Prioritization-Based Taxonomy of Global Software Development Challenges: A FAHP Based Analysis

Muhammad Azeem Akbar,Sajjad Mahmood,Ahmed Alsanad,Abdulrahman Alothaim

doi:10.1109/access.2021.3063116

Abstract

Global Software Development (GSD) continues to receive interest from software industry due to potential economic benefits. Management of GSD projects is not straightforward due to involvement of different geographically distributed teams who collaborate to produce a software. The objective of this study is to prioritize the challenges faced by practitioners during management of a GSD project. A questionnaire survey was developed to collect feedback from GSD practitioners about relative importance of 20 challenges reported in literature. Next, the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) was used to rank the challenges associated with management of GSD projects. The study provides a prioritization-based taxonomy of challenges associated with management of GSD projects. We believe software organizations can use the taxonomy to better plan and manage GSD projects.

Highlights

Global Software Development (GSD) is a “plan of action in which the knowledge workers preform the software development activities beyond the geographical, cultural and temporal boundaries” [1]
A questionnaire survey was developed to collect feedback from GSD practitioners about relative importance of 20 challenges reported in literature
The Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) was used to rank the challenges associated with management of GSD projects

Summary

Introduction

Global Software Development (GSD) is a “plan of action in which the knowledge workers preform the software development activities beyond the geographical, cultural and temporal boundaries” [1]. Software industry adopts GSD as it offers access to skilled human resources at a relatively low cost [2, 3]. Khan et al [4] indicated that GSD costs less than one third in developing countries compared with developed countries. GSD offers access to 24/7 development model across different time zone [5][6]. Niazi et al [4] highlighted that client firms enjoy access to significantly low cost compared with in-house development. The GSD helps the firms to keep update with international market, updated development tools and demand of the customer

Objectives

Results

Conclusion