3rd meeting COTS teamApril 25, 2007, Helsinki

AGENDA

9.00 Opening of meeting 9.05 Approval of agenda, minutes, Goal setting 9.15 Feedback on the specific actions10.00 Questionnaire, planning of interviews10.30 Coffee break10.45 Finalisation of positions and recommendations12.00 Discussion of strategy scenarios 13.00 Lunch. 13.30 Final report: structure etc. 14.30 Thee/coffee break14.45 Final report: content15.45 Next steps, allocation of tasks16.00 End of meeting

Planning and progress

Planning:– June: Report ready– September: Presentation in EB meeting

Plan for today: – finalise step 3, – review the work done in de previous steps – plan the activities needed to finalise the report

Expected results 3nd meeting

Consensus about the final questionnaire, Consensus about conclusions and recommendations,

including positions and actions Consensus about the structure, line of reasoning and tone

of voice of the report Consensus about the Content:

– Reference Framework– Quick wins and pitfalls– Strategy scenarios

Planning of activities to finalise the final report

Comments Paul

Directors want to cooperate in procurement. COTS is an aspect of this.

If we think that there are no possibilities for cooperation in procuring COTS we should say so

Also give indications of long term possibilities Report should be sharp and very direct: it should get

them out of their chairs

Questionnaire

Actions:– Agree on questions– Plan interviews

Conclusions last meeting

Strategy scenarios are part of the positions and actions We will first define the positions and recommendations This will lead to a better model And concepts for strategies

Positions & actions

Different situations require different types of procurement– Action: analyse further, differentiate between

situations and procurement strategies Concentrate on roadside systems, they form largest

part of budget. This is independent from procurement strategy

Professionalising the procurement process and the implementation of the European Procurement Directives will lead to harmonisation of procurement strategies. – Action: define procurement model reflecting

different procurement strategies and NRA roles

Conclusions

Procurement strategies determine the extent COTS products can be used

NRA’s have different roles therefore may have different procurement strategies

The trend towards using functional requirements and service contracts limit the options for specifying COTS products directly

However COTS can be specified indirectly through the use of standards and common functional specifications.

Existing technical specifications can be used to define common functional requirements

NRA’s can use their influences in the national and European ITS organisations on the ongoing standardisation processes in the ITS industry

Some other conclusions

Most countries do not have a formal procurement strategy. In some cases there are several formal and/or informal strategies that are used in parallel.

There is no common architecture and it is doubted that there will be a common European one in the future that will be used in practice.

Reference framework

Layer model Boston matrix variant Procurement model SWOT /PEST Model Analysis

Strategies

Find out where your ITS budget is going and try to find out how you can reduce costs, risks and improve the implementation speed.

Find out which small investments have huge impacts Three procurement strategies

– “Classical” procurement using mix of functional and technical specifications

– “Professional” procurement using functional specifications– Procurement of service contracts

Focus on maintenance Integral contracts Follow the trend of standardisation already going on in industry Approach COTS US report: define capability level NRA for each

situation Role of NRA determines strategy: Manager of assets or manager

of facilities, etc

Capability analysis

Final report

Look and feel:– Structure– Line of reasoning– Tone of voice

Content– Reference framework– Quick wins and pifalls– Strategy scenarios– Attachements

Final report

Structure:– Executive summary– Introduction– COTS definition– Reference framework– Relevant issues– Strategies– Quick wins and pitfalls– Conclusions and recommendations– Positions– Annexes

Relevant issues

The largest part of ITS budget is spent on just a few (COTS) products and services. Most budget is spent on roadside equipment.

Share knowledge about lifecycle costs of ITS COTS products. Benchmarking

The specific national role of a NRA determines the available competences within the NRA organisation, this in its turn determines the role the market will play.

COTS products have specific application domains. Good products can be useless when used in the wrong

situation.

Quick wins

Use open standards for interface specifications: more suppliers, easier/cheaper maintenance.

Develop common functional specifications Use industrial developed products with a large number

of (configurable) interfaces. This makes that there is no need for a (single) standard.

Use products that have been tested and implemented in another situation or country, these then become a COTS-product for you.

Write tenders in international languages so to make it possible that “new” suppliers can enter your market

Pitfalls

Over hasting in buying process Time to market reduces continuously, industry is bringing new

product faster to the market so you must be aware that you are not part of the testing phase.

Customisation as part of COTS is very expensive if you haven’t described it in the tender specifications

COTS may work in one situation, but not in others Integrating COTS products may not lead to the required product,

they may function very well individually but if you put them together it is not what you desired.

If you cannot control COTS products you have a problem. Attractive all-in-one COTS solutions don’t exist. This is sales talk.

Know the limits of each COTS product COTS products are designed for large markets. So maybe you pay to

much for what you want because you get more functionality than you need.

As a customer you are just a number if you have a problem with a COTS product, you have to take it (the COTS product) as it is.

Benefits of COTS

COTS products are based on proven technology and can be implemented fast

You can respond quickly to political questions and issues that need fast implementation

COTS products are more easy to maintain, Standard spare parts, you don’t have to have your own stock

of spare parts., you can just replace the defect parts. Low and high end solutions available/possible Feedback to industry makes products better Benchmarks possible when you compare the products in

common situations You have less chance to forget anything in a specification,

most of them are integrated in the COTS products anyhow. Quick delivery possible, you don’t have to reserve productions

slots.