Node A6 · Acronym decoder
COTS
Commercial Off-The-Shelf
What it actually means
Products bought from the commercial market and used essentially as-is, rather than developed to order. COTS trades development cost and schedule for loss of control: the vendor's roadmap, obsolescence cycle, and license terms become your program risks, and "we'll just modify the COTS item" quietly converts it back into a development effort.
Where you'll meet it
Make/buy decisions, obsolescence management, and parts selection debates.