Software Product Line Acquisition: A Companion to A Framework for Software Product Line Practice, Version 3.0

This document is a Web-based document that will aid the Department of Defense acquisition community in a manner similar to the way A Framework for Software Product Line Practice^SM is serving the software development community. Though the acquisition experience base for software product lines is smaller than that for development, we can nevertheless draw on successful practices in the acquisition base. We will publish updated versions to the companion as the acquisition community gains additional experience with commissioning and supporting product lines. We welcome your feedback and contributions. Please mail comments to lmn@sei.cmu.edu.

Linda M. Northrop
Director, Product Line Systems Program

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Table of Contents – Version 3.0

We have provided two methods to traverse the information. Each content page will provide

a direct link back to this page, via a table of contents button, to browse the material randomly
next section and previous section buttons to browse the material in sequence

Hyperlinks to documents and other areas within and external to the SEI will require the reader to employ the browser's Back button or a bookmark saved for this page. This includes hyperlinks to A Framework for Software Product Line Practice which has a very similar look and feel but is not in the direct traversal path of this framework document.

• Introduction
  • The Audience for This Document
  • Overview and Reader's Guide
  • Bibliography
• General Concepts of Software Product Lines and Their Acquisition
  • The Product Line Approach
  • General Aspects of Acquisition
    • Terminology
    • Basic Acquisition Processes
  • Acquisitions and Software Product Lines
    • Core Asset Acquisition
    • Product Acquisition
    • DoD Acquisition Environment and Product Lines
  • Applying the Companion Practice Areas
    • Implementing the Practice Areas in General
    • Software Product Line Practice Patterns and Acquisition
  • Bibliography
• Software Product Line Practice Framework Practice Areas
  • Software Engineering Practice Areas
    • Architecture Definition
    • Architecture Evaluation
    • Component Development
    • COTS Utilization
    • Mining Existing Assets
    • Requirements Engineering
    • Software System Integration
    • Testing
    • Understanding Relevant Domains
  • Technical Management Practice Areas
    • Configuration Management
    • Data Collection, Metrics, and Tracking
    • Make/Buy/Mine/Commission Analysis
    • Process Definition
    • Scoping
    • Technical Planning
    • Technical Risk Management
    • Tool Support
  • Organizational Management Practice Areas
    • Building a Business Case
    • Customer Interface Management
    • Developing an Acquisition Strategy
    • Funding
    • Launching and Institutionalizing
    • Market Analysis
    • Operations
    • Organizational Planning
    • Organizational Risk Management
    • Structuring the Organization
    • Technology Forecasting
    • Training
• Acknowledgement
• Glossary
• Additional Frequently Asked Questions
• Some Key Acquisition Information Web Sites