Goal-driven Product Derivation

The purpose of a software product line organization is to produce products. Some organizations adopt the software product line approach because they want better quality products, some want the products faster, and some want to produce the products using fewer resources. There are many different ways to produce products and which way is the best depends on which of many goals are the ultimate objective. In this issue of Strategic Software Engineering I will discuss how the specifications of goals for the production system during strategic planning affect how products are derived in a product line organization. (By the way, remember to visit www.splc.net to see what is happening at SPLC 2009)