Identifying benefits and challenges in the application of agile methodologies in software development

A dissertation submitted to the University of Bedfordshire in accordance with the requirements of the degree of Master of ScienceSoftware has generally been developed using the ‘Waterfall’ methodology which is now believed to be cumbersome and slow to react to change. This belief has spawned new ‘Agile’ methodologies that aim to deliver small pieces of working software on a frequent basis. Many claims have been made about Agile, but little academic research has been carried out to justify them. This study identifies the significance of benefits and challenges practitioners have found when adapting to Agile methodologies. Further, the benefits and challenges are linked to the Agile features in use and assesses what contributes to the level of user satisfaction. A survey instrument was employed to collect data from as many practitioners as possible followed by post survey interviews. Claims made for Agile by service providers are compared to the experiences of those canvassed in the survey. Results reveal that the most significant benefit is closer collaboration with other members of the development team. Significant challenges were the estimation of the time and effort Agile projects take to complete and that Agile only works with competent, motivated people. The insights gained in this study will be circulated for the benefit of future research on software development methodologies and Agile practice

Agile Project Dynamics: A System Dynamics Investigation of Agile Software Development Methods

While Agile software development has many advocates, acceptance in the government and defense sectors has been limited. To address questions of meanings to the term “Agile,” we examine a range of Agile methods practiced and develop a framework of seven characteristics, which we call the Agile Genome. We gain insight into the dynamics of how Agile development compares to classic “waterfall” approaches by constructing a System Dynamics model for software projects. The Agile Project Dynamics (APD) model captures each of the Agile genes as a separate component of the model and allows experimentation with combinations of practices and management policies. Experimentation with the APD model is used to explore how different genes work in combination with one another to produce both positive and negative effects. The extensible design of the APD model provides the basis for further study of Agile methods and management practices

Just enough structure at the edge of chaos: Agile information system development in practice

Agile information systems development is not well understood and suffers from a lack of sustainable theories, which are based on empirical research of practice. We use a framework that focuses on the ‘edge of chaos’ as the area, where agile information systems development takes place to fill in this gap. Our study identifies for a concrete project under investigation, where the beneficial balance between stability and instability lies. It discusses the circumstances, which influence this balance and the relationships of the elements, which constitute it

Agile methods in small organization environment

Abstract. Agile methods are a rising star and a proven concept in software development processes. They have revolutionized the ways of project management and are becoming more common than older methods day by day. This thesis studied in which way small organizations are different to large organizations, what kind of social and environmental variables there are in small organizations and how well most used agile methods fit into small organization environment. This thesis was conducted as a literature review. In this thesis, it was concluded that agile methods are suitable for small organizations when compared with differences between small and large organizations environmental and social variables. Major differences between small and large organizations being that small organizations are working in constantly changing and turbulent environment, which requires flexibility and ability to adapt. Also, small organizations are suitable for agile methods due to their social aspects, mostly for their need for effective communication and flexibility. In the future, the subject of this thesis should be headed more towards large organizations, because fitting of agile methods into large organization environment has been studied less, mostly since agile methods are naturally suitable for small organizations. It is also important to head the research towards large organizations, because it has been concluded that it is indeed the large organizations that have had problems with implementation of agile methods

Mindfulness and agile software development

The field of information systems development (ISD) is still not well understood and suffers from a lack of sustainable theories which are firmly based on research of ISD practice. This is also true for agile software development (ASD). In this paper, we develop a framework based on the theory of mindfulness and map the main characteristics of mindfulness to the most prominent features of ASD. By applying the framework to a case study of ASD practice we demonstrate the relationship between the theory of mindfulness and ASD, and show the usefulness of our framework as a contribution to theorizing about ASD and to a better understanding of ASD in practice

Grounded Theory Study of Conflicts in Norwegian Agile Software Projects: The Project Managers' Perspective

Abstract: This paper aims to explore the process of conflicts in agile software projects. The purpose was to investigate the causes and consequences of these conflicts. For this purpose, we conducted a qualitative study involving agile software projects in Norway. Grounded theory was used to analyze the data and the interview findings are presented using Glaser´s Six C model (context, condition, causes, consequences, contingencies, and covariance). The research findings suggest that there are several causes of conflicts. These include: the role of the product owner, an inexperienced project manager, the customer's lack of knowledge about methodology organizational hierarchy in public companies, contracting, personal egos, financial issues, not getting the right team. Consequences of conflicts include: decreased productivity, wastage of time and resources, diverted attention from project objectives loss of motivation, poor decision making, loss of communication. Based on interview data, different conflict strategies are suggested and these include appropriately skilled project manager, communication and negotiation, defining clear roles, stakeholder analysis, managing stakeholder´s expectations, discussion, finding the root cause of conflict. Project managers are using these strategies to avoid or resolve conflicts. The competencies required to handle these kind of conflicts are also discussed in the paper, while the implications of theory and practice of conflict management theory are also presented