Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Challenges and Potential Benefits of Adopting Product Line Engineering in Start-Ups: A Preliminary Study

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Handbook of Re-Engineering Software Intensive Systems into Software Product Lines

  • 408 Accesses

Abstract

Software start-ups have gained attention from the software engineering research community in the recent past. However, the systematic adoption of existing engineering practices for use in start-ups has not attracted that much attention. The smooth transitioning towards software product lines in particular can be a major stumbling block for start-ups that must broaden their product portfolio to deal with divergent demands imposed by the market and the costs of maintaining their products. We conducted a preliminary study within two software start-ups, which revealed the motivating factors and benefits that would lead to the migration from a single product into a product line. Despite the benefits, tackling the challenges foreseen and the identification of features and their relations in the current product is the crucial first step towards implementing an appropriate highly-configurable product portfolio.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Antkiewicz, M., Ji, W., Berger, T., Czarnecki, K., Schmorleiz, T., Lämmel, R., Stănciulescu, t., Wasowski, A., Schaefer, I.: Flexible product line engineering with a virtual platform. In: Companion Proceedings of the 36th International Conference on Software Engineering, ICSE Companion 2014, pp. 532–535. ACM, New York, NY, USA (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bagheri, E., Gasevic, D.: Assessing the maintainability of software product line feature models using structural metrics. Software Quality Journal 19(3), 579–612 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bastos, J.F., da Mota Silveira Neto, P.A., OLeary, P., de Almeida, E.S., de Lemos Meira, S.R.: Software product lines adoption in small organizations. J. Syst. Softw. 131(C), 112–128 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Beck, K., Beedle, M., van Bennekum, A., Cockburn, A., Cunningham, W., Fowler, M., Grenning, J., Highsmith, J., Hunt, A., Jeffries, R., Kern, J., Marick, B., Martin, R.C., Mellor, S., Schwaber, K., Sutherland, J., Thomas, D.: Manifesto for agile software development (2001). URL http://www.agilemanifesto.org/

  5. Böckle, G., Muñoz, J.B., Knauber, P., Krueger, C.W., do Prado Leite, J.C.S., van der Linden, F., Northrop, L., Stark, M., Weiss, D.M.: Adopting and institutionalizing a product line culture. In: G.J. Chastek (ed.) Software Product Lines, pp. 49–59. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bosch, J.: Maturity and evolution in software product lines: Approaches, artefacts and organization. In: Software Product Lines, Second International Conference, SPLC 2, San Diego, CA, USA, August 19–22, 2002, Proceedings, pp. 257–271 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Catal, C.: Barriers to the adoption of software product line engineering. SIGSOFT Softw. Eng. Notes 34(6), 1–4 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Clements, P.C., Northrop, L.: Software Product Lines: Practices and Patterns. SEI Series in Software Engineering. Addison-Wesley (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Coleman, G., O’Connor, R.V.: An investigation into software development process formation in software start-ups. Journal of Enterprise Information Management 21(6), 633–648 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Crowne, M.: Why software product startups fail and what to do about it. evolution of software product development in startup companies. In: Engineering Management Conference, 2002. IEMC ’02. 2002 IEEE International, pp. 338–343 vol.1 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Dande, A., Eloranta, V.P., Kovalainen, A.J., Lehtonen, T., Leppänen, M., Salmimaa, T., Sayeed, M., Vuori, M., Rubattel, C., Weck, W., et al.: Software startup patterns-an empirical study. Tampereen teknillinen yliopisto. Tietotekniikan laitos. Raportti-Tampere University of Technology. Department of Pervasive Computing. Report; 4 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Deeds, D.L.: The role of R&D intensity, technical development and absorptive capacity in creating entrepreneurial wealth in high technology start-ups. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management 18(1), 29 – 47 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Dubinsky, Y., Rubin, J., Berger, T., Duszynski, S., Becker, M., Czarnecki, K.: An exploratory study of cloning in industrial software product lines. In: 2013 17th European Conference on Software Maintenance and Reengineering, pp. 25–34 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Eloranta, V.P.: Towards a pattern language for software start-ups. In: Proceedings of the 19th European Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs, EuroPLoP ’14, pp. 24:1–24:11. ACM, New York, NY, USA (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Fritsch, C., Hahn, R.: Product line potential analysis. In: R.L. Nord (ed.) Software Product Lines, pp. 228–237. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg (2004)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  16. Gacek, C., Knauber, P., Schmid, K., Clements, P.: Successful software product line develop ment in a small organization (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Ghanam, Y., Maurer, F., Abrahamsson, P.: Making the leap to a software platform strategy: Issues and challenges. Information and Software Technology 54(9), 968 – 984 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Giardino, C., Bajwa, S.S., Wang, X., Abrahamsson, P.: Key challenges in early-stage software startups. In: C. Lassenius, T. Dingsøyr, M. Paasivaara (eds.) Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming, pp. 52–63. Springer International Publishing, Cham (2015)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  19. Giardino, C., Paternoster, N., Unterkalmsteiner, M., Gorschek, T., Abrahamsson, P.: Software development in startup companies: The greenfield startup model. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 42(6), 585–604 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Giardino, C., Unterkalmsteiner, M., Paternoster, N., Gorschek, T., Abrahamsson, P.: What do we know about software development in startups? IEEE Software 31(5), 28–32 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Giardino, C., Wang, X., Abrahamsson, P.: Why early-stage software startups fail: A behavioral framework. In: C. Lassenius, K. Smolander (eds.) Software Business. Towards Continuous Value Delivery, pp. 27–41. Springer International Publishing, Cham (2014)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  22. Hanssen, G.K., Fígri, T.E.: Process fusion: An industrial case study on agile software product line engineering. J. Syst. Softw. 81(6), 843–854 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Hetrick, W.A., Krueger, C.W., Moore, J.G.: Incremental return on incremental investment: Engenio’s transition to software product line practice. In: Companion to the 21st ACM SIGPLAN Symposium on Object-oriented Programming Systems, Languages, and Applications, OOPSLA ’06, pp. 798–804. ACM, New York, NY, USA (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Jacobson, I., Griss, M., Jonsson, P.: Software Reuse: Architecture, Process and Organization for Business Success. ACM Press/Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., New York, NY, USA (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Kircher, M., Schwanninger, C., Groher, I.: Transitioning to a software product family approach - challenges and best practices. In: Software Product Line Conference, 2006 10th International, pp. 9 pp.–171 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Klotins, E.: Software start-ups through an empirical lens: are start-ups snowflakes? In: Proceedings of the International Workshop on Software-intensive Business: Start-ups, Ecosystems and Platforms (SiBW 2018), Espoo, Finland, December 3, 2018., pp. 1–14 (2018). URL http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2305/paper01.pdf

