A New Way of Management: A Scrum Management

A scrum is widely used since 1990s in software development industry which is a fast changing and demanding industry so companies need to hire qualified employees who can manage themselves in a team based organizational structure to meet and exceed customer expectations. A scrum management offers advantages to software development companies to have and sustain competitive advantages. Its adaptations into other industries may be worthwhile to be explored from a management perspective to make contributions to both software development industry and other industries. The purpose of this paper is to shed a light to a new way of management which is a scrum management to make contributions to both software development industry and other industries. The concept, roles, objects, ceremonies, process and challenges of a scrum will be explained respectively in this paper which provides a comprehensive understanding of a scrum management

Application of Scrum methodology in long-term student projects on the example of ESTCube-1 Mission Control System

Bakalaureusetöö eesmärk oli analüüsida Scrum-metoodika kasutamist pikaajalistes tudengiprojektides, kasutades näitena ESTCube-1 Missioonijuhtimissüsteemi (edaspidi MJS). Analüüs tõi välja senise Scrum-implementatsiooni nõrgemad küljed ja nende võimalikud lahendused. Et töö kirjutati ajal, mil MJS arendusprotsess oli alles pooleli, analüüsiti ka, kas antud metoodikaga tasub jätkata või tuleb valida mõni teine. Analüüsi usaldusväärsuse tõstmiseks on sisse toodud kolm teist arendusmetoodikat ja neid MJS Scrum-implementatsiooniga võrreldud. Scrum on agiilne tarkvara arendamise metoodika, mis põhineb iteratiivsetel ja inkrementaalsetel praktikatel. Iteratiivne lähenemine näeb ette, et esmalt ehitatakse valmis väike osa tootest, mida edaspidi inkrementaalselt ehk järk-järgult järgmistes etappides laiendatakse. Scrum’i üheks olulisemaks tunnuseks ongi etappidepõhine tsükliline arendamisprotsess. Samuti iseloomustavad Scrum’i iseorganiseeruvad meeskonnad ja tugev rõhk tehnilisel täiuslikkusel. Bakalaureusetöö kirjutamise hetkeks on Scrum arendusmetoodikat kasutanud kolm MJS-meeskonda. Analüüsist selgus, et hetkel MJS arenduses kasutusel olev Scrum-implementatsioon vastab hästi antud projekti kontekstile. Ainsa nõrkusena võib välja tuua haavatavuse juhul, kui meeskond motivatsiooni kaotab. Võimalikku probleemi saab aga vältida rangete arendustsüklite kehtestamisega või kogenematu Scrum Master’i (Scrum’i meeskonnajuhi) väljavahetamisega. Eelnev oli ainus Scrum’i kasutamisega seotud potsentsiaalne oht, seega võib öelda, et hetkel kasutusel olev Scrum-implementatsioon tuleb projektile kindlasti kasuks. Sellegipoolest võiks töö optimeerimise eesmärkidel kaaluda ka kasulikemate praktikate laenamist teistest metoodikatest. MJS meeskondade liikmete tase on tihti väga erinev ja seega tasuks meeskonnasiseseks ühtlustamiseks rakendada ekstreemprogrammeerimise (Extreme Programming) paarisprogrammeerimist. Paarisprogrammeerimine on kahe inimese üheaegne programmeerimine ühe arvuti taga. See aitaks vähesema eelneva kogemusega meeskonnaliikmetel teistele järele jõuda ja samal ajal ka projekti arendamisesse panustada. Et vähendada juhtusid, mil käimasolevaid Sprinte (Scrum’i arendustsükkel) on vaja muuta, võiksid meeskonnad implementeerida Lean Software Development metoodika praktikat “Otsusta nii hilja kui võimalik”. Hetkel alustatakse tööd kõrgema prioriteediga ülesannetest, olenemata sellest, kas need on lõplikult määratletud või mitte. Antud praktika aitaks vähendada olukordi, kus varasemalt määratletud eesmärki muudetakse ja sellega seotud töö on vaja kas osaliselt või täielikult uuesti teha.The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the use of Scrum-methodology in long-term student projects following the case of ESTCube-1 Mission Control System, and to examine whether it is a reliable methodology in the projects of given type. The analysis revealed that the implementation of Scrum in ESTCube-1 is a suitable methodology for long-term student projects. The only weakness in the current methodology implementation is vulnerability to possible lack of team motivation. However, the potential problem can be avoided with establishing a work routine that is strict enough for less experienced teams or choosing another, more experienced, Scrum Master. Another objective of the thesis was to give additional recommendations for further adjustments for Scrum if the reliability of Scrum was verified. To increase work efficiency using best practices from other methodologies alongside with Scrum should be considered. To make the teams’ work more effective as well as beneficial in educational purposes, the teams should consider implementing “Pair programming” from Extreme Programming. As this technique requires that all code is produced by two people programming simultaneously on one computer, this practice would help to raise the competence of less experienced team members and produce reliable results in shorter time. To reduce the number of cases where ongoing Sprints have to be changed, the teams should implement the “Decide as late as possible” practice from Lean Software Development. While the Sprint Backlog is currently composed of the most important items already specified in the Product Backlog, the implementation of the practice in question would reduce the time spent on tasks that later would have to be reconsidered

