do not necessarily address the organization’s business problems that need fixing. Often, such applications have a shorter life cycle (about 5-7 years, on average) in the organization due to their inflexibility and inability to adapt to the inevitable changes in business, and also due to the use of underlying technologies and programming languages that may become stale-dated over time.

If this is the solution you are seeking, POSSE or Earthwon may not be right for you.

Is Business Transformation Your Goal?

In our opinion, real business transformation begins when the customer desires to take a closer look at the way they do business and improve it. Streamlining means identifying and removing barriers to effective and efficient delivery of services to the organization and to the public. Streamlining modifies or restructures the day-to-day operations of an agency. In doing so, it eliminates or significantly reduces areas of duplicative work, overlapping and conflicting rules, regulations, processes and procedures that might be confusing or that adds unnecessary time and cost to the delivery of services.

Business transformation typically begins with a high-level review of current business practices and requirements and technology environments, then drills into the organization to establish mission-critical end goals and objectives for renewal. As end goals, service and performance objectives are established by the organization, business rules, data requirements, legislation, and processes are reviewed, documented in greater detail and, where necessary, re-engineered (BPR) in order to meet end targets for improved service delivery.

As the documentation/re-engineering effort is completed, the transformation process concludes with an implementation of appropriate information technology that supports the organization’s modernized business vision. For software implementation driven by a business transformation vision, a POSSE/Earthwon MOTS solution offers the most flexibility in a commercially available product.

Please contact us to receive assistance from one of our senior professional consultants.