Flexible Global Software Development (GSD): Antecedents of Success in Requirements Analysis

Globalization of software development has resulted in a rapid shift away from the traditional collocated, on-site development model, to the offshoring model. Emerging trends indicate an increasing interest in offshoring even in early phases like requirements analysis. Additionally, the flexibility offered by the agile development approach makes it attractive for adaptation in globally distributed software work. A question of significance then is what impacts the success of offshoring earlier phases, like requirements analysis, in a flexible and globally distributed environment? This article incorporates the stance of control theory to posit a research model that examines antecedent factors such as requirements change, facilitation by vendor and client site-coordinators, control, and computer-mediated communication. The impact of these factors on success of requirements analysis projects in a “flexible” global setting is tested using two quasi-experiments involving students from Management Development Institute, India and Marquette University, USA. Results indicate that formal modes of control significantly influence project success during requirements analysis. Further, facilitation by both client and vendor site coordinators positively impacts requirements analysis success

Scrum in Practice: an Overview of Scrum Adaptations

Agile software development practices have gained widespread acceptance and application across all industries. Scrum, as one of the most widely used agile methods, has been adopted in countless organizations. However, while there is an understanding that practitioners rarely apply Scrum by the book , only little research addresses the actual adaptations and modifications that are made to fit Scrum to real world requirements: whether it is to solve methodological drawbacks, to fit the method to specific contextual constraint, or to add additional value to the method by augmentation or combination with other tools and methods. To get an overview of the proposed adaptations and their implications, this study presents a systematic review of literature reporting on challenges and motivations that lead to modifications of the Scrum method. Based on 31 relevant studies we extract seven distinct motivations for modifying Scrum, as well as six generic solution strategies to adapt the method

Scaling Agile: Approach for Defining Key Aspects of Multiteam Agile Software Delivery Systems (Research in Progress)

The need to scale agile approaches for software delivery within larger organizations and larger projects has led to a proliferation of agile scaling frameworks. Anecdotal evidence of the resultant implementation of these scaling frameworks shows varying degrees of success. Missing from this discourse is a holistic, framework-independent understanding of scaling agility. This research proposes an approach for defining key aspects of agile scaling. Using a Delphi method, we will work with an international panel of agilists representing the major scaling frameworks to determine challenges for scaling agile. These results will then be compared to the existing agile scaling research to determine convergence and identify gaps within the existing research. We will also compare the results to the emerging research that uses multiteam systems to help explain the agile scaling phenomenon. These comparisons will provide a means to gauge the relevance of existing literature to practitioner identified needs. The results of the study will provide practitioners a framework-independent understanding of agile scaling for large organizations and projects and provide scholars a clear direction to support future research

The future of software development methods

Most of the software development methods in use today are founded on concepts that emerged in the early decades of the software industry – the systems development life cycle, object orientation, agile and lean methods, open source, software product lines, software patterns – the list goes on. However there are several disruptive elements present in the current software landscape – software ecosystems, servitization, the Internet of Things, parallel processing, cognitive computing, quantum computing – that pose significant challenges in terms of the software development methods that might be appropriate. We suggest that these disruptive elements highlight the need to create new software development methods more appropriate to the needs of the current development environment

Scaled Agile Framework Meets Traditional Management – A Case of a Financial Services Provider

Inspired by the success of agile practices in small teams, organizations seek to achieve agility at scale, leading to large-scale agile transformations. Several frameworks have been developed to guide organizations through this process. While multiple challenges for adopting scaled agile frameworks have already been identified, research on the interplay between traditional management approaches and scaled agile frameworks is scarce. We conduct an in-depth exploratory case study with a German financial services provider to identify tensions that arise when applying a scaled agile framework in a non-agile environment. As a result, we derive 13 tensions along with three areas: goal-setting, planning, and reporting. Thereby, we advance the understanding of tensions within large-scale agile transformations and provide a foundation for future research on scaled agile practices in traditional organizations. Further, we provide insights for managers to ensure the successful application of scaled agile frameworks