Skills

Lesson S1: All the usual sound engineering tasks are still needed, so engineers with these skills are also still needed.

You still need qualified engineering staff to succeed with COTS-based systems. People at higher organizational levels often hope that the use of COTS products will reduce their need for expertise, but that is not the case.

Lesson S2: New skills are needed as well.

The use of COTS products creates a need for some skills that are new (or at least not nearly as familiar as traditional custom software development skills). There is a fundamental difference between asking a person to write new code on a blank piece of paper and asking them to take several existing products and make them work together.

Lesson S3: It may be beneficial to augment your staff's skills with those available from consultants.

It may be hard to completely staff all the skills you need, and it may be that you do not need the skills full-time. Consultants can complement your skills nicely.