Categorization of risk factors for distributed agile projects

ContextOrganizations combine agile approach and Distributed Software Development (DSD) in order to develop better quality software solutions in lesser time and cost. It helps to reap the benefits of both agile and distributed development but pose significant challenges and risks. Relatively scanty evidence of research on the risks prevailing in distributed agile development (DAD) has motivated this study.ObjectiveThis paper aims at creating a comprehensive set of risk factors that affect the performance of distributed agile development projects and identifies the risk management methods which are frequently used in practice for controlling those risks.MethodThe study is an exploration of practitioners’ experience using constant comparison method for analyzing in-depth interviews of thirteen practitioners and work documents of twenty-eight projects from thirteen different information technology (IT) organizations. The field experience was supported by extensive research literature on risk management in traditional, agile and distributed development.ResultsAnalysis of qualitative data from interviews and project work documents resulted into categorization of forty-five DAD risk factors grouped under five core risk categories. The risk categories were mapped to Leavitt’s model of organizational change for facilitating the implementation of results in real world. The risk factors could be attributed to the conflicting properties of DSD and agile development. Besides that, some new risk factors have been experienced by practitioners and need further exploration as their understanding will help the practitioners to act on time.ConclusionOrganizations are adopting DAD for developing solutions that caters to the changing business needs, while utilizing the global talent. Conflicting properties of DSD and agile approach pose several risks for DAD. This study gives a comprehensive categorization of the risks faced by the practitioners in managing DAD projects and presents frequently used methods to reduce their impact. The work fills the yawning research void in this field.     

The impact of agile practices on communication in software development

Agile software development practices such as eXtreme Programming (XP) and SCRUM have increasingly been adopted to respond to the challenges of volatile business environments, where the markets and technologies evolve rapidly and present the unexpected. In spite of the encouraging results so far, little is known about how agile practices affect communication. This article presents the results from a study which examined the impact of XP and SCRUM practices on communication within software development teams and within the focal organization. The research was carried out as a case study in F-Secure where two agile software development projects were compared from the communication perspective. The goal of the study is to increase the understanding of communication in the context of agile software development: internally among the developers and project leaders and in the interface between the development team and stakeholders (i.e. customers, testers, other development teams). The study shows that agile practices improve both informal and formal communication. However, it further indicates that, in larger development situations involving multiple external stakeholders, a mismatch of adequate communication mechanisms can sometimes even hinder the communication. The study highlights the fact that hurdles and improvements in the communication process can both affect the feature requirements and task subtask dependencies as described in coordination theory. While the use of SCRUM and some XP practices facilitate team and organizational communication of the dependencies between product features and working tasks, the use of agile practices requires that the team and organization use also additional plan-driven practices to ensure the efficiency of external communication between all the actors of software development.

A survey study of critical success factors in agile software projects

While software is so important for all facets of the modern world, software development itself is not a perfect process. Agile software engineering methods have recently emerged as a new and different way of developing software as compared to the traditional methodologies. However, their success has mostly been anecdotal, and research in this subject is still scant in the academic circles. This research study was a survey study on the critical success factors of Agile software development projects using quantitative approach.

Based on existing literature, a preliminary list of potential critical success factors of Agile projects were identified and compiled. Subsequently, reliability analysis and factor analysis were conducted to consolidate this preliminary list into a final set of 12 possible critical success factors for each of the four project success categories – Quality, Scope, Time, and Cost.

A survey was conducted among Agile professionals, gathering survey data from 109 Agile projects from 25 countries across the world. Multiple regression techniques were used, both at the full regression model and at the optimized regression model via the stepwise screening procedure. The results revealed that only 10 out of 48 hypotheses were supported, identifying three critical success factors for Agile software development projects: (a) Delivery Strategy, (b) Agile Software Engineering Techniques, and (c) Team Capability.

Limitations of the study are discussed together with interpretations for practitioners. To ensure success of their projects, managers are urged to focus on choosing a high-caliber team, practicing Agile engineering techniques and following Agile-style delivery strategy.     

