Business Family Enginee ing. Managing he E olu ion
o Business D i en Sys ems.∗
Ilde onso Mon e o, Joaquín Peña, An onio Ruiz-Co és
Depa amen o de Lenguajes y Sis emas In o má icos
A . Reina Me cedes s/n, 41012 Se ille (Spain)
Uni e si y o Se ille
{mon e ope ez, joaquinp, a uiz}@us.es
Abs ac
Nowadays mos companies in whiche e ield ha e a
so wa e sys em ha helps managing all he aspec s o he
company, om he s a egic managemen o daily ac i i ies.
Companies a e in con inuous e olu ion o adap o ma -
ke changes, and consequen ly, he In o ma ion Technology
(IT) in as uc u e ha suppo s i mus also e ol e. Thus,
so wa e companies a e cu en ly suppo ing his e olu ion
wi h ad hoc echniques.
We hink ha , as i is being done o adi ional so -
wa e sys ems (non-o ien ed o business p ocess) in he so -
wa e p oduc line (SPL) ield, ins i u ionalized echniques
o pe o ming a sys ema ic euse o business p ocesses
ac oss di e en businesses can be in oduced.
In his pape , we p opose o adap SPL echniques, o i-
en ed o euse so wa e, o Business-D i en De elopmen
(BDD), o ien ed o euse p ocesses, ac oss di e en busi-
nesses; we call his p oposal Business Family Enginee ing
(BFE). We p esen a i s app oach o build a SPL o BDD
sys ems ha e ol es a un ime.
1 In oduc ion
Nowadays, so wa e sys ems suppo s mos o he ac i -
i ies o a company due o i imp o es hei daily wo k and
hei s a egic managemen . Thus, In o ma ion Technology
(IT) in as uc u e mus e ol e o adap companies o he
con inuous e olu ion o ma ke s. Cu en ly his e olu ion is
suppo ed by ad hoc echniques.
Business-D i en De elopmen (BDD) is a esea ch ield,
which is he ocus o his pape , ha ies o sol e his p ob-
lem designing so wa e sys ems s a ing om he business
∗This wo k has been pa ially suppo ed by he Eu opean Commission
(FEDER) and Spanish Go e nmen unde CICYT p ojec Web-Fac o ies
(TIN2006-00472).
p ocesses o he companies.
In BDD, business p ocesses a e designed o be execu ed
o e a p ocess engine. O cou se, cu en p ocess enginee s
edesign he p ocesses e e y ime ha is needed using ad
hoc echniques o maximize he le el o euse om one e -
sion o ano he . In addi ion, when dealing wi h se e al busi-
nesses in a ce ain domain, many common ea u es can be
ound, and euse ac oss businesses is also exploi ed.
So wa e p oduc lines (SPL) sys ema izes he euse
ac oss he se o simila p oduc s ha a so wa e company
p oduces. We hink ha such sys ema iza ion can be also
applied in BDD imp o ing he esul s achie ed by cu en
ad hoc echniques.
The main goal o SPL is o ob ain a educ ion o he o e -
all de elopmen cos s and imes o he p oduc s de i ed
om he p oduc line [7]. Basically, in SPL we ob ain a
se o so wa e sys ems, called p oduc s. Each p oduc con-
ains common unc ionali ies, and a se o speci ic ea u es
ha di e en ia es one p oduc om ano he .
The idea o applying SPL o BDD, has been explo ed by
Schniede s e al. in an app oach called P ocess Family En-
ginee ing (PFE) [12]. Basically, PFE ollows he SPL phi-
losophy o managing he e olu ion o he business p ocess
o an unique business, hus, managing only one so wa e
sys em. Tha is o say, each p oduc in PFE ep esen s an
e olu ion o he p ocess (a un ime).
Thus, PFE may be he solu ion o manage he e olu ion
o he business p ocess o a company, bu no echniques has
been desc ibed o sys ema ize he euse ac oss se e al busi-
nesses. In addi ion, he models p oposed by PFE app oach
a e no exp essi e enough o documen ing dynamic e olu-
ions on un ime.
The con ibu ion o his pape is wo old. On he one
hand, we p opose a new esea ch ield called Business Fam-
ily Enginee ing (BFE) ha is o ien ed o p o ide he ech-
niques and me hods needed o build a p oduc line o BDD
sys ems. Roughly speaking, BFE is a p oduc line o p od-
uc lines, whe e he p oduc s o he i s SPL a e abs ac
p ocesses ha ac s as asse s o he second p oduc line
whe e e olu ion o his p ocesses a e managed by means o
PFE. We ocus ou e o s on minimizing he implici isk o
combina o ial explosion, and on he o he hand, on sol ing
some de iciencies we ha e de ec ed in cu en app oaches
o PFE ega ding he exp essi eness o models o docu-
men ing he e olu ion.
