Abstract
An important activity to maximize Business/IT alignment is selecting a software configuration that fits a given context. Feature models represent the space of software configurations in terms of distinguished characteristics (features). However, they fall short in representing the effect of context on the adoptability and operability of features and, thus, of configurations. Capturing this effect helps to minimize the dependency on analysts and domain experts when deriving a software for a given business and IT environment. In this paper, we propose contextual feature models as a means to explicitly represent and reason about the interplay between the variability of both features and context. We devise a formal framework and automated analyses which enable to systematically derive products aligned with an organizational context. We also propose FM-Context, a support tool for modeling and analysis.
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ali, R., Dalpiaz, F., Giorgini, P.: A Goal-based Framework for Contextual Requirements Modeling and Analysis. Requirements Engineering 15(4), 439–458 (2010)
Benavides, D., Trinidad, P., Ruiz-Cortés, A.: Automated Reasoning on Feature Models. In: Pastor, Ó., Falcão e Cunha, J. (eds.) CAiSE 2005. LNCS, vol. 3520, pp. 491–503. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)
Bosch, J.: Design and Use of Software Architectures: Adopting and Evolving a Product-Line Approach. Addison-Wesley Professional (2000)
Chan, Y.E., Sabherwal, R., Bennet Thatcher, J.B.: Antecedents and outcomes of strategic IS alignment: an empirical investigation. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 53(1), 27–47 (2006)
Czarnecki, K., Helsen, S., Eisenecker, U.: Staged Configuration Using Feature Models. In: Nord, R.L. (ed.) SPLC 2004. LNCS, vol. 3154, pp. 266–283. Springer, Heidelberg (2004)
Czarnecki, K., Helsen, S., Eisenecker, U.: Formalizing Cardinality-based Feature Models and their Specialization. Software Process: Improvement and Practice 10(1), 7–29 (2005)
Eiter, T., Gottlob, G., Mannila, H.: Disjunctive Datalog. ACM Transactions on Database Systems 22(3), 364–418 (1997)
Hartmann, H., Trew, T.: Using Feature Diagrams with Context Variability to Model Multiple Product Lines for Software Supply Chains. In: Proceedings of the 12th International Software Product Line Conference (SPLC 2008), pp. 12–21 (2008)
Henderson, J.C., Venkatraman, N.: Strategic alignment: Leveraging information technology for transforming organizations. IBM Systems Journal 32(1), 4–16 (1993)
Kang, K.C., Cohen, S.G., Hess, J.A., Novak, W.E., Spencer Peterson, A.: Feature-Oriented Domain Analysis (FODA) Feasibility Study. Technical Report CMU/SEI-90-TR-21, Carnegie Mellon University (1990)
Kang, K.C., Kim, S., Lee, J., Kim, K., Shin, E., Huh, M.: FORM: A Feature-oriented Reuse Method with Domain-specific Reference Architectures. Annals of Software Engineering 5, 143–168 (1998)
Lee, K., Kang, K.C.: Usage Context as Key Driver for Feature Selection. In: Bosch, J., Lee, J. (eds.) SPLC 2010. LNCS, vol. 6287, pp. 32–46. Springer, Heidelberg (2010)
Leone, N., Pfeifer, G., Faber, W., Eiter, T., Gottlob, G., Perri, S., Scarcello, F.: The DLV System for Knowledge Representation and Reasoning. ACM Trans. Comput. Log. 7(3), 499–562 (2006)
Peppard, J., Ward, J.L.: “Mind the Gap”: Diagnosing the Relationship between the IT Organisation and the Rest of the Business. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems 8(1), 29–60 (1999)
Schobbens, P.-Y., Heymans, P., Trigaux, J.-C.: Feature Diagrams: A Survey and a Formal Semantics. In: Proceedings of the 14th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE 2006), pp. 136–145 (2006)
Tun, T.T., Boucher, Q., Classen, A., Hubaux, A., Heymans, P.: Relating Requirements and Feature Configurations: a Systematic Approach. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Software Product Line Conference (SPLC 2009), pp. 201–210 (2009)
Thurimella, A.K., Bruegge, B., Creighton, O.: Identifying and Exploiting the Similarities between Rationale Management and Variability Management. In: Proceedings of the 12th International Software Product Line Conference (SPLC 2008), pp. 99–108 (2008)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Dalpiaz, F., Ali, R., Giorgini, P. (2012). Aligning Software Configuration with Business and IT Context. In: Ralyté, J., Franch, X., Brinkkemper, S., Wrycza, S. (eds) Advanced Information Systems Engineering. CAiSE 2012. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7328. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31095-9_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31095-9_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-31094-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-31095-9
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)