Organizations of all types and sizes are discovering that a product line strategy, when skillfully implemented, can improve productivity, quality, and time to market. Making the move to product lines, however, is a business and technical decision, and requires considerable changes in the way organizations practice software engineering, technical management, and organizational management.

Over the years, the SEI has become a recognized international leader in software product lines and has developed the momentum and the knowledge base necessary to effect in the coming years the widespread transition of effective product line practices. Organizations have turned to the SEI and its product line resources to launch and perfect their product line efforts. In particular, the SEI developed

• a comprehensive integrated conceptual framework, Framework for Software Product Line Practice, of the essential activities and practice areas needed to succeed with software product lines
• the Software Product Line Acquisition: A Companion to Framework for Software Product Line Practice, an acquisition-oriented companion to the Framework that focuses exclusively on acquisition aspects of product line practices
• a set of patterns to guide the application of the essential practices
• two diagnostic methods, the Product Line Quick Look and the Product Line Technical Probe, to identify organizational product line strengths and challenges
• methods and approaches for performing product line analysis, defining a product line architecture, developing a product line business case, and mining legacy assets for a product line

Through publications, books, workshops, and conferences, the SEI has also established the basis for a software product line community infrastructure. The book Software Product Lines: Practices and Patterns was published and to date has sold over 4,000 copies, and has been translated into both Japanese and Chinese. The first product line course, entitled Software Product Lines, developed in 2003, was delivered to 245 individuals representing over 50 organizations, and represents the first course in a Software Product Line Curriculum now in early development. The SEI has organized more than ten product line workshops as well as the first four international software product line conferences.

The SEI has also successfully piloted its practices and methods with select early adopter organizations.

The Army Technology Applications Program Office (TAPO) and their prime contractor Rockwell Collins report that their product line for the Army's special operations helicopters supports easy insertion of new technology (e.g., multi-function displays and other line replacement units [LRUs]) and accommodates integration of subsystems by third-party developers. As a result, their product line will now be used to support a more extensive fleet of Army utility and cargo helicopters. TAPO was supported in their efforts by the SEI.

The Army "after-action" reports following the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan underscored the results of the exhaustive architecture study that the SEI performed on the Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) system—the principal tactical digital command-and-control system for the U.S. Army. The SEI is engaged in a multi-year effort working directly with the FBCB2 Program Office and its prime contractor (Northrop Grumman) to re-architect FBCB2 as a software product line that will better meet modifiability, scalability, performance, reliability, usability, and security needs, as well as correct flaws identified during the SEI's evaluation and FBCB2's recent operational use. This new software product line will enable FBCB2 to be used efficiently and cost effectively across the force on platforms in addition to the 40 that it currently supports. SEI product line and architecture methods are being adopted by Northrop Grumman and are being applied directly to the FBCB2 system. Assistant Secretary of the Army Claude Bolton personally endorsed the re-architecting of FBCB2 to a product line architecture.

Five other Army programs (FBCB2, Army Training Support Center [ATSC], FCS, Advanced Multiplex Test System [AMTS], and Agile Commander) are in the early stages of adopting a product line approach for their software-intensive systems. All are being supported in their efforts by the SEI. The Navy's Rangeware software product line produced by NUWC continues to improve its practices (with SEI assistance) and provide quantifiable benefits to the Navy.

Using software product line practices, the tractor manufacturer John Deere went from producing one software system in ten years to producing two software systems in one year. Argon Engineering, a defense contractor that develops communication systems that search, identify, and capture signals, uses SEI-defined product line practices to develop and deploy many of its systems. The company reports increased customer satisfaction, shorter development cycles, and decreased costs. Austin Info Systems (AIS), one of only two major subcontractors on the Army Future Combat Systems (FCS) Program, is also using SEI practices and resources to achieve its business goals through software product lines. Agilent (an international telecom company) and National Cash Register (NCR) are both using the product line practice patterns developed by the SEI to roll out their company-wide software product line initiatives.

In 2003, Robert Bosch, the world's second leading supplier of automotive technology, announced a company-wide software product line initiative that directly embraces SEI product line methods. The SEI helped Bosch develop a corporate-wide product line adoption plan that includes use of the SEI Product Line Technical Probe, as well as product line practice patterns and adoption strategies. The company has now mandated that each of its business units initiate a product line over the next few years, and anticipates that using SEI product line practice methods will enable it to maintain its competitive edge and high-quality products in a cost-effective way. Bosch already reports substantial advantages in piloting the framework for embedded software: 1/3 savings in memory resource consumption and slightly better timing behavior while providing the same features in core assets; and higher reuse potential than with the former reuse approach.

Through contacts with the SEI, both IBM and Microsoft have become interested in software product lines. IBM Research included software product lines in its internationally respected Global Technology Outlook for 2003 and specifically referenced the SEI work. Microsoft is using software product lines as the underlying motivator for its software factories tool environment to be released in 2004.

A special issue of IEEE Software dedicated to software product lines was published in 2002. Two SEI staff members were co-editors and three SEI staff members authored articles that appeared in the issue. A second issue in 2004 featured an article on a product line business model that was co-authored by two members from the SEI's PLP team.