Variability in Software-Intensive Product Development

Over the last decade, the management of software variability has become a big bottleneck in the maintenance and evolution of software intensive products. The VariBru project deals with a strategic important problem of variability for software-intensive product developers and ICT consultancy companies. Software intensive products are products that either completely or either largely consist of software. Mass customization and customer intimacy force the industry to support more variability in their software. Many companies are having trouble offering a high degree of product diversity in an efficient way. In order to succesfully introduce more variability, developers need to master and balance three perspectives: the technology, the engineering and the context perspective. VariBru is researching the challenges of the individual perspectives as well as the relations among those perspectives. However, solely controlling the three perspectives and their relations is not sufficient. We therefore also investigate the most optimal approach for a given situation, and how we can control and reduce the riscs introduced by a chosen approach. Varibru is considered by the Brussels Region to be of crucial importance because of the high degree of software-intensive product developers and ICT consultants combined with specialized research facilities. The exploitation of a center of expertise in Brussel will futhermore make Brussels a unique attraction pole for students, academics, and innovative companies.