A computer-based holistic approach to managing progress of distributed agile teams

One of the co-ordination difficulties of remote agile teamwork is managing the progress of development. Several technical factors affect agile development progress; hence, their impact on progress needs to be explicitly identified and co-ordinated. These factors include source code versioning, unit testing (UT), acceptance testing (AT), continuous integration (CI), and releasing. These factors play a role in determining whether software produced for a user story (i.e. feature or use case) is ‘working software’ (i.e. the user story is complete) or not. One of the principles introduced by the Agile Manifesto is that working software is the primary measure of progress. In distributed agile teams, informal methods, such as video-conference meetings, can be used to raise the awareness of how the technical factors affect development progress. However, with infrequent communications, it is difficult to understand how the work of one team member at one site influences the work progress of another team member at a different site. Furthermore, formal methods, such as agile project management tools are widely used to support managing progress of distributed agile projects. However, these tools rely on team members’ perceptions in understanding change in progress. Identifying and co-ordinating the impact of technical factors on development progress are not considered. This thesis supports the effective management of progress by providing a computer-based holistic approach to managing development progress that aims to explicitly identify and co-ordinate the effects of the various technical factors on progress. The holistic approach requires analysis of how the technical factors cause change in progress. With each progress change event, the co-ordination support necessary to manage the event has been explicitly identified. The holistic approach also requires designing computer-based mechanisms that take into consideration the impact of technical factors on progress. A progress tracking system has been designed that keeps track of the impact of the technical factors by placing them under control of the tracking system. This has been achieved by integrating the versioning functionality into the progress tracking system and linking the UT tool, AT tool and CI tool with the progress tracking system. The approach has been evaluated through practical scenarios and has validated these through a research prototype. The result shows that the holistic approach is achievable and helps raise awareness of distributed agile teams regarding the change in the progress, as soon as it occurs. It overcomes the limitations of the informal and formal methods. Team members will no longer need to spend time determining how their change will impact the work of the other team members so that they can notify the affected members regarding the change. They will be provided with a system that helps them achieve this as they carry out their technical activities. In addition, they will not rely on static information about progress registered in a progress tracking system, but will be updated continuously with relevant information about progress changes occurring to their work

Coordination in Distributed Agile Software Development: A Systematic Review

In order to decrease the consumer return transaction cost, e-commerce platform Alibaba invited an insurance company to develop a new type of insurance to compensate consumers for returns, which is called return-freight insurance. The new insurance has resulted in online return\u27s explosive growth. However, some online retailers still choose to offer complimentary return-freight insurance to signal their products\u27 quality. Using signaling theory, we build a conceptual economic model to explore what kind of online retailer should adopt this strategy under incomplete information. Based on the fact that each product\u27s return probability, profit, and insurance compensation are different, our main results show the separating equilibria, where only high-quality online retailers will offer complimentary return-freight insurance. Interestingly, return-freight insurance profit and compensation play different roles in the signal effect. The insurance premium plays a deep role while the compensation plays at the surface, because consumers could only observe the compensation when purchasing

A collaborative platform for integrating and optimising Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis requests

A Virtual Integration Platform (VIP) is described which provides support for the integration of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis tools into an environment that supports the use of these tools in a distributed collaborative manner. The VIP has evolved through previous EU research conducted within the VRShips-ROPAX 2000 (VRShips) project and the current version discussed here was developed predominantly within the VIRTUE project but also within the SAFEDOR project. The VIP is described with respect to the support it provides to designers and analysts in coordinating and optimising CFD analysis requests. Two case studies are provided that illustrate the application of the VIP within HSVA: the use of a panel code for the evaluation of geometry variations in order to improve propeller efficiency; and, the use of a dedicated maritime RANS code (FreSCo) to improve the wake distribution for the VIRTUE tanker. A discussion is included detailing the background, application and results from the use of the VIP within these two case studies as well as how the platform was of benefit during the development and a consideration of how it can benefit HSVA in the future

Lessons Learned from Distributed Agile Software Projects: A Case-Based Analysis

Agile software development in a distributed setting is challenging. The teams involved in the process face difficulties in communication, personnel selection, work culture, and knowledge management. The shortcomings associated with working in different time zones and the inabilities to develop trusting relationships between developers are well known. Companies often take recourse to agile software development methods in a distributed environment in search of reduced cost, higher efficiency, increased flexibility, and good customization. However, it is not clear whether agile methods can be successfully followed and their benefits realized in a distributed setting. This paper revisits and synthesizes the lessons learnt from twelve case studies detailing successful implementation of distributed agile software projects. The cases are analyzed from the perspective of the agile manifesto to determine how closely they follow its values and principles and to what extent they realize the benefits of the agile methodology. The cases lead to the discovery of disparate and innovative solutions adopted by different companies for overcoming the challenges of distributed agile software development. Some solutions are commonplace and others are unique and their combination in the context of the challenges is enlightening. The list of solutions can suitably guide companies that plan to adopt the agile methodology in distributed software development environments in future

Remote Working and Collaboration in Agile Teams

Agile software development relies heavily on tight and continuous collaboration, which becomes a challenge when team members work at a distance. Despite significant focus on distributed Agile working, remote working, when only one or two individuals are not co-located with the rest of the team, remains largely unexplored. We focus on one organisation with several such teams and investigate one in detail using distributed cognition – a theoretical framework for studying collaborative work. We present the results of a group retrospective, and a comparative analysis of collaboration in the team, taking the contrasting perspectives of the remote worker and his co-located teammates. The analysis shows substantial differences in three aspects: virtual artefacts; information flow; and the primacy of structure and facilities provided by collaborative platforms. Platforms that support meaningful collaboration and engagement for the remote worker, and create parity between all members of the team are crucial to integrating capability

Proposing a virtual operations network to support a business policy for the medicinal and aromatic plants sector

This research found out a more robust conceptual basis behind three missing links concerning the requirement for a virtual operations network to support a business policy for the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAP) sector. Industry was pictured from secondary data gathered from a 12 experts panel. The factors to configure a collaborative network, e.g. relationships and structure, enabled the operationalisation of a previously defined social platform. Requirements for information infrastructure, co-ordination and DSS were also expressed. Moreover, the role of enterprise knowledge to the formation of collaborative ventures helped the modelling of the social-momentum of the platform. Finally, it is argued (i) for the confirmation of a significant Operations Management contribution to defining a MAP policy and, (ii) for the outlining of a collaborative network representing an advance to the usually ambiguous prescriptions of virtual operations. An interview guide to run an empirical test could be generated as further work

Collaboration in Agile Software Development: Concept and Dimensions

One of the four values listed in the Agile Manifesto emphasizes customer collaboration over contract negotiation, yet the literature has not explained what constitutes customer collaboration and how to assess it. Little research has examined the nature and dimensions of collaboration in the context of agile software development. Based on a grounded theory methodology and using interview data collected from five software development outsourcing vendors in China, we explore the nature and key underlying dimensions of collaboration in agile software development. Five major dimensions of collaboration emerged from our analysis: mutual benefits, engagement, coordination, communication, and knowledge sharing. In turn, each dimension comprises key subdimensions that provide a comprehensive view of collaboration. By revealing the underlying nature and key dimensions, we provide a conceptual basis for operationalizing collaboration that one can employ in future quantitative studies on agility and other project outcomes. Our study results suggest that collaboration in agile software development is multifaceted and mutually occurring in both directions between the customer and the vendor rather than single dimensional as the term “customer collaboration” in the Agile Manifesto indicates