Handling large-scale software variability is still a challenge for many organizations. After decades of research on variability management concepts, many industrial organizations have introduced techniques known from research, but still lament that pure textbook approaches are not applicable or efficient. For instance, software product line engineering—an approach to systematically develop portfolios of products—is difficult to adopt given the high upfront investments; and even when adopted, organizations are challenged by evolving their complex product lines. Consequently, the research community now mainly focuses on re-engineering and evolution techniques for product lines; yet, understanding the current state of adoption and the industrial challenges for organizations is necessary to conceive effective techniques. In this multiple-case study, we analyze the current adoption of variability management techniques in twelve medium- to large-scale industrial cases in domains such as automotive, aerospace or railway systems. We identify the current state of variability management, emphasizing the techniques and concepts they adopted. We elicit the needs and challenges expressed for these cases, triangulated with results from a literature review. We believe our results help to understand the current state of adoption and shed light on gaps to address in industrial practice.

中文翻译：

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行业系统可变性管理的采用状态和挑战

处理大规模的软件可变性对许多组织来说仍然是一个挑战。在对可变性管理概念进行了数十年的研究后，许多行业组织已经引入了研究中已知的技术，但仍然感叹纯教科书方法不适用或无效。例如，软件产品线工程——一种系统地开发产品组合的方法——很难采用，因为前期投资很高；即使被采用，组织也面临着不断发展复杂产品线的挑战。因此，研究界现在主要关注产品线的重新设计和进化技术；然而，了解当前的采用状态和组织面临的行业挑战对于构思有效的技术是必要的。在这个多案例研究中，我们分析了当前在汽车、航空航天或铁路系统等领域的 12 个大中型工业案例中采用的可变性管理技术。我们确定了可变性管理的当前状态，强调了他们采用的技术和概念。我们引出针对这些案例所表达的需求和挑战，并根据文献综述的结果进行三角测量。我们相信我们的结果有助于了解当前的采用状态，并阐明工业实践中需要解决的差距。我们引出针对这些案例所表达的需求和挑战，并根据文献综述的结果进行三角测量。我们相信我们的结果有助于了解当前的采用状态，并阐明工业实践中需要解决的差距。我们引出针对这些案例所表达的需求和挑战，并根据文献综述的结果进行三角测量。我们相信我们的结果有助于了解当前的采用状态，并阐明工业实践中需要解决的差距。