Flexible software process lines in practice: A metamodel-based approach to effectively construct and manage families of software process models

Process flexibility and adaptability is frequently discussed, and several proposals aim to improve software processes for a given organization-/project context. A software process line (SPrL) is an instrument to systematically construct and manage variable software processes, by combining pre-defined and standardized process assets that can be reused, modified, and extended using a well-defined customization approach. Hence, process engineers can ground context-specific process variants in a standardized or domain-specific reference model that can be adapted to the respective context. We present an approach to construct flexible SPrLs and show its practical application in the German V-Modell XT. We contribute a proven approach that is presented as metamodel fragment for reuse and implementation in further process modeling approaches.