Current practice in software quality and the impact of certification schemes

The paper presents the findings of a survey that investigated the level of quality management practice within some 150 UK companies from a sample of 500. It provides a snapshot of practice at the time of the survey, and assesses the impact of government quality initiatives particularly, the TickIT scheme at that time. The survey methodology is described, together with the results and conclusions. The sample has been graded by size of company, which the authors consider to have a significant effect upon the adoption of quality practices. The survey highlights the need to encourage small companies to adopt quality practices and to assist them with the short-term costs incurred.     

The impact of the Abilene Paradox on double-loop learning in an agile team

This paper presents a qualitative investigation of learning failures associated with the introduction of a new software development methodology by a project team. This paper illustrates that learning is more than the cognitive process of acquiring a new skill; learning also involves changes in behaviour and even beliefs. Extreme Programming (XP), like other software development methodologies, provides a set of values and guidelines as to how software should be developed. As these new values and guidelines involve behavioural changes, the study investigates the introduction of XP as a new learning experience. Researchers use the concepts of single and double-loop learning to illustrate how social actors learn to perform tasks effectively and to determine the best task to perform. The concept of triple-loop learning explains how this learning process can be ineffective, accordingly it is employed to examine why the introduction of XP was ineffective in the team studied. While XP should ideally foster double-loop learning, triple-loop learning can explain why this does not necessarily occur. Research illustrates how power factors influence learning among groups of individuals; this study focuses on one specific power factor – the power inherent in the desire to conform. The Abilene Paradox describes how groups can make ineffective decisions that are contrary to that which group members personally desire or believe. Ineffective decision-making occurs due to the desire to conform among group members; this was shown as the cause of ineffective learning in the software team studied. This desire to conform originated in how the project team cohered as a group, which was, in turn, influenced by the social values embraced by XP.     

Agent-based modelling of land use dynamics and residential quality of life for future scenarios

Current LUCC research employs scenario-based analysis to explore possible future trends and impacts by defining a coherent set of plausible future socio-economic development pathways. Typically, computational models are therein used to interpret qualitative future storylines in terms of quantitative future changes. This paper addresses these challenges and illustrates some of the advantages of a scenario-based approach using an Agent-Based Model (ABM). Storylines are shown to be useful in integrate a broad variety of knowledge sources, such as subjective expert judgement and results from other (integrative) models, which rely on a similar set of assumptions about the future. The advantages of ABMs are demonstrated for interpreting future scenarios in the context of spatial and temporal variations in socio-ecological outcomes based on heterogeneous individual behaviour. For example, ABMs are shown to enable potential hotspots of future development and LUCC to be identified. Furthermore, a procedure is presented for downscaling and interpreting storylines from general qualitative trends to local quantitative parameters within an ABM framework. This framework is applied to the Municipality of Koper, Slovenia, where the future impacts of LUCC on the loss of agricultural land and residential quality-of-life are simulated. The results are compared to a “business-as-usual” baseline and it is shown that industrial and commercial development has the greatest impact on the loss of high quality agricultural land across all scenarios. Furthermore, the model indicates an increase in inequality in the perceived quality-of-life of residential households, with new households achieving higher quality-of-life than existing residents.     

Connectionist modelling of skill dynamics

This paper discusses a method for modelling skilled action for synthetic actors in a virtual environment. The method guides lower-level motor skills from a connectionist model of skill memory, implemented as collections of trained neural networks. The relationship between this work and that of other projects in task-level animation is discussed, the principles of connectionist learning are explained, and a series of experiments testing the concept of connectionist skill modelling are reviewed.     

Exploring the challenges and benefits for scaling agile project management to large projects: a review

Requirements Engineering - Organizations have increasingly applied agile project management; however, they face challenges in scaling up this approach to large projects. Thus, this study...     

Data-driven and tool-supported elicitation of quality requirements in agile companies

Software Quality Journal - Quality requirements (QRs) are a key artifact needed to ensure the quality and success of a software system. Despite their importance, QRs rarely get the same degree of...     

