Software management tools: Lessons learned from use

Experience in inserting software project planning tools into more than 100 projects producing mission critical software are discussed. The problems the software project manager faces are listed along with methods and tools available to handle them. Experience is reported with the Project Manager's Workstation (PMW) and the SoftCost-R cost estimating package. Finally, the results of a survey, which looked at what could be done in the future to overcome the problems experienced and build a set of truly useful tools, are presented

Analysis of DSN software anomalies

A categorized data base of software errors which were discovered during the various stages of development and operational use of the Deep Space Network DSN/Mark 3 System was developed. A study team identified several existing error classification schemes (taxonomies), prepared a detailed annotated bibliography of the error taxonomy literature, and produced a new classification scheme which was tuned to the DSN anomaly reporting system and encapsulated the work of others. Based upon the DSN/RCI error taxonomy, error data on approximately 1000 reported DSN/Mark 3 anomalies were analyzed, interpreted and classified. Next, error data are summarized and histograms were produced highlighting key tendencies

Perspectives on Productivity and Delays in Large-Scale Agile Projects

Many large and distributed companies run agile projects in development environments that are inconsistent with the original agile ideas. Problems that result from these inconsistencies can affect the productivity of development projects and the timeliness of releases. To be effective in such contexts, the agile ideas need to be adapted. We take an inductive approach for reaching this aim by basing the design of the development process on observations of how context, practices, challenges, and impacts interact. This paper reports the results of an interview study of five agile development projects in an environment that was unfavorable for agile principles. Grounded theory was used to identify the challenges of these projects and how these challenges affected productivity and delays according to the involved project roles. Productivity and delay-influencing factors were discovered that related to requirements creation and use, collaboration, knowledge management, and the application domain. The practitioners’ explanations about the factors' impacts are, on one hand, a rich empirical source for avoiding and mitigating productivity and delay problems and, on the other hand, a good starting point for further research on flexible large-scale development