A practical strategy for industrial reuse improvement

✍ Scribed by Antony Powell; Duncan Brown

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 511 KB
• Volume: 4
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1077-4866
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1670(199809)4:3<173::aid-spip101>3.0.co;2-3

✦ Synopsis

Rolls-Royce plc have first-hand experience of delivering systematic software reuse in the production of real-time embedded control systems for civil aeroengine applications. Reuse levels of 80% have been achieved between control system developments giving substantial economic savings, along with reduced cycle times and assured software quality. However, since these early savings were aided by intrinsic similarities between projects, there has been no room for complacency. Faced with new and more diverse applications, the reuse process will increasingly be a major determinant of business performance. A continuous search for reuse improvement has therefore become a strategic necessity. This paper presents some results of the PRIME project in the form of a six-step reuse improvement strategy. It is notable for the concept of improvement paths -the effective 'policy levers' that a project manager can use to control the reuse process. The improvement framework and lessons learned will be of interest to practitioners interested or actively involved in reuse and to researchers engaged in reuse technology transfer.