The impact of fear on the operation of virtual teams

The impact of fear on the operation of virtual team

Virtual software teams: overcoming the obstacles

As a result of the sustained popularity of Global Software Development (GSD) many organisations are increasingly leveraging this strategy to establish virtual software teams. In this paper the results from research undertaken with two Irish based companies who both utilised a virtual software team strategy is presented. One company had partnered with an organisation located in the US to develop and maintain software. The other company was the Irish division of a US multinational company who had partnered with a division in the Far East to undertake their software testing. We also describe particular cases of concern which both organisations experienced and discuss how they were addressed. Following the research in both companies, and based on the results from both of these cases, the researchers developed a framework to support the management of virtual software teams. Given the importance of GSD to the software industry this experience should be of value to anyone interested in outsourcing and virtual team software development and maintenance

A practical application of the IDEAL model

The focus of this paper is to outline the experience of a European based software organization utilizing the IDEAL model, while implementing a tailored Capability Maturity Model (CMM) software process improvement program. The goal was to achieve process improvement rather than a specific CMM maturity level. In doing this, the IDEAL model was extensively researched and employed. The benefits and limitations of the IDEAL model are presented as experienced. Further details on this research are available in [1]. Research was carried out on a number of software process improvement paradigms prior to the selection of the CMM. A key element of this approach was to see the requirements of the organization as paramount and immediate. It was deemed important to achieve process improvement in specific Key Process Areas regardless of their position in the CMM. This provided the flexibility for future investment in SPI to capitalize on the current work

Practical experience of virtual team software development

Given the current popularity of Global Software Development (GSD) increasing numbers of organisations are taking the opportunity offered to set up virtual software teams. This approach allows companies to partner experienced engineers located in high cost economic areas with less experienced team members based in low cost centres allowing both locations to be leveraged to their best advantage. A number of different approaches are currently being undertaken. Some organisations have set up subsidiaries in low cost economies and are developing virtual teams in this environment. Others are partnering with third party outsourcing organisations. The focus of this research is an Irish based company partnered with an organisation located in the US to develop and maintain bespoke financial software. A number of virtual teams were established, each team had members based in the US and Ireland. Given the locations involved it was initially believed that the organisations were culturally near shore. While that proved correct to a point, it soon became clear that communication, motivation and cultural differences existed and needed to be addressed. It was also realised that a new approach to process development and improvement had to be undertaken to ensure the successful development and operation of these virtual teams. Both organisations had good single site development and maintenance processes, but they proved inadequate for a multi-site GSD environment and needed to be extensively reengineered. Initially mistakes were made and areas of conflict arose. Rather than view these events as negative, each was leveraged to insure that the process was improved to address and minimise any reoccurrence. As a result over a four-year period a very successful common virtual team development process evolved between both organisations. This paper outlines some of the key problem areas encountered and offers practical advice and experience on how they were successfully addressed. Given the importance of GSD to the software industry this experience should be of value to anyone interested in outsourcing and virtual team software development and maintenance

The impact of fear on the operation of virtual teams

Distributed software development has become the norm for the software industry today. As a result many organizations are leveraging the expertise of their existing staff by establishing virtual teams. Here we outline the results from three independent case studies undertaken over a period of eight years. The first study considered the operation of virtual teams whose members were situated in two locations in the same country. The second investigated why U.S. and Irish team members who worked very successfully while collocated, experienced serious problems when operating in virtual teams. The third focused on virtual testing teams with members based in Ireland and Malaysia. The Irish staff had extensive experience of having projects offshored to them and were now responsible for offshoring part of their work. The results from each case study highlighted the importance and impact fear played and the consequences this had for the success of the respective strategies

Uncovering the reality within virtual software team

To support software development globalisation, organisations are increasingly implementing virtual team strategies. However, these teams have to work within the confines of the factors which distance introduces, thus not always allowing effective coordination, visibility, communication and cooperation to take place. The successful implementation and management of such teams must be done differently to those at single-site locations. To establish what factors significantly affect the implementation of virtual teams, the authors carried out qualitative research in two organisations in Ireland. Results from this research demonstrate that many factors are reality for those involved in global software development. In this paper we present five of these factors and discuss the impact these had on the virtual teams. These five are: use of communication tools, project management, process engineering, technical ability and knowledge transfer and motivational issues. If these are not explicitly addressed by management it can lead to serious problems

Development of the Medi SPICE PRM

As the importance and complexity of medical device software continues to increase there is growing demand for effective process assessment and improvement in this domain. To address this need the Medi SPICE process assessment and improvement model is being developed. Regulatory compliance is both an important and challenging aspect of medical device software development. Particularly as new regulations are being released and existing standards revised due to the attention that software is receiving within the health domain. To comply with these latest developments the Medi SPICE Process Reference Model (PRM) is being developed to conform with ISO/IEC 12207:2008 and the forthcoming release of ISO/IEC 15504-5 (currently under ballot). This paper outlines the development of the Medi SPICE PRM. It also provides details of the schedule for the full release of the Medi SPICE model

Med-Adept : a lightweight assessment method for the Irish medical device software industry

In this paper we describe how a lightweight assessment method was developed to educate Irish software development organisations in relation to becoming medical device software suppliers

Med-Trace: traceability assessment method for medical device software development

Traceability is central to medical device software development and is an essential requirement for regulatory approval. To achieve compliance an effective traceability process needs to be in place. This process must ensure the need for clear linkages and traceability from software requirements - including risks - through the different stages of the software development and maintenance lifecycles. This is difficult to achieve due to the lack of specific guidance which the medical device standards and documentation provide. This has resulted in many medical device companies employing inefficient software traceability processes. In this paper we outline the development and implementation of Med-Trace a lightweight software traceability process assessment and improvement method for the medical device industry. We also present and discuss our findings from two industry based Med-Trace assessments

Implementation of a lightweight assessment method for medical device software

This paper outlines the development and implementation of Medi SPICE-Adept. Medi SPICE-Adept is a lightweight assessment method that has been designed for usage with the Medi SPICE software process assessment and improvement model which is currently being developed for the medical device industry. While the Medi SPICE model is detailed and comprehensive in its approach there is industry demand for a lightweight medical device process assessment and improvement method. To address this requirement Medi SPICE-Adept has been developed. Details on how this has taken place and the procedures for implementing a Medi SPICE-Adept assessment are presented. Information is also provided regarding how a Medi SPICE-Adept assessment was undertaken in an Irish based medical device company. A summary of the issues identified from this assessment and the actions taken to facilitate process improvement is also presented. Finally, plans for future work are discussed