This pape is s uc u ed as ollows: Sec ion 2 p esen s
he ela ed wo k and mo i a ion o ou wo k; Sec ion 3
p esen s a desc ip ion o BFE and i s ela ionships wi h
PFE; Sec ion 4 and 5 p esen s an o e iew o he so wa e
p ocess and how o ob ain he co e p ocess amewo k o he
business amily; Sec ion 6 p esen s how o ob ain he p od-
uc s o ou app oach and how o manage he e olu ion o he
p oduc s o ou business amily; and inally, in he las sec-
ion, we d aw he main conclusions and he u u e esea ch
lines needed o enable a business amily in as uc u e.
2 Rela ed wo k and mo i a ion
In his sec ion, we p esen he ela ed wo k needed o un-
de s and and o mo i a e his pape . Rega ding BFE, o he
bes o ou knowledge, he e no exis s any app oach ha
p o ides all he echniques needed o enabling he mass
p oduc ion o BDD sys ems ha e ol es a un ime. In [9]
we p esen a i s s ep o he de ini ion o a SPL o BDD
sys ems ha e ol es a un ime, o ien ed o euse p ocesses
ac oss di e en businesses. Roughly speaking, BFE is a
p oduc line o p oduc lines, whe e he p oduc s o he i s
SPL a e abs ac p ocesses ha ac s as asse s o he second
p oduc line whe e he e olu ion o each business is man-
aged. In his pape , we ex end he ideas p esen ed in [9].
In SPL [8, 10] a p oduc is composed o a se o common
ea u es and a se o a iable ea u es. Common ea u es ap-
pea s in all p oduc s and a iable ea u es appea s unde de-
mand o p oduc s’s consume s. Obse ing a ce ain p oduc
o a SPL, al hough i is desc ibed as a se o ixed ea u es,
some ea u es can be in use in a ce ain momen and some
no . Thus, in SPL he e olu ion o he sys em a un ime,
also called un ime a iabili y, is no aken in o accoun in
he ea u e model.
PFE app oach is gi en by PESOA esea ch g oup om
Hasso Pla ne Ins i u e o IT Sys ems Enginee ing in [1].
In he same way ha SPL app oach p o ides all he ech-
niques needed o enabling he mass p oduc ion o so -
wa e in a ce ain applica ion domain, PFE p o ides all he
echniques needed o enabling he mass p oduc ion o p o-
cesses in a ce ain business. Each p oduc ep esen s a se
o p ocesses enabled a a ce ain momen o he execu ion.
In PFE we ob ain only one so wa e sys em ha e ol es a
un ime, whe e he ea u es a e p ocesses. E e y p ocess
e olu ion ep esen s a p oduc ha con ains a subse o ea-
u es, bu he PFE sys em con ains all he ea u es. PESOA
uses ea u e model o ep esen ing he se o p ocesses con-
ained in o a business, and Business P ocess Model No a-
ion (BPMN) o ep esen an speci ic p ocess. BPMN is
de ined by OMG in [6] as a low cha based no a ion o
de ining business p ocesses. BPMN p o ides (i) a g aphical
no a ion based on Business P ocess Diag am (BPD), which
is a diag am used o design and manage business p ocesses;
and (ii) a o mal mapping o an execu ion language: Busi-
ness P ocess Execu ion Language (BPEL).
PESOA in oduces an ex ension o BPMN o ep esen
a iabili y in a p ocess [11]. Figu e 1 shows an example
o a ea u e model o an E-shop business and an ex ended
BPMN o ep esen a checkou p ocess. Fea u e model ep-
esen s all he p ocesses con ained in o he E-shop business.
Roughly speaking i a p ocess is deno ed as manda o y i
mus be p esen in all he possiblecon igu a ions o he busi-
ness, o example: Checkou . Each p ocess is ep esen ed
using BPMN wi h he ex ensions o a ia ion poin s and
he ex ensions needed o ep esen s he ela ionship be ween
ea u es and p ocesses. As shown in Figu e 1 he a ia ion
poin is ep esen ed as a puzzle-piece icon and o ea u e
and p ocesses ela ionship we see ha Calcula e Sum can
be implemen ed as a sequence o Calcula e Sum and Calcu-
la e Discoun sub-p ocesses ha is applied when he ea u e
Pe sonalized Shopping Ca is selec ed.
