COTS, Software and Technology Standards

COTS standardization is aimed at modernizing the ESDC technology environment and reducing costs. It is an approach to removing and/or replacing software from computers and laptops that has not been identified as ESDC standard software.

It stands for "Commercial off-the-Shelf". These are software products that are ready-made and available for sale to the general public. The Department has many standard COTS (e.g. Microsoft Project and Visio, Adobe Photoshop and Acrobat), but there are also a lot of non-standard COTS products on departmental computers.

Not long ago, an inventory of software being used in the Department indicated that almost 9,000 different COTS products were installed on ESDC desktops. Much of this software was non-work related, had been downloaded illegally, was outside of licensing agreements or competed with a departmental standard. The sheer quantity of software created difficulties for support from an IT perspective, and complications in moving toward a newer, more modern technology environment.

Hosting a myriad of products drives up the total cost of doing ESDC business and presents an unsustainable environment. COTS standardization lowers the complexity, allows for quicker and better IT service, provides the ability to move to more modern technologies in a simplified way across the organization, and reduces costs.

The Technology Standards Reports is being maintained and updated regularly. Due to the emergence of new technologies and the evolution of job functions, this is a living document which software is added to and removed from on an ongoing basis.

Initially, work was done with ESDC branches and regions to establish software aligned with job function (referred to as 'Job Profiles'). IITB then reached out to the various business lines and regions to validate the list of standards with a view to identifying gaps in terms of business need.

The intent is not to remove software where there is a business need. The intent is to maintain software standards that will provide employees with the tools that they need to do their work, to reduce the complexity and the costs of the IT environment, and to reduce the risks that come with software being installed outside of contractual licensing arrangements.

If a piece of software that you need to do your daily work was overlooked, a process is in place to assess requests. Assessment is based on a number of factors including demonstrated business need, availability of alternative standard software, license availability and technology environment alignment.

Yes. All COTS software not on the list of approved standard COTS products must be removed. Proposed alternative standard software should provide similar functionality. If the new software does not allow for the creation of required macros to fulfill job functions, employees should submit an online request to the National Service Desk. IITB will look for the solution to create automated task (macros) using the new software, or may reassess the need to add your current software to the list of standards.

This should not happen. If there is a job function that requires software, standard software will be provided.

That will depend on the magnitude of the change in software. New standard software may represent very little transition. In fact, it could just be an upgrade in the software that an employee currently uses. In instances where adapting is required, employees can expect a 'user guide' or some e-learning to be made available to them. E-learning is also available on the Internet for a good number of COTS products.

If you notice that approved standard software has been removed and you were not notified, this was probably a mistake. Submit an online request to the National Service Desk to ask that it be reinstalled. Most likely it will be, depending on circumstances.