Outline Packaged software has proved to be a very important aspect in the application of information technology change management. Current managers are resorting to this due to its efficiency, ability to deliver in bigger volumes and its cost-effectiveness. However, traditional approaches to decision-making driven purely by intuition are no longer adequate to deal with the complex problems faced by the modern application criteria of COTS projects (O’Brien 2004, p.127). It is thus important to develop systems that provide the information and analysis necessary for the decisions which must be made in an approach to successfully launch a company IT process. The systems that have been identified are known as decision support systems (Gordon & Judith 2003, p.76). Despite the fact that database systems provide an important component to decision support systems, the complexity that has generated the problems that now face the policymaker are not similar to the ones which database systems have been applied in the past (Gordon & Judith 2003, p.76). It therefore calls for a properly thought out and well executed software project to ensure deliverables are met. To avoid the failures experienced by other organizations, TMH Corporation will have to incorporate some of the additional activities that are not common to the intensive COTS projects. Introduction The importance of packaged software has emerged to be a very important aspect when applying a development strategy in the information technology departments of an organization. The level of interest that different companies have developed in the vendor-supplied software is a clear indication of how this new approach to information system like the commercial off the shelf (COTS) application has been embraced. The promise that COTS solution will offer not only a cheaper but also faster solution to the frequently problematic custom-developed IT projects is the drive behind this new IT system phenomenon. THM Corporation has grown fairly quickly due to success in both exploration and the production of oil and gas from established fields off the west coast of Australia, the Timor Sea and Bass Strait. They are currently exploring East Timor and off the coast of Vietnam. The company has also developed substantial markets for its products in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Australia and has multiple offices in the Region. Rapid growth has meant that its information systems have not always kept pace with its physical growth. Roger Gates, as the Chief Financial Officer, would highly welcome any solution that would be cost-effective, offers shorter and easy schedule for implementation as well as high efficiency with lower risk in the business process of the company. Most organizations have stuck to the traditional waterfall system highlighted in the figure below. Fig. 1: Traditional System Development Life Cycle (Waterfall) [Adapted from Tayntor (2006, p.28)]. However, Tayntor (2006, p.28) highlights the changes to SDLC Phase during a COTS implementation in the table below: Standard Waterfall │            SDLC Phas │ COTS Implementation Project initiation               Minimal changes; the stage may encompass i