Software factories address this problem by encoding proven practices for developing a specific style of application within a package of integrated guidance that is easy for project teams to adopt.
Developing applications using a suitable software factory can provide many benefits, such as improved productivity, quality and evolution capability.
These include the following: These benefits can provide value to several different teams in the following ways: Business tasks can be simplified which can significantly increase user productivity.
This provides easier deployment of common business elements and modules, resulting in consistent configuration management across a suite of applications.
Applications can be centrally managed with pluggable architecture which allows operations teams to control basic services.
There is also the additional objective of creating an environment in which design, programming, testing, installation and maintenance can be performed in a unified manner.
Participants in this project are large European companies, computer manufacturers, software houses, research institutes and universities.
The aim of this approach is to provide the technology, standards, organizational support and other necessary infrastructures in order for software factories to be constructed and tailored from components marketed by independent suppliers.
The experienced-based component factory is developed at the Software Engineering Laboratory at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
This approach puts a heavy emphasis on continuous improvement through understanding the relationship between certain process characteristics and product qualities.