System dynamics modelling for supply-chain management: A case study on a supermarket chain in the UK

This paper presents a system dynamics (SD) approach for the analysis of the demand amplification problem, also known as the bullwhip effect, which has been studied fairly extensively in the literature. The construction of an SD model is reported using a part of a supermarket chain system in the UK as an example. Based on the model, the causes of the dynamic behaviour of the system and the sources of amplification from the downstream to the upstream of the chain are investigated. The impact of information delays, demand forecasting and information sharing on the performance of the multi‐echelon supply chain is analysed. Some implementation issues are also addressed based on the simulation analysis.     

Information modelling for case-based construction planning of highway bridge projects

In practice, construction planning and control draws on large-scale project and corporate data repositories, which are often unstructured. This article argues that the development of a large-scale data repository should be the precursor to any case-based reasoning system development. The article presents a large number of conceptual object models, which were developed to identify the attributes and relationships between product and planning information comprehensively, using bridges as a representative product. The models were used to develop a large information repository implemented in a database management system to facilitate real world project information collation, organisation, and management to reflect the large-scale nature of construction projects in practice. The database acts as a source of cases and sub-cases that are retrieved and mapped into a case-base. These cases are considered individually for indexing, matching, retrieval, and validation purposes, facilitating the re-use of parts of multiple cases to construct new project plans. A prototype software model, CBRidge Planner, which was developed and tested with real world project cases to demonstrate the approach is presented.     

Project delivery system selection of construction projects in China

The suitability of the project delivery system (PDS) selected for a project greatly influences the efficiency to conduct a project. It is not an easy task to select an appropriate PDS as a large amount of ambiguous information exists. The paper aims to develop a PDS selection model to help owners to make a decision. The similar projects are identified through the similarity metrics between the target project to be predicted and those in the database. In addition, some of the indicator values are examined and modified through DEA-BND model, and then they are trained by ANN model to predict an appropriate PDS for the target project. A survey was conducted by postal questionnaire to empirically validate the reliability of the model in China. The indicator system for the selection of an appropriate PDS is established. Through the comparison of results predicted by different models, it is found that the PDS selection model developed in this paper can predict PDS precisely, and shows higher reliability than the ANN model. A PDS selection model is developed by inputting project-specific data, which proves to be more accurate and less dependent on experts’ judgment. Its practical application will benefit the owner’s decision making in the selection of the PDS.     

Development and application of an integrated ecological modelling framework to analyze the impact of wastewater discharges on the ecological water quality of rivers

Modelling is an effective tool to investigate the ecological state of water resources. In developing countries, the impact of sanitation infrastructures (e.g. wastewater treatment plants) is typically assessed considering the achievement of legal physicochemical quality standards, but ignoring the ecological water quality (EWQ) of the receiving river. In this paper, we developed a generic integrated ecological modelling framework quantifying the impact of wastewater discharges on the EWQ of the Cauca river (Colombia). The framework is flexible enough to be used in conjunction with different approaches/models and integrates a hydraulic and physicochemical water quality model with aquatic ecological models. Two types of ecological models were developed, habitat suitability models for selected macroinvertebrate groups and ecological assessment models based on a macroinvertebrate biotic index. Four pollution control scenarios were tested. It was found that the foreseen investments in sanitation infrastructure will lead to modest improvements of the EWQ, with an increase lower than six units of the ecological index BMWP-Colombia. Advanced investments, such as the collection and treatment of all wastewater produced by the cities of Cali, Yumbo and Palmira and upgrading of the treatment systems should be considered to achieve a good EWQ. The results show that the integration of ecological models in hydraulic and physicochemical water quality models (e.g. MIKE 11) has an added value for decision support in river management and water policy. The integration of models is a key aspect for the success in environmental decision making. The main limitation of this approach is the availability of physicochemical, hydraulic and biological data that are collected simultaneously. Therefore, a change in the river monitoring strategy towards collection of data which include simultaneous measurements of these variables is required.     

A framework to support the evaluation, adoption and improvement of agile methods in practice

Agile methods are often seen as providing ways to avoid overheads typically perceived as being imposed by traditional software development environments. However, few organizations are psychologically or technically able to take on an agile approach rapidly and effectively. Here, we describe a number of approaches to assist in such a transition. The Agile Software Solution Framework (ASSF) provides an overall context for the exploration of agile methods, knowledge and governance and contains an Agile Toolkit for quantifying part of the agile process. These link to the business aspects of software development so that the business value and agile process are well aligned. Finally, we describe how these theories are applied in practice with two industry case studies using the Agile Adoption and Improvement Model (AAIM).     

