Framework Programmable Platform for the Advanced Software Development Workstation: Preliminary system design document

The Framework Programmable Software Development Platform (FPP) is a project aimed at combining effective tool and data integration mechanisms with a model of the software development process in an intelligent integrated software environment. Guided by the model, this system development framework will take advantage of an integrated operating environment to automate effectively the management of the software development process so that costly mistakes during the development phase can be eliminated. The focus here is on the design of components that make up the FPP. These components serve as supporting systems for the Integration Mechanism and the Framework Processor and provide the 'glue' that ties the FPP together. Also discussed are the components that allow the platform to operate in a distributed, heterogeneous environment and to manage the development and evolution of software system artifacts

Tacit and Explicit Knowledge in Software Development Projects: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Analysis

The management and delivery of software development projects remains a key business activity in many industries. Although the advent of packaged software products has reduced the incidence of in-house development, bespoke software is still important for some industrial sectors - notably in the finance, defence and security industries. Despite the recognized criticality of software project success for organizations, a considerable proportion of projects continue to either not meet their due dates, exceed budget, do not deliver to specification, miss quality targets, or do not meet customer requirements. Software project failure – be it bespoke products or the implementation of commercially available packages - remains an area of considerable interest in contemporary software project management literature, and the management and transfer of knowledge within both these types of project is a key dimension and driver of project outcomes. This paper examines how knowledge definition and management can be applied within a conceptual framework to improve software development project outcomes

Project management in practice: Views from the Trenches

Software development has endured radical change with the introduction of agile methods for creating software solutions. This change has prompted new considerations of how software creation should be managed. While agile methods have changed software development processes, it would be premature to assume that has also induced modification in higher-level project management processes. Software development lifecycles (SDLC) and project management lifecycles (PLC), while associated, are not the same thing and it is still unclear to what degree the overarching project management tasks, tools or techniques must change or adapt to meet the needs of undertaking successful agile projects. This exploratory pilot study investigated agile methods used to manage software projects and was conducted via an online survey and restricted to a specific sample audience with significant project experience and with background in both traditional and agile development methods. The results indicate that traditional project management phases and techniques are adapted to fit with agile. However, as the discipline evolves the potential exists for a pure agile project management framework to surface -one that can be applied to better suit the needs of the management of agile projects as well as projects beyond the realm of software development

Addressing challenges to teach traditional and agile project management in academia

In order to prepare students for a professional IT career, most universities attempt to provide a current educational curriculum in the Project Management (PM) area to their students. This is usually based on the most promising methodologies used by the software industry. As instructors, we need to balance traditional methodologies focused on proven project planning and control processes leveraging widely accepted methods and tools along with the newer agile methodologies. Such new frameworks emphasize that software delivery should be done in a flexible and iterative manner and with significant collaboration with product owners and customers. In our experience agile methodologies have witnessed an exponential growth in many diverse software organizations, and the various agile PM tools and techniques will continue to see an increase in adoption in the software development sector. Reflecting on these changes, there is a critical need to accommodate best practices and current methodologies in our courses that deliver Project Management content. In this paper we analyse two of the most widely used methodologies for traditional and agile software development – the widely used ISO/PMBOK standard provided by the Project Management Institute and the well-accepted Scrum framework. We discuss how to overcome curriculum challenges and deliver a quality undergraduate PM course for a Computer Science and Information systems curricula. Based on our teaching experience in Europe and North America, we present a comprehensive comparison of the two approaches. Our research covers the main concepts, processes, and roles associated with the two PM frameworks and recommended learning outcomes. The paper should be of value to instructors who are keen to see their computing students graduate with a sound understanding of current PM methodologies and who can deliver real-world software products.Accepted manuscrip

Toward a Framework for Localisation of Product Software across Organisational Boundaries

Distributed agile development (DAD) is a current trend for software development. It uses agile practices to promote iteration and flexibility in the distributed development of software projects. DAD involves a software vendor and their customers working together, leading to an overlap between their organisations. In this report, which is a progress report submitted for continuation towards a PhD, we introduce the agile software development and propose a framework for the localisation of software products across organisational and cultural boundaries. The framework addresses and accommodates the key components of the area between software vendors and customers. Our approach is useful in that it helps project managers, stakeholders and developers to understand the correlations and critical factors associated with customers and software vendors. This framework tries to cover all the important aspects of the development of agile software across distributed organisational cultures instead of focusing on a specific aspect such as project management