| A product line is an established concept in manufacturing, but is still a relatively new concept in software development. Three major Software Product Line (SPL) research outcomes of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) are their Framework for Software Product Line Practice (SPLP), their Product Line Technical Probe (PLTP) and their Patterns. Other European research describes SPLs as a Business, Architecture, Process and Organization (BAPO) paradigm. This thesis undertakes a case study of a medium-sized enterprise where the case for SPL adoption is plausible but not obvious, provides a method to conduct an SPL review based on SEI's SPLP framework and PLTP, and compares SEI's SPLP framework and a BAPO evaluation framework for base-lining an organization's current practices. It also develops a new pattern for organizations that want to better position themselves for SPL adoption. Finally, directions for future research activities in the SPL development area are identified. |
