The Product Line Technical Probe

Challenges:
Whether your organization is considering a software product line approach or already has started one, you have several important questions:

What practices should we institute or improve?
What are the greatest challenges we should address?
What strengths do we have to build upon?

In either case the Product Line Technical Probe can help you with the bottom line question

What can we do to increase our chances for success?

Overview:
The Product Line Technical Probe is a method for examining an organization's readiness to adopt or ability to succeed with a software product line approach. The probe is a diagnostic tool that utilizes the SEI's Framework for Product Line Practice as a reference model. The results of the probe are a set of findings that portray an organization's strengths and challenges with regard to a product line approach.

Benefits:
The Product Line Technical Probe provides a crucial baseline of findings about organizational practices that directly support a product line approach. These findings can be used to develop an action plan with the goal of making the organization more capable of achieving product line success and achieving business goals

Who Would Benefit:
The Product Line Technical Probe provides a planning basis for senior software managers, software product line managers, software product or project managers, and technical leads.

Example Uses:
The Product Line Technical Probe has been used successfully in several organizations. In each case the organization has used the results as a foundation for planning and guiding their strategic efforts.

Description:
The Product Line Technical Probe consists of three phases: preparation, probe, and follow-on.

Preparation Phase
During the preparation phase, the probe team works with key managers and technical leads to establish the context, goals and logistics for the probe phase.

Probe Phase
The primary form of data gathering in this phase is structured interviews of small groups of managers, technical staff and support staff. Each group will be a peer group with similar organizational responsibilities but no reporting relationships. Interviews topics are based on the groups and the context established during the preparation phase and the Framework. Additionally, the probe team may examine relevant documentation.

Following data gathering, the probe team will consolidate and compare the data gathered against practices in the Framework and will identify findings classified as strengths and challenges based upon that comparison. Findings may include information that lies outside of the scope of the Framework if the team determines the information has an impact on the organization's product line readiness.

The probe phase concludes with the team presenting the findings to an audience designated as appropriate by the organizational sponsor.

Follow-on Phase
This phase is optional and may consist of action planning and specific technical support related to the probe findings.

Availability:
SEI staff will work with a customer team to plan and conduct the probe and any follow-on activities.

Additional Information:

Technical details: Larry Jones
Arranging Product Line Technical Probe services: Linda Northrop

Keywords:
Software product lines, launching a software product line, software product line practices, improving software product line practice, planning a software product line approach.