Thus, he main mo i a ion o ou wo k is ha , al hough
PFE may be he solu ion o manage he e olu ion o he
business p ocess o a company, no echniques has been de-
sc ibed o sys ema ize he euse ac oss se e al businesses
and p oposed models a e no exp essi e enough o docu-
men ing dynamic e olu ions on un ime due o ea u e mod-
els a e no designed o suppo un ime a iabili y.
As can be obse ed in Figu e 2, whe e we depic how
SPL and PFE p oduc s a e gene a ed, SPL p oduc s a e im-
plemen ed by so wa e a i ac s ha o each o hem he e
exis s a ea u e selec ion phase ha gene a es he inal p od-
uc s (a se o co e and a iable ea u es). PFE p oduc s a e
implemen ed by p ocesses. Fo each p oduc , he sys em
can e ol e o ano he p oduc inc easing o dec easing he
a iable se o ea u es hus, each p oduc is a so wa e sys-
em based on p ocesses.
3 P elimina ies
In his sec ion, we p esen a igo ous desc ip ion o busi-
ness amilies desc ibing also i s ela ionship wi h p ocess
amily enginee ing.
3.1 BFE De ini ion
Business Family Enginee ing (BFE) can be de ined as: a
se o so wa e sys ems d i en by business p ocesses (he e-
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a e business) whe e each p oduc o he amily has a se
o common p ocesses and a se o a iable p ocesses. The
o mal de ini ion o BFE can be ep esen ed as ollows: Le
BF be a Business Family ha con ains a se o n > 1 busi-
nesses
BF ={B1, B2, ..., Bn}
whe e each B ep esen s a business. Each business Bcan
be de ined as a se o p ocesses (deno ed wi h P). Thus,
each Biin BF can be de ined as ollows:
Bi={P1, P2, ..., Pk};k > 0; 1 ≤i≤n
Gi en his i holds he e exis s a se o common p ocesses
be ween whiche e se o businesses. Le Biand Bjbe wo
businesses con ained in BF whe e 1≤i, j ≤n:
Bi∩Bj6=φ
Thus, we can say ha a business amily can be also de-
ined as a se o co e and a iable p ocesses/ ea u es. We
assume ha he e exis s a bina y ela ionship be ween ea-
u es and p ocesses, hus a ea u e mus no ep esen a se
o p ocesses. Le CF be he se o common p ocesses o
ea u es and le VF be he se o a iable ea u es, hus BF
can be de ined as ollows:
BF = (CF, V F )
In ha way, a business Biis de ined o mally as a uple
con aining all he CF and a subse o V F deno ed as SV F :
Bi= (CF, SV F ∈V F )
3.2 Desc ip ion o he in eg a ion o BFE
wi h PFE
Figu e 3 depic s he in eg a ion be ween BFE and PFE.
As de ined be o e, each business con ains a se o co e p o-
cesses, CF , and a se o a iable p ocesses, V F . How-
e e , in PFE he p ocesses/ ea u es appea s and disappea s
a un ime. As shown be o e, each con igu a ion o he se
o p ocesses enabled a ce ain momen ep esen s a p od-
uc . Thus, we can say ha he CF o a BF a e always
enabled a un ime, bu he se o p ocesses in V F is no
ixed a un ime.
Thus, as PFE de ines, we can se up a p oduc line ha
akes in o accoun his un ime a iabili y. Fo o malizing
hese concep s we should ede ine each business Bo a BF
as:
B= (CF, SV F ∈V F, F∆:
: , {F ea u e ×... ×F ea u e} 7→
7→ {F ea u e ×... ×F ea u e})
whe e F∆is a unc ion ha gi en an ins an ans o m
he se o SV F in o he new se o a iable ea u es o he
ollowing ime ins an +1, ha is o say SV F +1, o mally:
F∆( , SV F ) = SV F +1 ∈V F
•SV F 6=SV F +1
Figu e 4 ske ches a g aphical ep esen a ion o F∆,
whe e i is ep esen ed he ans o ma ion o SV F in o
SV F +1. In an ins an he e exis s an speci ic se o SV F
o business Bj ha e ol es in ins an +1 o ano he di e -
en se SV F +1. The e olu ion is de ined by he F∆ unc-
ion in .
4 O e iew o he so wa e p ocess o ou ap-
p oach
In his sec ion, we desc ibe he so wa e p ocess and
modeling elemen s needed o de elop a business amily.
Figu e 5 shows he so wa e p ocess o ou app oach in
SPEM1. In his so wa e p ocess he e exis s wo main ac i -
1h p://www.omg.o g/ echnology/documen s/ o mal/spem.h m
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Business Family
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Figu e 4. E olu ion o a business in o BFE
i ies: Business Family Domain Enginee ing (BFDE), whe e
we build he BFE co e a chi ec u e and he asse s and Busi-
ness Family Applica ion Enginee ing (BFAE), whe e we
ob ain speci ic p oduc s.
