During the development and maintenance of software-intensive products or
services, we depend on various assets. These assets are important to the
feasibility of the project and influence product's final quality. However,
despite their central role in the software development process, little thought
is yet invested into what assets eventually are, often resulting in many terms
and underlying concepts being mixed and used inconsistently. A precise
terminology of assets and related concepts, such as asset degradation, are
crucial for setting up a new generation of cost-effective software engineering
practices. In this position paper, we critically reflect upon the resulting
notion of assets in software engineering. As a starting point, we define the
terminology and concepts of assets and extend the reasoning behind them. We
explore assets' characteristics such as value and persistence. We discuss what
asset degradation is, its various types and the implications that asset
degradation might bring for the planning, realisation, and evolution of
software-intensive products and services over time. With our work, we aspire to
contribute to a more standardised definition of assets in software engineering
and foster research endeavours and their practical dissemination in a common,
more unified direction.Comment: Manuscript submitted to the Journal of Systems and Softwar