Architecting cloud tools using software product line techniques: an exploratory study

Multitenant cloud computing tools are usually complex and have to manage variabilities to support customization. Software Product Line (SPL) techniques have been successfully applied in the industry to manage variability in complex systems. However, few works in the literature discuss the application of SPL techniques to architect industry cloud computing tools, resulting in a lack of support to cloud architects on how to apply such techniques. This work presents how software product line techniques can be applied for architecting cloud tools, and discusses the benefits, drawbacks, and some challenges of applying such techniques to develop a real industry cloud tool, named as Installation Service.