Architecture compliance checking - experiences from successful technology transfer to industry

New ideas and concepts emerging from research have to be accepted by industrial stakeholders before they are used in product development. In this paper, we present our lessons learned and experiences gained from transferring a reverse engineering technology - architecture compliance checking - to Testo AG, one of the world's leading suppliers of portable measurement devices for industry and emission business. Testo develops a product line of climate and flue gas measurement devices and uses architecture compliance checking as the means to ensure consistency between the specified reference architecture and the implemented products. After delivery of more than a dozen products to the market, we present how architecture compliance checking has been transferred and how it became one instrument for ensuring the high quality of Testo products.