Low-dimensional modelling of dynamics via computer algebra

I describe a method, particularly suitable to implementation by computer algebra, for the derivation of low-dimensional models of dynamical systems. The method is systematic and is based upon centre manifold theory. Computer code for the algorithm is relatively simple, robust and flexible. The method is applied to two examples: one a straightforward pitchwork bifurcation, and one being the dynamics of thin fluid films.     

Evaluating the impact of an agile transformation: a longitudinal case study in a distributed context

Many software-development organizations have recently started to adopt agile practices in order to benefit from the improvements they clearly bring, in terms of production speed and software quality, for example. However, in a large, distributed organization, such as Nokia Siemens Networks, an agile transformation may be a long-term, complex process, and therefore, evaluating the benefits achieved, and measuring the success of the change, can be difficult, especially in the early phases of the transformation. This paper is based on the results of a case study on the impact introducing agile practices actually had in a large, software-development organization, part of Nokia Siemens Networks. The impact of this agile transformation was evaluated in terms of how well it succeeded in achieving the goals set by the management before the transformation started. This longitudinal study included two separate analyses, made at 6 monthly intervals, which measured what agile practices were really in use in the organization, and what effects, if any, were visible in terms of the goals which had been set by the management The 6 monthly analyses included defect data metrics and opinion surveys of the personnel directly involved in the transformation. The study showed two things: firstly, that the introduction of agile practices does have the beneficial effects that one would expect, and secondly, that, using this kind of study, it is not only possible to evaluate the impact that the adoption of agile practices has in a large, established software-development company, but also that the effects are visible at a surprisingly early stage.     

Integrated parametric multi-level information and numerical modelling of mechanised tunnelling projects

This paper presents a concept for parametric modelling of mechanized tunnelling within a state of the art design environment, as the basis for design assessments for different levels of details (LoDs). To this end, a parametric representation of each system component (soil with excavation, tunnel lining with grouting, Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) and buildings) is developed in an information model for three LoDs (high, medium and low) and used for the automated generation of numerical models of the tunnel construction process and soil-structure interaction. The platform enables a flexible, user-friendly generation of the tunnel structure for arbitrary alignments based on predefined structural templates for each component, supporting the design process and at the same time providing an insight into the stability and safety of the design. This model, with selected optimal LoDs for each component, dependent on the objective of the analysis, is used for efficient design and process optimisation in mechanized tunnelling. Efficiency and accuracy are further demonstrated through an error-free exchange of information between Building Information Modelling (BIM) and the numerical simulation and with significantly reduced computational effort. The interoperability of the proposed multi-level framework is enabled through the use of an efficient multi-level representation context of the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). The results reveal that this approach is a major step towards sensible modelling and numerical analysis of complex tunnelling project information at the early design stages.     

Assessing the impact of real-time machine translation on multilingual meetings in global software projects

Communication in global software development is hindered by language differences in countries with a lack of English speaking professionals. Machine translation is a technology that uses software to translate from one natural language to another. The progress of machine translation systems has been steady in the last decade. As for now, machine translation technology is particularly appealing because it might be used, in the form of cross-language chat services, in countries that are entering into global software projects. However, despite the recent progress of the technology, we still lack a thorough understanding of how real-time machine translation affects communication. In this paper, we present a set of empirical studies with the goal of assessing to what extent real-time machine translation can be used in distributed, multilingual requirements meetings instead of English. Results suggest that, despite far from 100 % accurate, real-time machine translation is not disruptive of the conversation flow and, therefore, is accepted with favor by participants. However, stronger effects can be expected to emerge when language barriers are more critical. Our findings add to the evidence about the recent advances of machine translation technology and provide some guidance to global software engineering practitioners in regarding the losses and gains of using English as a lingua franca in multilingual group communication, as in the case of computer-mediated requirements meetings.