ADAPTING AGILE METHODS TO DEVELOP SOLUTIONS FOR THE INDUSTRIAL INTERNET OF THINGS

The Internet of Things (IoT) is evolving from a technological buzz-phrase into a substantiated organizational and private reality with interconnected devices over the Internet. However, with literature focusing on the technological aspects of IoT, research on the development process of IoT solutions remains scarce. This is particularly captivating, since agile methods provide a natural fit for the requirements associated with the development of IoT solutions, ranging from continuous and flexible improvement of products to integrating developers’ interdisciplinary expertise. We bring together these two areas of interest by conducting a study on the adaptation of agile methods in organizations that develop and distribute industrial IoT solutions. In this paper, we derive a theoretical model based on adaptive structuration theory and develop our empirical research design. Our multiple-case study research approach across relevant companies and industries is currently in process of data collection and analysis. Nonetheless, our preliminary findings reveal interesting insights into the specific adaptation of the agile development method of Scrum in the industrial IoT context. In terms of our finalized study, we provide a sound theoretical basis for future research and offer relevant practical guidance for organizations that are implementing agile methods to develop their industrial IoT solutions

Agility in Information Systems – A Literature Review on Terms and Definitions

Agility is a term used in many works in the context of information systems. When studying the concept closer, it became obvious that there is a terminological heterogeneity preventing a common definition whilst at the same time not preventing the frequent use of the term. In order to approach the term in a structured way, the following two paths were chosen. Firstly, the term was traced back to its roots which showed its first appearance in organisational theory. Secondly, the major IS conferences (ECIS and ICIS) and the requirements engineering conference as a major computer science conference were analysed from 2001 when the agile manifesto was published which led to a wave of works on agility. The descriptive results are presented in the paper