Technical Dependency Challenges in Large-Scale Agile Software Development

This qualitative study investigates challenges associated with technical dependencies and their communication.Such challenges frequently occur when agile practices are scaled to large-scale software development. The use of thematic analysis on semi-structured interviews revealed five challenges: planning, task prioritization, information exchange, code quality, and integration. More importantly, these challenges interact with one another and can lead to a domino effect or vicious circle. If an organization struggles with one challenge, it is likely that the other challenges become problematic as well. This situation can have a significant impact on process and product quality. Our recommendations focus on improving planning and knowledge sharing (with practices such as scrum-of-scrums, continuous integration, open space technology) to break the vicious circle, and to reestablish effective communication across teams, which will then enable large-scale companies to achieve the benefits of large-scale agility

Industrial Challenges of Scaling Agile in Mass-Produced Embedded Systems

When individual teams in mechatronic organizations attempt to adopt agile software practices, these practices tend to only affect mod- ules or sub-systems. The short iterations on team level do not lead to short lead-times in launching new or updated products since the overall R&D approach on an organization level is still governed by an overall stage gate or single cycle V-model. This paper identifies challenges for future research on how to combine the predictability and planning desired of mechanical manufacturing with the dynamic capabilities of modern agile software development. Scaling agile in this context requires an expansion in two dimensions: First, scal- ing the number of involved teams. Second, traversing necessary systems engineering activities in each sprint due to the co-dependency of software and hardware development