Assess Your Software Product Line Opportunity

Before you get your organization started down the software product line path, you'll first want to understand if a software product line approach is indeed right for you, and if so, what is the best approach for you. Does your organization produce a set of software-intensive systems that share a similar set of features or capabilities? Would it like to? If so, then you certainly have a product line opportunity.

To assess your software product line opportunity, you will want to do four things:

• Assess your current software product line state
• Define your desired software product line state
• Characterize the cost, benefit, and risk of making the transition
• Determine your best transition path

New software product line practitioners typically fall into one of two categories. Either you have developed a single software product and would like to expand to a product line of similar products, or you have already developed a collection of similar software products and a would like expand and maintain them more efficiently. If you are starting with a single product, think of your current state as a software product line with one product and no variations. If you are starting with multiple products, assess your current state using the taxonomy of software product lines described in the Introduction. Pay particular attention to the current inefficiencies that are causing your organization "pain".

Next, define your desired software product line state, again using the taxonomy described in the Introduction. Think carefully about the appropriate binding times. Who and when are decisions about product variations bound for a particular product? What are the most appropriate production mechanisms for representing and instantiating variation points? Carefully define an approach with efficient evolution of the software artifacts (minimize the feedback and manual update paths). How will you manage the product line scope?

With your current and desired states understood, do the cost/benefit/risk analysis to characterize what you hope to gain by moving to a product line approach and the costs to get there. What are the risks of making the transition and what are the risks of not? Review the Benefits and Success Story chapters to find examples of the potential benefits. Use the cost/benefit/risk analysis to determine whether a software product line approach is right for you and to determine the level of urgency for making the transition.

Given your cost/benefit/risk profile, next determine the transition path that is most appropriate. The transition should provide the best benefits with the least cost and effort, with acceptable risk in the shortest possible time.

If you would like outside help, the vendors listed on this site offer various forms of assistance for assessing your software product line opportunity, including probes, workshops, and assessments conducted on-site with your organization.

Next Section >