Clients’ participation in software projects: comparative case study between an agile and a ‘traditional’ software company

One of the main characteristics of agile software development is the active and continuous participation and involvement of the clients throughout the project. According to agile proponents, this leads to building ‘the right’ product and to satisfied clients. In this paper we present a comparative study of two Dutch software development companies in respect to client participation and its impact on the project. One of the companies is purely agile while the other is following a traditional software development approach. Our study suggests that active clients’ participation is not an exclusive attribute of agile projects and that it can be successfully integrated (and implemented) in a traditional project as well. Further, the study shows that by involving clients, software companies have the chance to get higher customer satisfaction, regardless whether or not they implement agile software development processes. Although our study is not quantitative, we think that it is indicative about the impact of the factor “client’s participation” on the client’s satisfaction

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

When Agile Means Staying: A Moderated Mediated Model

The design of software development methods focuses on improving task processes, including accommodating changing user requirements and accelerating product delivery. However, there is limited research on how the use of different software development methods impacts IT professionals’ perceptions of organizational mobility. Drawing on concepts from the agile development literature and job characteristics theory, we formulate a moderated mediation model explicating the mechanism and the condition under which agile development use exerts an influence on IT professionals’ intention to stay with their current employer. Specifically, we examine job satisfaction as mediating the effect of using agile development on the intention to stay as well as how the strength of the mediated relationship differs across firms. We test our hypotheses using a sample of 32,389 software developers. We find that job satisfaction fully mediates the effect of using agile development on the intention to stay. The strength of the mediation effect is significantly different for large and small firms

COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT AGILE METHODOLOGIES AND FIT ASSESSMENT IN AN INDUSTRIAL CONTEXT

The paper collects together and describes the main and most known Agile methodologies. Those methodologies are then compared in order to assess their fit in the context of highly innovative non-software companies. In particular, the focus is on a full system supplier for food processing and packaging equipment, packaging material and services. The fit between the Agile methodologies and the company is performed considering the innovation and development processes in place into the Research and Development department of the company itself. By doing so the paper aims at contributing to the theme of Agile application in non-software industries. Moreover, it will support in the choice of which method or framework suits better having clear the needs and characteristics of that specific context. Finally, the paper provides also a suggestion about how to approach this kind of choices

Agile or non-agile, that is the question: designing a decision support system for an agile approach in software development projects

To know how to choose an approach to manage a software development project is essential to maximize the chances to achieve success. One of the great dilemmas we face nowadays concerns the option for an Agile or a traditional development methodology. There are several characteristics of software projects and the business environments in which they are performed that we must consider while choosing a suitable option. Although Agile development methodologies have been increasingly expanding and consolidating worldwide as effective ways of building software since the early 2000s, they are not a one-size-fits-all approach. When to use Agile and which methodology is most suitable are the great questions we aim to answer in this research. Through a comprehensive revision of the literature and an exploratory study with Agile practitioners, we explored and identified the main factors that favour the use of an Agile approach. We also unveiled the characteristics of software development projects and organisational environments that lead development teams to opt for one of the common Agile frameworks: Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP), Kanban, or Lean Software Development (LSD). Based on the results obtained, we conceived a conceptual model to support decision making and developed a prototype of an information system that implements this conceptual model. Our major goal in this study is to clarify what is important to consider in the choice of an Agile methodology and help the decision-maker selecting an appropriate development approach. The results of this research contribute to the literature related to processes of selection of software development methodologies, as well as to the diffusion of Agile within development teams and organisations with none or low degree of maturity in Agile, but interested in knowing more or adopting this development approach.Escolher uma abordagem adequada para gerenciar um projeto de desenvolvimento de software é essencial para maximizar as chances de se obter sucesso. Um dos grandes dilemas da atualidade diz respeito à opção por uma metodologia de desenvolvimento Agile ou tradicional. Existem diversas características dos projetos de software e dos ambientes organizacionais onde eles são executados que devemos considerar ao escolher uma opção apropriada. Embora as metodologias de desenvolvimento Agile venham se expandindo e consolidando mundialmente desde o início dos anos 2000 como soluções eficazes para se construir software, elas não se aplicam a todos os cenários de desenvolvimento. Quando usar Agile e qual das suas metodologias é a mais adequada são as grandes questões que pretendemos responder nesta investigação. Através de uma abrangente revisão de literatura e de um estudo exploratório com profissionais com experiência nas metodologias Agile, exploramos e identificamos os principais fatores que favorecem o uso de uma abordagem Agile. Também estudamos as características de projetos de desenvolvimento de software e de ambientes organizacionais que levam as equipas de desenvolvimento a optar por uma das suas metodologias mais comuns: Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP), Kanban ou Lean Software Development (LSD). Com base nos resultados obtidos, concebemos um modelo conceitual para apoiar a tomada de decisão e desenvolvemos um protótipo de um sistema que implementa tal modelo conceitual. Nosso principal objetivo é esclarecer o que é importante considerar na escolha de uma metodologia Agile e ajudar o tomador de decisão a selecionar uma opção adequada. Os resultados desta investigação enriquecem a literatura voltada para os métodos de seleção de processos de desenvolvimento de software, e contribuem para a difusão do Agile entre as equipas de desenvolvimento e as organizações com nenhum ou baixo grau de maturidade em Agile, mas que estejam interessadas em conhecer mais ou adotar esta abordagem de desenvolvimento

