37,158 research outputs found
Agile Methodologies in Large Scale Information Systems Project Context : A Literature Review and Reflections
Expected benefits from agile methodologies to project success have encouraged organizations to extend agile approaches to areas they were not originally intended to such as large scale information systems projects. Research regarding agile methods in large scale software development projects have existed for few years and it is considered as its own research area. This study investigates agile methods on the large scale software development and information systems projects and its goal is to produce more understanding of agile methods suitability and the conditions under which they would most likely contribute to project success. The goal is specified with three research questions; I) what are the characteristics specific to large scale software engineering projects or large scale Information Systems project, II) what are the challenges caused by these characteristics and III) how agile methodologies mitigate these challenges?
In this study resent research papers related to the subject are investigated and characteristics of large scale projects and challenges associated to them are recognized. Material of the topic was searched starting from the conference publications and distributions sites related to the subject. Collected information is supplemented with the analysis of project characteristics against SWEBOK knowledge areas. Resulting challenge categories are mapped against agile practises promoted by Agile Alliance to conclude the impact of practises to the challenges. Study is not a systematics literature review.
As a result 6 characteristics specific to large scale software development and IS projects and 10 challenge categories associated to these characteristics are recognized. The analysis reveals that agile practises enhance the team level performance and provide direct practises to manage challenges associated to high amount of changes and unpredictability of software process both characteristic to a large scale IS project but challenges still remain on the cross team and overall project level.
As a conclusion it is stated that when seeking the process model with agile approach which would respond to all the characteristics of large scale project thus adding the likelihood of project success adaptations of current practises and development of additional practises are needed.
To contribute this four areas for adaptations and additional practises are suggested when scaling agile methodologies over large scale project contexts; 1) adaptation of practises related to distribution, assignment and follow up of tasks, 2) alignment of practises related to software development process, ways of working and common principles over all teams, 3) developing additional practises to facilitate collaboration between teams, to ensure interactions with the cross functional project dimensions and to strengthen the dependency management and decision making between all project dimensions and 4) possibly developing and aligning practises to facilitate teams' external communication.
Results of the study are expected to be useful for software development and IS project practitioners when considering agile method adoptions or adaptations in a large scale project context.
ACM Computing Classification System (CCS) 2012:
- Social and professional topics~Management of computing and information systems
- Software and its engineering~Software creation and managemen
Flexible Global Software Development (GSD): Antecedents of Success in Requirements Analysis
Globalization of software development has resulted in a rapid shift away from the traditional collocated, on-site development model, to the offshoring model. Emerging trends indicate an increasing interest in offshoring even in early phases like requirements analysis. Additionally, the flexibility offered by the agile development approach makes it attractive for adaptation in globally distributed software work. A question of significance then is what impacts the success of offshoring earlier phases, like requirements analysis, in a flexible and globally distributed environment? This article incorporates the stance of control theory to posit a research model that examines antecedent factors such as requirements change, facilitation by vendor and client site-coordinators, control, and computer-mediated communication. The impact of these factors on success of requirements analysis projects in a “flexible” global setting is tested using two quasi-experiments involving students from Management Development Institute, India and Marquette University, USA. Results indicate that formal modes of control significantly influence project success during requirements analysis. Further, facilitation by both client and vendor site coordinators positively impacts requirements analysis success
Non-Technical Individual Skills are Weakly Connected to the Maturity of Agile Practices
Context: Existing knowledge in agile software development suggests that
individual competency (e.g. skills) is a critical success factor for agile
projects. While assuming that technical skills are important for every kind of
software development project, many researchers suggest that non-technical
individual skills are especially important in agile software development.
Objective: In this paper, we investigate whether non-technical individual
skills can predict the use of agile practices. Method: Through creating a set
of multiple linear regression models using a total of 113 participants from
agile teams in six software development organizations from The Netherlands and
Brazil, we analyzed the predictive power of non-technical individual skills in
relation to agile practices. Results: The results show that there is
surprisingly low power in using non-technical individual skills to predict
(i.e. explain variance in) the mature use of agile practices in software
development. Conclusions: Therefore, we conclude that looking at non-technical
individual skills is not the optimal level of analysis when trying to
understand, and explain, the mature use of agile practices in the software
development context. We argue that it is more important to focus on the
non-technical skills as a team-level capacity instead of assuring that all
individuals possess such skills when understanding the use of the agile
practices.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figur
Управління міжнародним бізнесом: Agility Journey для високотехнологічних компаній
The purpose of the article is the development of recommendations for the business maturity determination and measurement in the implementation of the agile approach for high-tech companies. Methods of analysis of documents, observation, personal and in-depth interviews, case studies have been used in the research.