Roughly speaking, in BFDE we build he ea u e model
o he business amily and we build a co e p ocess ame-
wo k.
In BFAE, we build a ea u e model o each business ha
ep esen s he e olu ion wi hou using he co e ea u es o
he business amily ( hus, we minimize he isk o combina-
o ial explosion) and we build he p oduc e olu ion model
o he business.
I is impo an o say ha ou scena io is by now limi ed
o bina y ela ionships be ween ea u es and p ocesses, in
o he wo ds, a ea u e can no ep esen a se o p ocesses.
We ha e iden i ied wo di e en ways o build a business
amily: op-down and bo om-up. In op-down app oach we
de ine he se o businesses and p ocesses om ze o and
apply he no mal sequence o BFE so wa e p ocess. In
bo om-up app oach, we can no apply he no mal sequence
o he so wa e p ocess de ined due o we ha e a se o busi-
nesses o p ocesses de ined in PFE p e iously o apply BFE
so wa e p ocess. In his pape we only ocus in op-down.
5 Ob aining he co e p ocess amewo k o
he business amily
To show ou app oach we use a as ood es au an chain
business amily case s udy. In his business amily he e
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Business Family
Domain Enginee ing
BF Applica ion /
PFE Domain
Enginee ingManagemen
Figu e 5. O e iew o he so wa e p ocess o
BFE in SPEM no a ion
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Figu e 6. Case S udy: Fas Food Res au an
Chain
exis s se e al businesses ha sha e common p ocesses as
cook bu ge s and o he speci ic o a conc e e business,such
ca e e ia se ice. To show ou app oach we build a BFE
sys em o his example and de i e wo businesses om he
amily: McDonald’s and Bu ge King.
Figu e 6 shows an example o a business amily o a as -
ood es au an chain. This ea u e model depic s a simpli-
ied se o p ocesses con ained in o a as - ood es au an :
Cook,Se e ha depending on he momen Se e can be
Se e Fas o Se e No mal, and Se ices, ha ep esen s
all he possible se ices gi en by es au an s: Local, ha
ep esen s he basic se ice, Au o,Bi hday´s pa y,Ca e e-
ia and Deli e y, ha a e special se ices ha depends on
di e en si ua ions o momen s a un ime.
To ob ain he co e p ocesses o his business amily we
apply he ac i i ies o Business Family Domain Enginee -
ing de ined in Sec ion 4. We ha e used FAMA [5, 3, 4]
so wa e ool o build he ea u e model o he business

amily. FAMA is an academic ool ha p o ides a ame-
wo k o he au oma ed analysis o ea u e models in eg a -
ing some o he mos commonly used logic ep esen a ions
and sol e s p oposed in he li e a u e. Figu e 7(a) shows
he ea u e model o ou case s udy in FAMA. A e ha ,
we calcula e he co e p ocesses o all he businesses apply-
ing analysis ope a ion o ea u e model de ined in [2]. The
esul is he se o ea u es selec ed in 7(a). Then, we build
a ea u e model o possible e olu ions o all p oduc s aking
in o accoun only co e ea u es. Figu e 7(b) shows his ea-
u e model modeled wi h FAMA. Finally we build co e p o-
cess amewo k model in BPMN as shown in Figu e 8. I is
done by combina ion o each p ocess con ained in co e ea-
u e model. We a e using BPMN ex ended no a ion o PE-
SOA app oach p esen ed in Sec ion 2. In his example he e
exis s an abs ac p ocess, Se e in Local, ha can be imple-
men ed by wo di e en ways, Se e No mal in Local and
Se e Fas in Local, and hese ways a e p ocesses ha con-
ains subp ocesses de ined in BPMN oo. Thus, we a e able
o de elop a business amily applying Business Family Ap-
plica ion Enginee ing ac i i ies. In his example we build
wo as - ood es au an s: McDonald´s and Bu ge King.
Figu e 9 ske ches bo h ea u e models, ha a e needed o
iden i y he ela ionships o a iable ea u es and he co e
p ocess amewo k buil .
6 Building BFE p oduc s and managing he
e olu ion
BFE app oach in oduces wo di e en poin o iews o
a business: s a ic and dynamic. In s a ic poin o iew, a
business is an en i y ha con ains a se o p ocesses; and
in dynamic, a business is an en i y ha e ol es on un ime.
BFE mus p o ide models o ep esen hese poin o iews.