<i>Trace++</i>: A Traceability Approach for Agile Software Engineering

Agile methodologies have been introduced as an alternative to traditional software engineering methodologies. However, despite the advantages of using agile methodologies, the transition between traditional and agile methodologies is not an easy task. There are several problems associated with the use of agile methodologies. Examples of these problems are related to (i) lack of metrics to measure the amount of rework that occurs per sprint, (ii) interruption of a project after several iterations, (iii) changes in the requirements, (iv) lack of documentation, and (v) lack of management control. In this paper we present Trace++, a traceability technique that extends traditional traceability relationships with extra information in order to support the transition between traditional and agile software development. The use of Trace++ has been evaluated in two real projects of different software development companies to measure the benefits of using Trace++ to support agile software development

Replan: Release planning for agile development

Release Planning methodologies have made possible that project managers and users in general can plan project’s releases. These methods try to automatize the human-based planning processes. Currently they are a few web-based and stand-alone tools about release planning, but not all of them offer the same functionalities, like the update of an already planned release or a detailed plan expressed in a timeline. Moreover, these systems are oriented to stakeholders criteria, without taking enough consideration to the available resources. This becomes a limitation, because in many occasions it is vital to have a temporal planning of a release. It also affects key aspects like the planning efficiency or the speed at which it is executed. In this project a web-based release planning tool has been developed. In this tool, users can create a release with different entities in an easy and simple way. The tool is based in a mathematical model that generates an scheduled plan as tight as possible to the available time and resources. On the other hand, the tool also guarantees the priority fulfillment of features, by respecting the temporal criteria that the user could establish. The system is also modular, as it can be integrated with other possible different visualizations. Its development in a cloud server also provides public access and scalability. The tests performed to the system show that the presented mathematical model guarantees the scheduled and efficient planning of a project’s release

A New Way of Management: A Scrum Management

A scrum is widely used since 1990s in software development industry which is a fast changing and demanding industry so companies need to hire qualified employees who can manage themselves in a team based organizational structure to meet and exceed customer expectations. A scrum management offers advantages to software development companies to have and sustain competitive advantages. Its adaptations into other industries may be worthwhile to be explored from a management perspective to make contributions to both software development industry and other industries. The purpose of this paper is to shed a light to a new way of management which is a scrum management to make contributions to both software development industry and other industries. The concept, roles, objects, ceremonies, process and challenges of a scrum will be explained respectively in this paper which provides a comprehensive understanding of a scrum management

Search based software engineering: Trends, techniques and applications

© ACM, 2012. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive version is available from the link below.In the past five years there has been a dramatic increase in work on Search-Based Software Engineering (SBSE), an approach to Software Engineering (SE) in which Search-Based Optimization (SBO) algorithms are used to address problems in SE. SBSE has been applied to problems throughout the SE lifecycle, from requirements and project planning to maintenance and reengineering. The approach is attractive because it offers a suite of adaptive automated and semiautomated solutions in situations typified by large complex problem spaces with multiple competing and conflicting objectives. This article provides a review and classification of literature on SBSE. The work identifies research trends and relationships between the techniques applied and the applications to which they have been applied and highlights gaps in the literature and avenues for further research.EPSRC and E

Capturing and (re)interpreting complexity in multi-firm disruptive product innovations

Purpose – This case study research report aims to include collecting additional field interviews with the original and additional executives participating in the original case study (on the Zaplet software applications firm) to enhance the interpretations by the original case study investigators as well as add-in downstream events occurring after the original report. The focus of the study is to increase descriptive knowledge and understanding of innovation and diffusion processes in developing high-tech disruptive software technologies. Design/methodology/approach – The study includes an application of the long-interview method and reinterpretation of original case data along with preparing and interpreting decision system analysis and chronological maps. Findings – The reinterpretation and expansion of the original case study illustrate dramatic revisions in plans and implementing new applications following positive and negative responses by third-parties and lead-user customers to alpha and beta designs. Concrete field trials occur frequently in shaping where and how the firm goes about changing its direction. Third-parties play critical roles in multiple time periods in shaping the firm's new product development direction.Research limitations/implications – The case study reanalysis and expansion are generalizable to innovation and diffusion theory and not to a specific population of firms. Practical implications – The paper illustrates the wisdom of Tom Peter's dictum, “Put it to tin quickly” and Dwight Eisenhower's focus on improvising, “The plan is nothing, planning is everything.” Originality/value – Formal sensemaking of what happened helps to destroy the myth that executives must have the resources before innovating. Resources follow vision and action (implementing) is the hidden and great lesson of this paper – what Tom Peters means when he writes about the value in creating a “skunk works” – using “borrowed” time, material, places, and creative juices to make things happen

