Staged adoption of software product families
Jan Bosch · Software Process Improvement and Practice · 2005
Abstract Several approaches to implement the concepts of software product families exist, but there is a tendency towards a revolutionary adoption. A revolutionary adoption of software product families is, however, a high‐risk undertaking that may easily fail. Even if an iterative, evolutionary adoption is applied, there is a substantial risk that mismatches may develop in the organization due to a sub‐optimal adoption approach. Mismatches between the optimal approach and the one currently used by an organization may lead to several problems, such as a high degree of erosion, mismatches between product needs and shared components, organizational ‘noise’ and inefficient knowledge management. This article (1) presents the problems resulting from the aforementioned mismatch, (2) presents the relevant decision dimensions that define the space of alternatives, (3) discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative and (4) presents a framework for selecting the best alternative for each decision dimension based on a three‐stage adoption model. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.