The findings of the research: Business Agility Journey has been suggested for defining the state of the maturity of the company and conducting express diagnostics of agility. Agile Project Management Journey has been developed for the identification of weaknesses by the companies in the path to agility, as well as for
the determination of events for the transition from the traditional to the agile approach. Personal Agility Checklist has been designed for testing the soft skills of employees for the presence of the agile mindset. Research limitations include the study of the maturity of companies in the IT industry. Practical implications
are based on the use of suggested Agility Journeys in defining the state of maturity and main problems on the transition path. Also, Personal Agility Checklist will help to check the agility of the future employees. The originality of the article is based on the uniqueness of the Agility Journey that has been developed for the
first time. Further research on this topic should be focused on the development of an agile mindset as a prerequisite for the provision of agility in the company.Метою статті є розробка рекомендацій щодо визначення та вимірювання зрілості бізнесу при впровадженні еджайл-підходу для високотехнологічних компаній. У дослідженні використовуються методи аналізу документів, спостереження, особистого та глибинного інтерв’ю та кейс-стаді. Розроблено Business Agility Journey для визначення стану зрілості компанії та проведення експрес-діагностики еджайльності. Agile Project Management Journey було розроблено для визначення компаніями своїх слабких сторін, а також заходів для переходу від традиційного до еджайльного підходу. Personal Agility Checklist був створений для перевірки «гнучких навичок» (soft skills) співробітників на наявність гнучкого мислення (agile mindset). Обмеження досліджень включають вивчення зрілості компаній ІТ-галузі. Практична значущість ґрунтується на використанні запропонованих Agility Journeys для визначення стану зрілості та основних проблем на шляху переходу. Також Personal Agility Checklist допоможе перевірити еджайльність майбутніх працівників. Оригінальність статті базується на унікальності Agility Journey, яка була розроблена вперше. Подальші дослідження на цю тему доцільно зосередити на розвитку гнучкого мислення як передумови забезпечення еджайльності в компанії
Coordinating Knowledge Work in Multi-Team Programs: Findings from a Large-Scale Agile Development Program
Software development projects have undergone remarkable changes with the
arrival of agile development methods. While intended for small, self-managing
teams, these methods are increasingly used also for large development programs.
A major challenge in programs is to coordinate the work of many teams, due to
high uncertainty in tasks, a high degree of interdependence between tasks and
because of the large number of people involved. This revelatory case study
focuses on how knowledge work is coordinated in large-scale agile development
programs by providing a rich description of the coordination practices used and
how these practices change over time in a four year development program with 12
development teams. The main findings highlight the role of coordination modes
based on feedback, the use of a number of mechanisms far beyond what is
described in practitioner advice, and finally how coordination practices change
over time. The findings are important to improve the outcome of large
knowledge-based development programs by tailoring coordination practices to
needs and ensuring adjustment over time.Comment: To appear in Project Management Journa
Is agile project management applicable to construction?
This paper briefly summarises the evolution of Agile Project Management (APM) and differentiates it from lean and agile production and ‘leagile’ construction. The significant benefits being realized through employment of APM within the information systems industry are stated. The characteristics of APM are explored, including: philosophy, organizational attitudes and practices, planning, execution and control and learning. Finally, APM is subjectively assessed as to its potential contribution to the pre-design, design and construction phases.
In conclusion, it is assessed that APM offers considerable potential for application in predesign and design but that there are significant hurdles to its adoption in the actual construction phase. Should these be overcome, APM offers benefits well beyond any individual project
Autonomous agile teams: Challenges and future directions for research
According to the principles articulated in the agile manifesto, motivated and
empowered software developers relying on technical excellence and simple
designs, create business value by delivering working software to users at
regular short intervals. These principles have spawned many practices. At the
core of these practices is the idea of autonomous, self-managing, or
self-organizing teams whose members work at a pace that sustains their
creativity and productivity. This article summarizes the main challenges faced
when implementing autonomous teams and the topics and research questions that
future research should address
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