  27. Klotins, E., Unterkalmsteiner, M., Chatzipetrou, P., Gorschek, T., Prikladniki, R., Tripathi, N., Pompermaier, L.: A progression model of software engineering goals, challenges, and practices in start-ups. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering PP, 1–1 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Klotins, E., Unterkalmsteiner, M., Gorschek, T.: Software engineering in start-up companies: An analysis of 88 experience reports. Empirical Software Engineering 24(1), 68–102 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Knauber, P., Muthig, D., Schmid, K., Widen, T.: Applying product line concepts in small and medium-sized companies. IEEE Software 17(5), 88–95 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Krueger, C.W.: New methods in software product line development. In: 10th International Software Product Line Conference (SPLC’06), pp. 95–99 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Krüger, J., Al-Hajjaji, M., Schulze, S., Saake, G., Leich, T.: Towards automated test refactoring for software product lines. In: Proceedings of the 22Nd International Systems and Software Product Line Conference - Volume 1, SPLC ’18, pp. 143–148. ACM, New York, NY, USA (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Laporte, C.Y., Alexandre, S., O’Connor, R.V.: A software engineering lifecycle standard for very small enterprises. In: R.V. O’Connor, N. Baddoo, K. Smolander, R. Messnarz (eds.) Software Process Improvement, pp. 129–141. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg (2008)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  33. Li, Y., Schulze, S., Saake, G.: Reverse engineering variability from natural language documents: A systematic literature review. In: Proceedings of the 21st International Systems and Software Product Line Conference - Volume A, SPLC ’17, pp. 133–142. ACM, New York, NY, USA (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  34. McGregor, J.: Agile software product lines, deconstructed. Journal of Object Technology 7, 7–19 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Nazar, N., M. J. Rakotomahefa, T.: Analysis of a small company for software product line adoption — an industrial case study. International Journal of Computer Theory and Engineering 8, 313–322 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Nguyen-Duc, A., Wang, X., Abrahamsson, P.: What influences the speed of prototyping? an empirical investigation of twenty software startups. In: H. Baumeister, H. Lichter, M. Riebisch (eds.) Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming, pp. 20–36. Springer International Publishing, Cham (2017)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  37. Nóbrega, J.P., De Almeida, E.S., Lemos, S.R.: A cost framework specification for software product lines scenarios. 6th Workshop on Component–Based Development (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Paternoster, N., Giardino, C., Unterkalmsteiner, M., Gorschek, T., Abrahamsson, P.: Software development in startup companies: A systematic mapping study 56(10), 1200–1218 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  39. Pe’er, A., Keil, T.: Are all startups affected similarly by clusters? agglomeration, competition, firm heterogeneity, and survival. Journal of Business Venturing 28 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Ries, E.: The lean startup : how today’s entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses. Crown Business, New York (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  41. Rincón, L., Mazo, R., Salinesi, C.: Applies: A framework for evaluating organization’s motivation and preparation for adopting product lines. In: 2018 12th International Conference on Research Challenges in Information Science (RCIS), pp. 1–12 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  42. Riva, C., Rosso, C.D.: Experiences with software product family evolution. In: Sixth International Workshop on Principles of Software Evolution, 2003. Proceedings., pp. 161–169 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  43. Runeson, P., Höst, M.: Guidelines for conducting and reporting case study research in software engineering. Empirical Softw. Engg. 14(2), 131–164 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Sánchez-Gordón, M., Colomo-Palacios, R., de Amescua, A., O’Connor, R.: The Route to Software Process Improvement in Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises, pp. 109–136 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  45. Shull, F., Singer, J., Sjøberg, D.I.: Guide to Advanced Empirical Software Engineering. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  46. Suominen, A., Hyrynsalmi, S., Seppänen, M., Still, K., Aarikka-Stenroos, L.: Software start-up failure: An exploratory study on the impact of investment. In: IWSECO (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Terho, H., Suonsyrjä, S., Systä, K.: The developers dilemma: Perfect product development or fast business validation? In: P. Abrahamsson, A. Jedlitschka, A. Nguyen Duc, M. Felderer, S. Amasaki, T. Mikkonen (eds.) Product-Focused Software Process Improvement, pp. 571–579. Springer International Publishing, Cham (2016)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  48. Trigaux, J.C., Heymans, P.: Software product lines: State of the art (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  49. Tripathi, N., Klotins, E., Prikladnicki, R., Oivo, M., Pompermaier, L.B., Kudakacheril, A.S., Unterkalmsteiner, M., Liukkunen, K., Gorschek, T.: An anatomy of requirements engineering in software startups using multi-vocal literature and case survey. Journal of Systems and Software 146, 130 – 151 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Unterkalmsteiner, M., Abrahamsson, P., Wang, X., Nguyen-Duc, A., Shah, S.M.A., Bajwa, S.S., Baltes, G.H., Conboy, K., Cullina, E., Dennehy, D., Edison, H., Fernández-Sánchez, C., Garbajosa, J., Gorschek, T., Klotins, E., Hokkanen, L., Kon, F., Lunesu, I., Marchesi, M., Morgan, L., Oivo, M., Selig, C., Seppänen, P., Sweetman, R., Tyrväinen, P., Ungerer, C., Yagüe, A.: Software startups - A research agenda. e-Informatica 10(1), 89–124 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  51. Waseem, M., Ikram, N.: Architecting activities evolution and emergence in agile software development: An empirical investigation - initial research proposal. In: Agile Processes, in Software Engineering, and Extreme Programming - 17th International Conference, XP 2016, Edinburgh, UK, May 24–27, 2016, Proceedings, pp. 326–332 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  52. Weiss, D.M., Clements, P.C., Kang, K.B., Krueger, C.W.: Software product line hall of fame. 10th International Software Product Line Conference (SPLC’06) pp. 237–237 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  53. Yau, A., Murphy, C.: Is a rigorous agile methodology the best development strategy for small scale tech startups? Tech. Rep. MS-CIS-13-01, Penn Engineering (2013). URL http://repository.upenn.edu/cis_reports/980

