Standardizing domain-specific components: a case study

Abstract

m Thera S.p.A. is a software house that produces finished and semi-finished software and provides smaller software organizations in Northern Italy with base application components on which they can build and specialize new products. Thera senior management is strongly committed to improving software development, in pursuit of business objectives. A key factor for improving software production is the introduction of standard domain analysis methods. Its success will be a cornerstone in the global development process in which all the software production will be redesigned and standardized on the basis of standard domain analysis and on the software reuse experience gained from it. hera S.p.A. is a software house, one of whose main business goals is to develop software products for the rational management of firms and their resources by evolving software systems that introduce well-defined, manageable, and flexible solutions for business, management, and production problems. Thera’s target customers are mainly manufacturers (of production management systems), insurance companies (actuarial management systems) and commercial organizations (accounting and commercial systems). In addition, Thera develops “ad hoc” products for clients with specific needs. It also produces semi-finished software products, acting as a supplier to smaller software organizations in Northern Italy by providing them with application base components. Even though Thera’s products already enjoy commercial success, senior management is strongly committed to improving the development process in order to pursue the following business objectives: