Agile Software Processes for the 24-Hour Knowledge Factory Environment

Abstract

The growing adoption of outsourcing and offshoring concepts is presenting new opportunities for distributed software development. Inspired by the paradigm of round-the-clock manufacturing, the concept of the 24-Hour Knowledge Factory (24HrKF) attempts to make similar transformation in the arena of information systems: specifically to transform the production of software and allied intangibles to benefit from the notion of continuous development by establishing multiple collaborating sites at strategically selected locations around the globe. As the sun sets on one site, it rises on another site with the day's work being handed off from the closing site to the opening site. In order to enable such hand-offs to occur in an effective manner, new agile and distributed software processes are needed, as delineated in this paper.