Iterations in software development processes: A comparison of agile and waterfall software development projects

Iteration is an essential element of software development processes. Software methodologies like agile and waterfall use the term ‘iteration’ in several different ways for improving either the quality or the functionality of the software. There are no studies, however, which have thoroughly analyzed and characterized these forms of iterations and their differences as they are enacted in organizations. In order to reveal these iterative forms we conducted a study of two mid-sized software development projects at a large global Fortune 100 corporation – one agile project and one waterfall project. Using advanced event sequence-analytic techniques based on detailed process data, our analysis reveals that agile and waterfall iterations differed in design and development phases due to different sources and types of iterations

Structural Analisys of CMMI with the Software Development Process, Project Portfolio Management and PMBOK

Abstract. CMMI is one of the most used models in the software industry to certify the quality of its processes and products, reduces or eliminates rework, increases product and process reuse, reduces costs due to multiple evaluations and process improvement programs. On the other hand, companies that develop software apply traditional models or agile models, which manage the software development process. They also apply development standards such as ISO/IEC 12207 as well as project portfolio management standards and project management standards. The purpose of this paper is to relate the traditional and agile software development processes, project portfolio management and PMBOK with the CMMI standard. The results of this work allow us to determine the aspects that are missing from these standards and the best practices to reach a high level of CMMI maturity. It is concluded that for a company it is important to apply both agile processes and traditional processes, as well as all the standards that contribute improving the management of its projects. None of these practices and norms are opposed to the CMMI process areas, but rather are complemented to achieve a high level of quality in the final product and in achieving the objectives of the company

Incorporating innovative practices in software engineering education

Software Engineering (SE) practices deals with business requirements that continue to operate in dynamically changing and turbulent environments. SE practitioners must confront the business need for persistent innovation and build appropriate future workforce culture. Agile software development approaches view change from a perspective that reflects today\u27s tumultuous business and technology environments. Introducing these innovative methodologies, along with the more traditional Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) method, in IT departments is a challenging task. Such task requires not only technology expertise and knowledge, but also the human side of organization, team, and individual readiness to accepting such a challenge. To deal with this latter side, the paper employs creative thinking processes and the four brain concept. In such environment, linking agile methods and CMMI is imperative to improving software quality. © 2011 IEEE

Determinants for Successful Agile Collaboration between UX Designers and Software Developers in a Complex Organisation

Agile and User-centered design processes have been reported to frequently putting contradictory demands on people working within these methodological frameworks. The current research addresses this point by focussing on the crucial relationship between software developer and designer. An online survey, a contextual inquiry, and a diary study were employed with 107 developers and designers in a large media organization to determine the factors for success in agile development cycles. The results from the survey show that while developers and designers have similar levels of satisfaction with agile processes, there are differences in the factors predicting those ratings. Developers are happier with the wider teamwork but want more access to and close collaboration with designers, while the latters’ concern was the quality of the wider teamwork. Additional contextual inquiries and a diary study with pairs of designers and developers reflected the survey findings that close cooperation (and proximity) was essential for improving communication, reducing inefficiencies, and avoiding suboptimal products being released. However, organizational processes, the setup of the work environment, and managerial traditions meant that this close collaboration and localized decision-making was found difficult to maintain. Results from the survey, the contextual inquiry, and the diary study found six factors for success from collaborations emerged

The Impact of Group Cohesiveness on Decision-Making Outcomes under Conditions of Challenging and Hindrance Time Pressure

Group decision making is increasingly important for the successful completion of software development projects. Group oriented development approaches such as agile methods, which emphasize a sense-and-respond approach are becoming an integral part of software development. These methods are being used by an increasing number of organizations as a means of improving the agility and quality of the development process, and within these processes groups are increasingly involved in critical decision making. Groups are required to make regular group decisions and group members work closely with each other to develop software in time-boxed iterations. However, the literature lacks a clear understanding about how varying degrees of time pressure affects the decision outcomes of the development groups. As group cohesion is viewed as the most fundamental issue facing group decision-making processes, in this research-in-progress paper we develop a research instrument to measure the impact of time pressure and group cohesion on decision-making outcomes

Leanness and agility as means for improving supply chains. A case study on Egypt

Supply chain management has received greater attention from the academics and the practitioners, however the literature review lacks a comprehensive view for supply chain management practices and how its members should act to contribute to its overall success (Li el at., 2005). In this era, where the business organisations are working in several challenging threats and opportunities, greater attention is given to supply chain management. Nowadays, companies are always searching for means to improve their supply chains. The main aim of this research is to show "how leanness and agility approaches can be used within the same enterprise as complementary means for improving its supply chain". To achieve this research objective, the research has provided an assessment and summarised the literature on the supply chain management, lean thinking and agility thinking including their importance; their definitions; their practices and the relationship between lean and agility. The resulted proposed framework deduced from the literature has been applied in the Egyptian Manufacturing Business to show the relationship between the agility principles, lean principles, entity performance and the successful supply chain

Software Reuse in Agile Development Organizations - A Conceptual Management Tool

The reuse of knowledge is considered a major factor for increasing productivity and quality. In the software industry knowledge is embodied in software assets such as code components, functional designs and test cases. This kind of knowledge reuse is also referred to as software reuse. Although the benefits can be substantial, software reuse has never reached its full potential. Organizations are not aware of the different levels of reuse or do not know how to address reuse issues. This paper proposes a conceptual management tool for supporting software reuse. Furthermore the paper presents the findings of the application of the management tool in an agile development organization

Agile, Web Engineering and Capability Maturity ModelI ntegration : A systematic literature review

Context Agile approaches are an alternative for organizations developing software, particularly for those who develop Web applications. Besides, CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) models are well-established approaches focused on assessing the maturity of an organization that develops software. Web Engineering is the field of Software Engineering responsible for analyzing and studying the specific characteristics of the Web. The suitability of an Agile approach to help organizations reach a certain CMMI maturity level in Web environments will be very interesting, as they will be able to keep the ability to quickly react and adapt to changes as long as their development processes get mature. Objective This paper responds to whether it is feasible or not, for an organization developing Web systems, to achieve a certain maturity level of the CMMI-DEV model using Agile methods. Method The proposal is analyzed by means of a systematic literature review of the relevant approaches in the field, defining a characterization schema in order to compare them to introduce the current state-of-the-art. Results The results achieved after the systematic literature review are presented, analyzed and compared against the defined schema, extracting relevant conclusions for the different dimensions of the problem: compatibility, compliance, experience, maturity and Web. Conclusion It is concluded that although the definition of an Agile approach to meet the different CMMI maturity levels goals could be possible for an organization developing Web systems, there is still a lack of detailed studies and analysis on the field