software supply chain

Describing the Software
Supply Chain

Sophisticated IT solutions have much in
common with other engineering undertakings.
Each IT solution is a collection of components.
Each component or its parts can be
a) developed by its supplier or on that supplier’s
behalf by their subcontractors; or b)
licensed to the supplier by another vendor
or obtained from Open Source repositories;
or c) acquired outright by the supplier.
However, this complexity of components
within components can be organized. In the
physical world many industries create complex
products that contain components from
multiple sources. Processes in the manufacturing
of physical goods have two parallels that
can be adopted in the cyber world. One is the
use of a Bill of Materials (BOM) to organize
the hierarchy of product components. The
other is the use of supply chain management
processes, which describe the business activities
associated with satisfying a customer’s
demand spanning the range from the supplier’s
supplier to the customer’s customer.
By recognizing and adapting techniques pioneered
for the physical world, IT suppliers can
identify natural control points within software
supply chains. To identify these points, consider
that each software supplier has three
links of the supply chain. For these three
links each IT supplier takes similar actions:
1. Supplier Sourcing: Select the suppliers,
establish the specification for the supplier’s
deliverables, and receive software/
hardware deliverables from the suppliers;
2. Product Development and Testing:
Build, assemble, integrate and test components
and finalize for delivery; and,
3. Product Delivery: Deliver and
maintain their product components
to their customer

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