6.1 Mo i a ion
As shown p e iously, a ce ain business in a business
amily is desc ibed as:
B= (CF, SV F ∈V F, F∆(...)
Fea u emodeling isa goodchoice o ep esen hecommon-
ali ies and di e ences o a se o speci ic business p ocesses.
Thus, in PFE ea u e models a e used o ep esen which
ea u es a e a iable and which do no . F om his, using
au oma ed analysis o ea u e models, a he se o common
ea u es (CF ) and (V F ) can be ob ained easily [2]. How-
e e , he ea u e model canno es ablish he o de o appa i-
ion o hem ep esen ed as F∆, because his models a e no
exp essi e enough o documen ing dynamic e olu ions on
un ime. As a esul , we can conclude ha o ep esen ing a
ce ain business Biin a business amily BF g aphically, we
Figu e 7. Fas ood es au an ea u e models
modeled in FAMA
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Business: Bu ge King
Fea u e Model
Business: McDonald´s
Fea u e Model
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Figu e 9. McDonald’s and Bu ge King Fea u e Models
ha e o deco a e ea u e models wi h a g aphical no a ion
ha ep esen s F∆. We call his model P oduc E olu ion
Model.
6.2 P oduc E olu ion Model
P oduc E olu ion Model is ep esen ed wi h a BPMN
s a e machine whe e each s a e ep esen s a p oduc and
each e olu ion be ween wo o mo e s a es is an applica-
ion o F∆ unc ion. Each p ocess con ains a BPMN s a e
cha ha ep esen s how is done all he p ocesses ha ep e-
sen s he con igu a ion o he business a his momen . This
BPMN model ha can be deployed and simula ed in o a
business model so wa e engine.
Figu e 10 p esen s McDonald’s P oduc E olu ion
Model. I ske ches ha in e e y un ime ins an he e ex-
is s a di e en SV F selec ed ha ep esen s an e olu ion.
In his example, on a ime ins an McDonald’s open his
ca e e ia se ice, hus, he e exis s in pa allel wo di e en
p ocesses: Se e in Ca e e ia and Co e (Se e in Local).
When McDonald’s close his ca e e ia se ice on ime in-
s an + 1,F∆ unc ion is applied and an e olu ion is done
o ano he s a e composed by only Co e p ocesses. A e
ha McDonald’s open his Au o-Se ice and a new e olu-
ion in un ime is applied o + 2 ime ins an .
Thus, he main bene i o his model is ha we can see
a se o business p ocesses ha e ol es on un ime, and we
can compa e his wi h o he o ou amily and ake decisions
abou ou business based on e olu ion o all he businesses
o ou amily.
7 Conclusions
The main conclusion o his pape is ha BFE is easi-
ble. I s main bene i is ha so wa e companies ha p o ide
BDD solu ions, can euse p ocess building a p oduc line
whe e a se o common p ocesses is ex ended wi h he p o-
cesses needed o each cus ome in a sys ema ic way, hus
educing cos s (in ime and money) and imp o ing he qual-
i y o hei p oduc s, since hey a e es ed o se e al clien s.
Ano he impo an conclusion is ha PFE canno be used
di ec ly o BFE. PFE p o ides echniques o manage he
e olu ion o he business p ocess o a company based on
SPL ideas, howe e all he a iable ea u es o he p ocess
a e added o he inal so wa e sys em, enabling o disabling
hem a un ime. While BFE needs echniques ha allow
adding only hose ea u es ha he cus ome equi es. In ad-
di ion, echniques used in PFE p esen s d awbacks. Mainly,
ea u e models a e used o ep esen un ime a iabili y,
while hese models a e de o ed o s a ic a iabili y.
As PFE is qui e aluable o un ime a iabili y, we con-
clude ha BFE mus be in eg a ed wi h PFE, bu a numbe
o p oblems a ise. Mainly, as a esul o ha ing a p oduc
line (BFE) o p oduc lines (PFE) i occu s an s a e explo-
sion ha hinde s he easibili y o his app oach. Possible
solu ions o he iden i ied p oblems a e: (i) using one ea-
u e model o BFE and one ea u e model o each p od-
uc , ob aining an hype cube s uc u e, ha ep esen s all he
possible a ia ions o p oduc s, (ii) using one ea u e model
o BFE and one ea u e model o all he possible p oduc s
in oducing a suga syn ax o ea u e model o enabling i
o ep esen changes a un ime and (iii) using one ea u e
. . . . . .
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model o BFE wi h anno a ions ha ep esen s changes a
execu ion ime, ha is he al e na i e used in ou app oach
whe e he anno a ion is he p oduc e olu ion model.
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