Recognising the Types of Software Assets and Its Impact on Asset Reuse

Abstract

Early software reuse success triggered immense euphoria culminating in many publications on the topic. However, documented successes could not keep pace. Some commentators even called for the end of the reuse. This paper examines what can be reused and how. Interviews indicated the need for a more precise asset definition and an enhanced asset description. It is suggested that identified types of assets should be treated individually, thus increasing their chance of reuse. This will assist in overcoming the biggest hurdle of reuse – the asset discovery. Here the so far manual asset identification/selection will be replaced by a triggered, systematic and cognitive asset suggestion via “Reuse Suggestion Engine” based on (a) sufficiently structured asset records and (b) continuously maintained asset entries. This interim research report provides business management guidelines of how both the assets as well as the organisational set-up should be shaped to be prepared for the era of automation which will propel us into a future, more abstract chapter of continuous software reuse resulting from an automated solutioning. This update will have a positive impact on the increasing number of traditional hardware products whose heart and soul is now software.