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors of this paper would like to thank all practitioners who found time and motivation to share their experiences. This work is supported by Flanders Make vzw, the strategic research centre for the manufacturing industry.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Antwerp, Antwerpen, Belgium

    Mercy Njima

  2. University of Antwerp – Flanders Make vzw, Antwerpen, Belgium

    Serge Demeyer

Authors
  1. Mercy Njima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Serge Demeyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Serge Demeyer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. École de Technologie Supérieure, Universite du Québec, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Roberto E. Lopez-Herrejon

  2. Tecnalia, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Spain

    Jabier Martinez

  3. Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Linz, Austria

    Wesley Klewerton Guez Assunção

  4. Sorbonne Universités & CNRS-LIP6, Paris, Paris, France

    Tewfik Ziadi

  5. IRISA-Inria, Institut Universitaire de France (IUF) & University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France

    Mathieu Acher

  6. Departamento de Informática, Federal University of Parana (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil

    Silvia Vergilio

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Njima, M., Demeyer, S. (2023). Challenges and Potential Benefits of Adopting Product Line Engineering in Start-Ups: A Preliminary Study. In: Lopez-Herrejon, R.E., Martinez, J., Guez Assunção, W.K., Ziadi, T., Acher, M., Vergilio, S. (eds) Handbook of Re-Engineering Software Intensive Systems into Software Product Lines. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11686-5_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11686-5_18

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-11685-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-11686-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation