Software Product Line Architecture Strategy to Develop Large Scale Products with Conflicting Customer Requirements

Developing software products for large scale integrated systems consisting of software and hardware components of different disciplines presents multi-faceted challenges ranging from maximum reusability and high maintainability to meeting diverse market segment requirements amidst conflicting customer needs and business interests. Doing this collaboratively across globally distributed business units with varied business models further complicates this task. This practice paper sheds light on the approach to handle these challenges by leveraging the software product line architecture strategies. By harnessing the unique strengths of each business unit and blending it with the architectural expertise we could successfully streamline the software development process resulting in the timely release of feature rich products across the globe, at the same time reducing the costs by applying design and code reusability. Software Architecture along with governance and project management play a vital role in handling this complex endeavor and we share our insights on it.