Experiences with software product family evolution

The evolution of product family typically oscillates between growing and consolidating phases. The migration path starts from a copy/paste approach that offers the fastest time-to-market and then moves towards a mature software platform that offers a higher throughput of products. We have identified several issues that harm the evolution of the family: new requirements that can break the architectural integrity of the family, increasing level of bureaucracy in the organization and a slower process of change. We present two approaches for coping with the family evolution: architecture assessment and architecture reconstruction. We also present Nokia case studies where the methods have been successfully applied.