Collaborative Model-Driven Software Engineering — A systematic survey of practices and needs in industry

The engineering of modern software-intensive systems is carried out in collaboration among stakeholders with specialized expertise. The complexity of such systems often also necessitates employing more rigorous approaches, such as Model-Driven Software Engineering (MDSE). Collaborative MDSE is the combination of the two disciplines, with its specific opportunities and challenges. The rapid expansion and maturation of the field started attracting tool builders from outside of academia. However, available systematic studies on collaborative MDSE focus exclusively on mapping academic research and fail to identify how academic research aligns with industry practices and needs. To address this shortcoming, we have carried out a mixed-method survey on the practices and needs concerning collaborative MDSE. First, we carried out a qualitative survey in two focus group sessions, interviewing seven industry experts. Second, based on the results of the interviews, we constructed a questionnaire and carried out a questionnaire survey with 41 industry expert participants. In this paper, we report the results of our study, investigate the alignment of academic research with the needs of practitioners, and suggest directions on research and development of the supporting techniques of collaborative MDSE.