Developing portfolios of enterprise applications using software product lines

Abstract

Research on Component-Oriented Business Applications has focussed on Specifications of Components and Component Markets. Another approach based on Mass Customization and Software Product Lines is presented here. Mass Customization is a strategic concept used in many industries to offer products that are customer-individual, but based on a limited number of building blocks. Thus, customer value is maximized while developing the systems is still economical. Software Product Lines are a promising approach to allow the adoption of Mass Customization for Software in general and Business Applications in particular. Unfortunately, existing literature on Software Product Lines largely ignores the importance of strategic decisions on the product portfolio. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a well-known and successfully used Quality Management method that can help companies identify true customer needs and the features needed to fulfil these needs. This paper demonstrates how QFD can be used for Product Portfolio Planning, thus offering potentially great benefits.