Opening up software product line engineering

ABSTRACT

The software industry is experiencing a shift towards more open processes, a globalized market and more active and engaged customers and end users. This change seems natural and inevitable, imposing necessary changes in how software product line organizations plan and drive the development of their products. This paper gives insight into some recent developments in a product line organization and discusses how their efforts have helped them in improving their development processes and their product line. Based on this experience, this paper provides some preliminary guidelines to both industry and research, indicating that software product line organizations should exploit open innovation, engage customers, build communities and simplify processes and organization.

References

1. Bosch, J. Software product lines: organizational alternatives. in 23d International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE'01). 2001. Toronto, Canada IEEE Computer Society.
2. Mannion, M. Organizing for software product line engineering. in 10th International Workshop on Software Technology and Engineering Practice (STEP'02). 2002. Montreal, Canada: IEEE Computer Society.
3. Birk, A., et al., Product line engineering, the state of the practice. IEEE Software, 2003. 20(6): p. 52--60.
4. Rajlich, V., Changing the paradigm of software engineering, in Communications of the ACM. 2006. p. 67--70.
5. Cockburn, A., Agile Software Development. The Agile Software Development Series, ed. H. J. Cockburn A. 2002: Addison-Wesley.
6. Van Alstyne, M., The State of Network Organization: A Survey in Three Frameworks. Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, 1997. 7(3): p. 83--151.
7. Trist, E. L. and K. W. Bamforth, Some social and psychological consequences of the longwall method of coal-getting. Human Relations, 1951. 4(1): p. 3--38.
8. Taylor, F. W., The Principles of Scientific Management. 1911: Newton Library Harper & Row.
9. Trist, E. L., A Concept of Organizational Ecology. Australian Journal of Management, 1977. 2(2): p. 161--175.
10. Trist, E. L., Referent Organizations and the Development of Inter-Organizational Domains. Human Relations, 1983. 36: p. 269--284.
11. Bosch, J. From Software Product Lines to Software Ecosystems. in 13th International Software Product Line Conference (SPLC'09). 2009. San Fransisco, USA: IEEE Computer Society.
12. Messerschmitt, D. G. and C. Szyperski, Software Ecosystems, Understanding an Indespensable Technology and Industry. 2003, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: The MIT Press. 424.
13. Schwaber, K., Beedle, M., Agile Software Development with Scrum. 2001: Prentice Hall.
14. Agile Manifesto. 2009: http://www.agilemanifesto.org/.
15. Hanssen, G. K. and T. E. Fægri, Process Fusion - Agile Product Line Engineering: an Industrial Case Study. Journal of Systems and Software, 2008. 81: p. 843--854.
16. Hanssen, G. K. and T. E. Fægri. Agile Customer Engagement: a Longitudinal Qualitative Case Study. in 5th International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering (ISESE'06). 2006. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: IEEE Computer Society.
17. McGregor, J. D., Agile Software Product Lines, Deconstructed. Journal of Object Technology, 2008. 7(8): p. 7--19.
18. Grunbacher, P. and R. O. Briggs. Surfacing tacit knowledge in requirements negotiation: experiences using EasyWinWin. in 34th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'01). 2001. Hawaii, USA: IEEE Computer Society.
19. Hanssen, G. K., et al. Software entropy in agile product evolution. in 43d Hawaiian International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'10). 2010. Hawaii, USA: IEEE Computer Society.
20. Takeuchi, H. and I. Nonaka, The New New Product Development Game. Harward Buisiness Review, 1986.
21. Daft, R. L., R. H. Lengel, and L. K. Trevino, Message Equivocality, Media Selection, and Manager Performance: Implications for Information Systems. MIS Quarterly, 1987. 11(3): p. 355--366.
22. Chesbrough, H., Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating And Profiting from Technology. 2003, Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation.
23. Clements, P. C. and L. Northrop, Software Product Lines: Practices and Patterns. 2002: Addison-Wesley.
24. Boehm, B. and R. Turner, Balancing Agility and Discipline - A Guide for the Perplexed. 2004: Addison-Wesley. 266.
25. March, J. G., Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. Organization Science, 1991. 2(1): p. 16.
26. Fægri, T. E. and G. K. Hanssen, Collaboration and process fragility in evolutionarily product development. IEEE Software, 2007. 24(3): p. 96--104.

Index Terms

• Social and professional topics

  • Professional topics

    • Management of computing and information systems

      • Project and people management

• Software and its engineering

  • Software creation and management

    • Software development process management

    • Software development techniques

      • Reusability

  • Software notations and tools

    • Software configuration management and version control systems

    • Software libraries and repositories