Getting Started with Software Product Lines

It can be difficult to decipher where to begin with your transition to software product line (SPL) practice. The important question is... where do you start next Monday? Choosing the right software product line approach is crucial. While some organizations attempting to use early generation SPL methods have found that barriers to adoption with these approaches can be high, similar organizations using new generation SPL methods from BigLever Software have achieved breakthrough success with minimal upfront investment and non-disruptive transitions.

At BigLever, we've played an instrumental role in the industry's most notable software product line success stories. Experience shows us that successful transitions to software product line practice utilize three common strategies:

Start with what you've got
Recent case studies show that bottom-up approaches that reuse existing assets are dramatically more effective than early generation approaches that emphasize large scale, top-down redesigns of your software product lines and organizational assets.

Use an incremental transition strategy
Incremental transition strategies – proven successful in recent BigLever customer deployments – enable you to achieve immediate results with significantly greater efficiency and much less disruption than early generation “big bang” approaches.

Create a pilot as the catalyst for change
The key to a vigorous and sustainable transition to software product line practice lies in the creation of a tangible, small-scale, operational pilot project. A pilot can simultaneously energize and accelerate your transition, elucidate analysis and design, gain and maintain buy-in, and establish your foundation for full deployment.

Leverage the experts – and become one

Regardless of your current stage – from just learning to experienced practitioner – BigLever can help you design and implement a simple, hands-on pilot project as the first step in your incremental transition. For more information and a special Getting Started Package offer from BigLever, see our Getting Started Guide.