There is a rule of thumb in software development that for every $1 spent to develop original software code an additional $3 is spent to maintain the software. In other words, software that costs $2 million to develop will eventually cost $6 million. There are many reasons for this, including routine maintenance, but modifications that are required due to user requests as well as operating system and infrastructure changes are to be expected.
When you add the requirements of MIL-STD-130 and DFARS, with evolving standards and changing policy regulations, the cost to maintain software can easily increase an additional 50%, especially when testing against government systems. So a $2 million software application can increase to over $8 million in ongoing maintenance.
This creates a strong argument for the use of COTS software where these costs are spread across the entire user community - hundreds or thousands of users. Traditionally a modest ongoing maintenance or license fee is all that is required. Add to that cost savings the technical know-how of a commercial enterprise dedicated to UID, and you have a winning formula.
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