The original intent of the group was to focus on topics that should be the crux of a business plan/business model for implementing software reuse and to develop an outline(s) to be used as a tool in making business decisions. As we were taking turns defining ``business model,'' we learned about Hewlett Packard's Flexible Software Factory (FSF) [Navarro93]. We used the FSF model's structure and concepts for most of our remaining discussion on management issues.
Two of the main components of the FSF are the Elements and the Adoption Strategy. The elements, of which there are five, are the theories and concepts behind a reuse program which address where an organization is, and where it wants to go with respect to reuse. The adoption strategy is built on the elements and represents the implementation of how to get from an initial state to the state of fully institutionalized software reuse.
The FSF elements are:
Customer and Values Elements address market stability, market history, market predictability and the culture of the organization. Business System Elements represent the support structure within an organization, for example its purpose, objectives, group norms, and resource planning. Structural System Elements are the structures and processes that are put in place to meet the organization's objectives, for example a software development process, roles, organizational boundaries, communication, and problem solving and decision making processes. Support System Elements are the infrastructure that supports the structural system, for example tools, technologies, funding models, and measurement and feedback systems. People System Elements are the human resource structure, for example staffing, evaluation and reward, and education and training.
Our approach was to create a few questions about the FSF Elements and about the Adoption Strategy which would allow us to share our professional experiences and insights into the problems and solutions of successful software reuse.
Though we agreed we would not have time to address it, we felt another question which needs to be addressed is: How do the elements interact with each other?
Our discussion and results focused on Customer and Values Elements and the Structural Elements. We included ideas, thoughts, and discussions about Reuse Adoption Strategy as they arose. Many of our concerns were included and answered by Ted Davis using the Reuse Adoption Guidebook [SPC93]. Of value to our discussion was a table of critical success factors which is used to set reuse goals focusing on ``what'' is to be accomplished. It lists all the critical success factors in each of four groups: application development, asset development, management, and process and technology. We also used the Domain Assessment Profile from the Reuse Adoption Guidebook. This figure is used to help assess reuse potential by assessing the degree to which five factors are exhibited in the organization.