Towards a highly customizable framework for release planning process

U razvoju softvera, planiranjem puštanja u promet izabiru se važna svojstva i zahtjevi temeljeni na tehničkim ograničenjima i ograničenjima sredstava te odnosima između zahtjeva. Planiranje puštanja u promet usmjereno je na pronalaženje optimalnog rješenja traženjem raznih stanja. Takav način traženja rješenja otkriva dvije stvari. Prvo, pokazuje da postoje različiti nejasni i nesigurni parametri koji utječu na rješenje. Drugo, da ne postoji samo jedno rješenja za neki problem. Mogu postojati različita rješenja koja se razlikuju po svojim karakteristikama (na pr. u odnosu na trajanje, složenost itd.). Stoga su mnoge metode planiranja puštanja u promet često specifične za samo neke aspekte problema. U ovom se radu istražuju razne postojeće metode za planiranje pokretanja u svrhu pronalaženja nekih općih razmišljanja i aktivnosti za uspostavljanje prilagodljivog okvira za planiranje puštanja u promet. Prilagodba se postiže identificiranjem učinkovitih parametara ili primjera parametara i njihovih odnosa tako da se može izabrati pravi algoritam ili metoda za svaku aktivnost. Karakteristike projekta mogu se odrediti na osnovu primjera parametara te se oni tada primjenjuju za određivanje odgovarajuće metode za izvršavanje pojedine aktivnosti u okviru čitavog postupka planiranja puštanja u promet, a čiji se rezultati bilježe. Taj predloženi okvir vrlo prilagodljivog postupka sa svojim mogućim obilježjima prilagođavanja zatim se ocjenjuje u nekoliko softverskih poduzeća. U 85 % slučajeva predloženi okvir za svaku aktivnost u skladu je s uvjetima poduzeća i pomaže u ubrzanju postupka planiranja puštanja u promet.In software development, release planning is performed to select important features and requirements based on resource and technical constraints and the relationships between requirements. Release planning focuses on finding an optimal solution by seeking various states. This kind of solution finding reveals two remarks. First, it shows that there are various, ambiguous and uncertain parameters that influence the solution. Second, there is not only one solution to any problem. Various solutions can be found that differ in their performance (e.g. time performance, complexity performance, etc.). Consequently, many methods for release planning are often specific to only certain problem domains. This paper examines various current release planning methods to extract the common activities and thoughts in order to establish a customizable framework for release planning. Customization is done by identifying effective parameters, parameter instances and their relationships so that they can affect the selection of the right algorithm or method for each activity. Project characteristics can be specified based on the parameter instances and they are then used to determine the suitable method for achieving each activity within the whole release planning process and the results of which are recorded. This proposed highly customizable process framework with its possible customization features is then validated in several software companies. In 85 % of the cases, the suggested framework for every activity of the process fits the companies’ circumstances and helps to hasten the process of release planning

System Capability Feedback-Cycles in Automotive Software Development

Context: The automotive industry is currently going through rapid change, driven by new technology; for example, electrification, autonomous driving, and connected cars. This new technology is largely based on electronics and software, and vehicles are increasingly becoming software-intensive systems. This affects how vehicles are developed, as automotive companies seek to adopt processes used in development of software-only systems, to gain the benefits of development speed and quick learning cycles possible in software development. Where sequential processes were previously the norm, automotive companies now aim to use agile methods at company-scale. Given the safety-critical nature of vehicles, and the mix software, hardware, and mechanical parts, this is challenging.Objective: This thesis explores how system-level feedback capabilities can be achieved in development of automotive systems.Method: To investigate a real-world setting, empirical methods are a natural choice. As an overarching research strategy, field studies are conducted at automotive companies. Over four studies, qualitative data is collected through semi-structured and structured interviews, focus groups, and workshops. The data is analyzed using adaptable methods, such as thematic coding. These qualitative approaches allow for open-ended questions, which are suitable for exploratory research.Findings: Transitioning towards agility changes the role of architecture, requirements, and in general of system-level artifacts previously finalized during early development phases. Nevertheless, what is covered by architecture and requirements still needs to be handled. They contain accumulated expertise, and fundamental concerns, such as safety, remain. However, automotive companies need to handle an increased importance of software for new feature development. Continuing business-as-usual is not an option.Conclusion: To achieve feedback capabilities on the system-level, there is a need for tools and methods allowing artifacts on higher levels of abstraction, for example architecture descriptions and requirements, to be modified and evolve over the entire course of development

NASA Tech Briefs, February 1988

Topics covered include: New Product Ideas; NASA TU Services; Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery; Fabrication Technology; Mathematics and Information Systems; and Life Sciences