Since its inception, CP-TA has had a laser focus on solving the issue of interoperability for COTS components based on open standards. There is much work left to do, but we have made strides to ensure that interoperability is no longer a barrier to achieving the promised benefits of COTS-based design of standard architectures like ATCA, MicroTCA and AMC. Our new article in CommsDesign outlines what we have been up to, and how we are working with other organizations like PICMG, SCOPE Alliance and SA Forum to optimize the value of COTS-based components for network equipment providers.

Developers see interoperability as an important factor - equal to product quality - in making their make-versus-buy decisions, and interoperability issues are one of the main reasons some standards-based designs have declined in popularity. CP-TA is actively working to provide the guidance and tools that will help the industry resolve such issues and ensure that COTS-based communications systems provide more capability at lower cost in less time than proprietary design efforts can achieve.