AGILE DEVELOPMENT – SCRUM ADOPTED IN PRACTICE BUT NOT IN PRINCIPLE

The move to agile software development methodologies has generated great enthusiasm. The emphasis on team-oriented development and reliance on people rather than predefined processes is transforming software development into a socio-technical process. Through the lens of a real-world project we examined the difficulties experienced when an IS development project shifted from a structured waterfall approach for upfront requirements gathering to a Scrum agile approach for the development activities. We specifically look at the agile values and principles of ‘people, working software, end-user involvement and responding to change’. Although the transition was successful in practice, in principle the project failed. The empirical case study evidences the characteristics involved and we put forward critical factors of the preparation of the environment (i.e. adequate Scrum training), effective communications (i.e. consensus on a standard working context and sufficient time for testing), optimal team structure (i.e. personalities) and effective team leadership to inform future development practice

Prototype test insertion co-processor for agile development in multi-threaded embedded environments

Agile methodologies have been shown useful in constructing Enterprise applications with a reduced level of defects in the released product. Movement of Agile processes into the embedded world is hindered by the lack of suitable tool support. For example, software instrumented test insertion methods to detect race condition in multithreaded programs have the potential to increase code size beyond the limited embedded system memory, and degrade performance to an extent that would impair the real-time characteristics of the system. We propose a FPGA-based, hardware assisted, test insertion co-processor for embedded systems which introduces low additional system overhead and incurs minimal code size increase. In this preliminary study, we compare the ideal characteristics of a FPGA-based test insertion co-processor with our initial prototype and other proposed hardware assisted test insertion approaches

Characteristics and Challenges of Agile Software Development Adoption in Brazilian Government

Governments worldwide have been working to provide better digital services to citizens. In Brazil, this initiative is ongoing since the 2000’s with the aim create better digital solutions that provide access to government information, improvements in public services, and increase social participation. One of the strategies for developing digital solutions – i.e. software solutions – is the adoption of agile software development (ASD) methods, which are forms of software processes that enable delivering working software in a timely manner to respond to customer needs. While industry surveys are performed annually to understand ASD adoption in companies, little is known about the adoption of ASD in Brazilian government organizations and which are the challenges faced by these organizations. The goal of this study is thus to describe agile software development adoption in the Brazilian public sector, by showing the characteristics for adoption and challenges. We conducted a survey with practitioners of government-based organizations in Brazil and statistically analyzed data. Out of the 167 responses, we learned that ASD projects are mostly successful and, on their majority, they are conducted combined with other software development approaches. Also, accelerating product delivery and increasing productivity are ranked as the main reasons for agile adoption, followed by cultural change and resistance to change as the main challenges still faced by Brazilian government IT organizations in the use of ASD