using domain-driven design to evaluate commercial off-the-shelf software
Purchasing a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) package solution can be a complex and daunting task. Selecting and evaluating the right candidate is difficult, especially when the solution aims at the heart of company business. The company's competitive edge must be maintained, while at the same time ensuring the intended goals such as reduced costs and better functional coverage. A good Enterprise Architecture should be a prime tool when evaluating several solutions against the company's needs.In this paper we will recount the experience and lessons learned when we evaluated three COTS systems to replace a set of legacy oil trading and operations systems. Based on weaknesses in our Enterprise Architecture, we applied strategic domain-driven design principles to extend our Enterprise Architecture during the evaluation. We found that these techniques enabled us to thoroughly analyse our domain with the domain experts and provide answers based on tacit domain knowledge, without going through the cost and effort of performing a full-scale architectural analysis. At the same time, the tacit domain knowledge became explicit and shared, easing the communication with various stakeholders.
domain-driven design enterprise architecture context map responsibility layer information architecture