1. Relevance, Benefits, and
Barriers of Software Modelling
and Model Driven Techniques
A Survey in the Italian and German Industry
Marco Torchiano
A joint research conducted with:
F. Tomassetti (PoliTo, IT),
F. Ricca, A. Tiso, and G. Reggio (UniGe, IT)
A. Vetrò, W. Böhm (TUM, DE)

2. Motivation
Claimed benefits of software Modelling and Model
Driven techniques (MD*) are improvements in:
productivity,
portability,
maintainability, and
interoperability.
Though, few efforts at collecting evidence

3. Goals
G1 Assess the actual relevance of software modelling
and MD* in the Italian industry,
G2 Find out the way modelling and MD* are applied
(i.e., which processes, languages and tools are
used), and
G3 Understand the motivations either leading to the
adoption (expected benefits) or preventing it
(experienced or perceived problems).

4. Survey design
Population
Italian software professionals
Probabilistic Sampling
Commerce Chamber DB
Convenience sampling
Industrial contact networks
Invitations on mailing lists
Advertisement in on-line magazine
Advertisement on page of large developers’ conference

5. Questionnaire
Web-based questionnaire with Lime Survey
Sub: subject’s demographics
Dev: development process
Mod: modelling details
Lan: languages and notations

6. Questionnaire paths
Sub02
Dev08
Mod14
Lan28
Lan25
Mod19a
Sub04Sub03
Sub05, Dev06, Dev07
Dev09 Dev09
Dev10, Dev11,
Mod12a, Mod12b, Mod13
Mod15
Mod16, Mod17, Mod18
Mod19b
Mod20, .. Mod24
Lan27
Lan29b
Lan29a
Lan29b
Legal kind of the
firm?
Are models used?
Percentage of
code generated
from models?
Have editors of other
supporting tools been
developed?
Is UML used?
Are any Domain
Specific Languages
used?
[else]
[freelance or
Individual firm]
[Sometimes]
[Always]
[Never]
[ >0 ]
[else]
[else]
[yes]
[yes]
[else]
[textual]
[textual/graphical]
[else]
Sub03
Lan26
[yes]
[else]
Lan29a
[graphical]

7. Research questions
RQ1: What is the diffusion and relevance of Modelling
and MD* in the Italian industry?
RQ2: What are the benefits of using Modelling and MD*?
RQ3: What issues hinder/prevent the adoption of
modelling and MD*?

8. Relevance
A software development technology is relevant to
software engineering if it increases the likelihood of
improving software development practices
Technical aspects
Process aspects ~ % of developers adopting it

9. Irrelevance Limited Relevance Normal Relevance High Relevance
Relevance thresholds
10% 25% 50%

10. Relevance: Metrics
Are models used for software
development in your organization?
For model we mean both diagrams, e.g., UML, and
text according to any DSL
Valid answers: Always; Sometimes; Never
Percentage of Modellers (i.e. Always + Sometimes)
Relevance

11. Relevance: Results
All companies 32%55%13%
Always Sometimes Never
10% 25% 50%
Highly
Relevant

12. Relevance: Languages
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
UML
w/Profiles
w/o Profiles
uknown
38%
51%
11%
DSL
Textual
Mix
Graphical
{Modellers
76% use
UML
21% use
DSLs
50%
27%
23%

13. MD* Definition
MD* =
Code
Generation
Model
Transformation
Model
Interpretation
|| ||

14. Relevance: MD* techniques
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Any Code
Generation
Model
Interpretation
Model
Transformation
10%
16%
44%
48%
Diffusion
{
Modellers

15. Benefits: Metrics
What are the benefits verified as consequences
of using modelling?
Design support
Improved documentation
Improved development flexibility
Improved productivity
Quality of the software
Maintenance support
Platform independence
Standardization
Shortened reaction time to changes
}Benefit
achievement
ratio

16. Unlikely Probable Likely Very Likely
Likelihood thresholds
10% 25% 50%

17. Benefits: Results
Design
Documentation
Maintenance
Quality
Standardization
Flexibility
Productivity
Reactivity
Plat. Independ.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Achievement Ratio
Very Likely
Likely
Possible
Unlikely

18. Benefits: Results
Design
Documentation
Maintenance
Quality
Standardization
Flexibility
Productivity
Reactivity
Plat. Independ.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
MD*
Basic

19. Benefits Achievement
Code
Gener.
Model
Interpr.
Model
Transform
Toolsmith UML
UML
Profiles
DSL
Design 2.4
Documentation 2.6
Maintenance
Quality
Standardization 2.2 3.9 4.7
Flexibility 3.9 3.9 3.1
Productivity 3.9 4.2 8.3 4.2 3.4
Reactivity 4 5.5
Independence 3 4.7 4.2 9.9 4.3
Odds ratios

20. Barriers: Metrics
What are the problems preventing the adoption of modelling
and MD*?
Too much effort required
Not useful enough
Lack of competencies
Lack of supporting tools
Refusal from management
Cost of supporting tools
Refusal from developers
Fear of lock-in
Not flexible enough
Inadequacy of supporting tools
}Problem
Relevance

21. Barriers: Results
Too much effort required
Not usefull enough
Lack of competencies
Refusal from management
Lack of supporting tools
Refusal from developers
Inadequacy of supporting tools
Cost of supporting tools
Fear of lock-in
Lack of flexibility
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Diffusion
Relevant
Little
Relevant
Irrelevant
6 times more likely to occur
among MD* adopters

22. Threats to validity
Construct
Did we capture the essential aspects of MD*?
Internal
Sampling (selection bias)
External
How representative of the Italian (EU) IT industry?

23. Benefits
Very LikelyLikelyProbable
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●Productivity
Maintenance support
Improvement development flexibility
Platform independence
Standartisation
Shortened reaction time to changes
Improved documentation
Quality of the software
Design Support
0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00
Likelyhood
● New study (DE)
✕ Original (IT)

24. Barriers
Highly RelevantRelevant
Moderately
Relevant
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Not useful enough
Refusal from management
Not flexible enough
Cost of supporting tools
Fear of lock in
Inadequacy of supporting tools
Refusal from developers
Lack of competencies
Too much effort required
Lack of supporting tools
0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00
Relevance
● New study (DE)
✕ Original study (IT)

25. Conclusions
MD* is a relevant technology, modeling is higly
relevant
A few (very) likely benefits of modeling
MD* techniques make the chances of achieving the
less likely benefits four+ times higher
Toolsmithing provides several benefits
UML apparently plays no significant role

26. Conclusions
Main problems
Too much effort estimated
Not useful enough
Lack of competencies
Among MD*: fear of lock-in

27. Further details
Marco Torchiano, Federico Tomassetti, Filippo Ricca, Alessandro Tiso,
Gianna Reggio,
Relevance, Benefits, and Problems of Software Modelling and Model
Driven Techniques - A Survey in the Italian Industry,
Journal of Systems and Software, 86(8), 2013, DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.
2013.03.084.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0164121213000824)
Antonio Vetrò, Wolfgang Bohm, Marco Torchiano, On the Benefits and
Barriers when adopting Software Modelling and Model Driven
Techniques - An external, differentiated replication,
Proc. 9th International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and
Measurement (ESEM 2015), 2015, DOI: 10.1109/ESEM.2015.7321210
(http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=7321210)

28. Thank you for listening
Marco Torchiano
http://softeng.polito.it/torchiano
marco.torchiano@polito.it
@mtorchiano