A software product line life cycle cost estimation model

Most software product line cost estimation models are calibrated only to local product line data rather than to a broad range of product lines. They also underestimate the return on investment for product lines by focusing only on development vs. life-cycle savings, and by applying writing-for-reuse surcharges to the entire product rather that to the portions of the product being reused. This paper offers some insights based on the exploratory development and collaborative refinement of a software product line life cycle economics model, the Constructive Product Line Investment Model (COPLIMO) that addresses these shortfalls. COPLIMO consists of two components: a product line development cost model and an annualized post-development life cycle extension. It focuses on modeling the portions of the software that involve product-specific newly-built software, fully reused black-box product line components, and product line components that are reused with adaptation. This model is an extension built upon USC-CSE's well-calibrated, multi-parameter Constructive Cost Model (COCOMO) II, tailored down to cover the essentials of strategic software product line decision issues and available supporting data from industries.