Customization of software for an unprepared environment and maintaining software stability

Abstract

Customization of the existing software for a new customer can become problematic if negative factors are not controlled and prevented. This paper discusses customization of software product line (SPL) for an unprepared environment and emphasis importance of identifying this risk factor. The SPL can be viewed as a set of applications for similar environments that share many common elements (processes, interfaces, data models, etc.), but it is important that each instance in the SPL application family is also viewed as a consistent and stabile system that has some specific properties, comparing to others. SPL customization - implementing those specific properties should not endanger stability of the common elements and the system as a whole. Very often preparation for the SPL customization is not as serious as for developing a new software product. That can cause SPL customization for a pretty unknown environment which can be unprepared for accepting such software. Environment that is not willing or not capable to accept (or understand) software in its full potential is named unprepared environment, in this paper. Problems that can arise in an unprepared environment can cause that implemented system is unstable or improperly used, which is described through the case study.