Threats to Model Driven Development - What Happened to Eighteen Companies Twenty Years Later

Sep 6, 2026

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Introducing new methods and tools to support higher abstraction levels in software development was expected to improve profitability, reduce development costs, raise quality, shorten time to market, and increase controllability. Examples from a Norwegian initiative indicate these expectations were achievable. A large industrial program supporting embedded systems development across 18 companies over 8 years underpinned these claims. Twenty years later, adoption varies: methods and tools still influence sustainable development in many cases, alongside economic benefits and industry maturation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Main Objectives

Main Results from the SISU project

Cost-benefit improvement

Threats to model driven development-what happened to eighteen companies twenty years later Stein Erik Ellevseth Ellevseth Modell utvikling, Oslo, Norway [steinee@eunet.no](steinee@eunet.no) Abstract. Introducing new methods and tools that support higher abstraction levels in software development was expected to improve profitability, lower development cost, improve quality, shorten time to market and increase controllability. Several examples from a Norwegian project proved these expectations achievable in many cases. Assessing a large industrial initiative that supported embedded systems development through 8 years in 18 companies, formed the bases for this claim. This initiative was regarded as a great success among the participants and in academia twenty years ago. It gave the community object-orientation in SDL (Specification and Description Language, Z.100), MSC (Message Sequence Charts, Z.120) and later UML (Unified Modeling Language from OMG, Object Management Group) . Twenty years later, not all of the participating companies did not harvest well from this investment in new technology. The methodologies and tools are somewhat still in use, proving that the project in many cases contributed to sustainable software development and the companies had economic benefits. Another positive result is that the people who worked in these companies matured the industry, improved methodologies, tool and standards. An important question is to what degree the methodology contributed to improved profitability in the companies. This is answered by measuring the maturity level in different disciplines. Another important questions investigated in this study is why the methodology is not being used on new products if profitable, or ifunprofitable, why it continues to be used. Keywords: Model driven development, SDL, MSC, OMT, UML, process improvement, maturity model, sustainable software 1 Introduction This SISU initiative, (Support Integrated Systems Development), was a project supported by Norwegian Research Council from 1989 – 1996. This paper describes an assessment of SISU results twenty years later. The author assessed what happened with the companies, their products and the people involved. The evaluation of the Norwegian industrial companies was planned in three stages. First, to find the various companies` contact persons to get feedback. Second, to establish the maturity level five and twenty years after, or at the time the company closed their activities in Norway. Third and finally, to get the detailed story from the companies, assessing their profitability, efficiency, the quality in their products and the people, and document this in a report. Stages 2 and 3 are ongoing and this paper is an early summary of the assessment results. Which results from SISU that are still in use and what happened with the tools and methodology when the product was phased out is ongoing research. Did the technology fade out with the products? Were the values and best practices in the development of these product worth taking care of could be proof of the sustainability of SISU tools and methodology introduced twenty years ago. In late 1980´s we experienced that products were released with a lot of defects, high quality costs, low controllability and cost overruns. The methodologies in use were incomplete causing different practices in the organizations and uncertain approaches. They were dependent on individuals, the tool support was poor and the productivity low. This was the situation that initiated the SISU project. 1.1 Main Objectives The main objectives of the SISU project were to «Improve the profitability in development and maintenance of embedded software through co-operation between companies”. To achieve better profitability the SISU project was focusing on improving the companies capabilities to achieve precise quality, shorten the time to market, lower cost and high controllability. Based on this main objective,

FAQs

What was the SISU initiative intended to improve?

The SISU project aimed to improve profitability in development and maintenance of embedded software through cooperation between companies by strengthening quality capability, time-to-market, cost reduction, and controllability.

How did the study evaluate results twenty years later?

The author assessed what happened in the participating companies, including products and the people involved, using planned multi-stage evaluation with a focus on maturity levels and detailed profitability, efficiency, product quality, and outcomes.

What outcomes did the SISU project report during its runtime?

Participating companies reported improved cost-benefit, methodologies, advanced standards, better tool support, and a successful forum network (the SISU Forum), and the initiative was regarded as a success in both industry and academia.

Sep 6, 2026

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