Distributed Software Development Research Articles

CFDSD: a Communication Framework for Distributed Software Development

Due to geographical and/or temporal dispersion, communication between teams in distributed software projects is a critical factor for success. Notably, distributed teams suffer adverse physical and temporal dispersion effects during an information exchange. To mitigate problems arising from interactions, it is important to understand the communication structure of teams during distributed projects. The objective of this work is to present the Communication Framework for Distributed Software Development. This framework groups a set of distributed projects communication concepts and enables a unified view of all stakeholders’ intercommunications that use many interaction technologies. The goal of this framework is to portray the dynamics of the interaction between distributed teams in a multi-tier structure, and each tier approaches a single function in the intercommunication process. We analyzed all interactions from distributed teams after developing an experimental IT Project, using the content analysis method to validate the Communication Framework for Distributed Software Development. The main contribution of this work is the framework specification, and the investigation, which has the potential to help mapping communication patterns in DSD. Moreover, this framework comprises interfaces for communication assessment and includes intercommunications from automated engineering tools as bots.

Distributed Software Development Modelling and Control Framework

Distributed Software Development Modelling and Control Framework

Distributed software development in agile projects: a model for the promotion of social interactions

Agile methods address the challenge of an unpredictable world, relying on people and their creativity, flexible team self-organization with incentives for participation, social cooperation and less formalization being increasingly used in larger projects. The issues related to communication, trust, coordination, and social interactions among project stakeholders impact Information Technology team dynamics. This article investigates what the constructs are that lead to the promotion of social interaction in DSD environments. We conducted this qualitative and exploratory research using an interpretative approach to interview 35 project professionals. This paper contributes to the theory by delivering a model for the promotion of social interactions in distributed agile projects. We introduced the interaction coordination variable that emerged from the field, aiming to encourage and direct relationships between team members so that they are aligned with the mutual benefits of the project. These benefits include improving communication, knowledge sharing, and a sense of responsibility for the product. The study also draws the attention of practitioners to the promotion of social interactions in agile DSD environments.

Agent Based Asynchronous Training In Distributed Software Development

In the changing software development, training on tools and techniques are necessary for the developers for better quality. Global software development faces great challenge for employee training as project members are scattered geographically. Developers should aware of the custom and culture of co-developers to improve their social and interpersonal competencies such as negotiation, teamwork, conflict resolution, time management, leadership, and communication using common language. The paper discussed a framework for agent based training model that can simulate global software development from different cultures; allows learners to train asynchronously as the agents are always available, and permits to play different roles in the various stages of project development. The framework also provides effective client training on product and effective for the discussion between the client and the developer and thus reduces the effort. The model was evaluated with online geographically separated trainees and trainers and analysed the feedback.

Agent-based asynchronous training in distributed software development

In the changing software development, training on tools and techniques are necessary for the developers for better quality. Global software development faces great challenge for employee training as project members are scattered geographically. Developers should aware of the custom and culture of co-developers to improve their social and interpersonal competencies such as negotiation, teamwork, conflict resolution, time management, leadership, and communication using common language. The paper discussed a framework for agent based training model that can simulate global software development from different cultures; allows learners to train asynchronously as the agents are always available, and permits to play different roles in the various stages of project development. The framework also provides effective client training on product and effective for the discussion between the client and the developer and thus reduces the effort. The model was evaluated with online geographically separated trainees and trainers and analysed the feedback.

Towards an effective approach for architectural knowledge management considering global software development

Architectural design is expected to provide virtuous outcomes of quality software products by satisfying customer requirements. A foremost apprehension of the customer is to have a better quality product within a minimal time span. The evaporation of architectural knowledge causes snags for the quality of a system being developed. The research study aims to propose and validate a framework bridging the gaps in architectural knowledge management. A mixed research approach has been employed. In order to align closely with industry practices, action research has been considered as research methodology, while the evaluation has been performed using a multiple case study approach. The results show that the framework enables the architects to cope with complex designs in distributed software development environments. The developed tool enabled to shift the theory into practice by assisting in creation of system architecture, knowledge survival and support architectural evolution with changing requirements.

An Empirical Investigation of Geographically Distributed Agile Development: The Agile Enterprise Architecture is a Communication Enabler

Agile software development performance depends on active communication. Active communication is an arduous task when agile teams are geographically distributed. Agile enterprise architecture was reported to enhance such active communication and performance. There is little empirical evidence on how agile enterprise architecture can enhance communication and performance of geographically distributed software development. This paper contributes to this research gap by empirically examining the relationships between agile enterprise architecture, active communication, and performance (on-time completion, on-budget completion, software functionality, and software quality). Using a quantitative data analysis approach, the PLS results of survey responses of 160 research participants suggest that agile enterprise architecture has positive effects on active communication, on-budget completion, functionality, and quality. The results also indicate that communication efficiency has positive effects on on-time and on-budget completion; while communication effectiveness has positive effects on functionality, quality, and on-budget completion.

Towards Taxonomical-Based Situational Model to Improve the Quality of Agile Distributed Teams

At present, software organizations are developing software products that employ global software development (GSD) teams. Organizations tend to adopt new methodologies for global software development, among which is the use of agile in the GSD industry, which yields both benefits and challenges. However, software development teams do not consider situational needs that delay software delivery, resulting in the late discovery of incompatible assumptions and architecture level rework. In this study, we conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify the situational factors that need to be considered by software development teams before developing a software product. We further present taxonomical classification and comprehensively map the situational factors that impact design development and advancement in the proposed Situational Agile Distributed Development (SADD) model. We propose 18 directed hypotheses against each situational factor that supports our SADD model. In order to evaluate our directed hypotheses, statistical analysis method is used, and the level of confidence of each directed hypothesis is validated. The result of our study confirms that global software development teams are highly reliant on the SADD Model. Our study will largely contribute by devising a multilevel taxonomy of situational factors that elevate the performance of global software development teams. This taxonomical classification will allow to better map the relationships between multiple situational factors and elevate the process of creating a holistic model to handle situational needs in the context of Agile Distributed Software Development (ADSD).

How to Communicate when Submitting Patches

Communication when submitting patches (CSP) is critical in software development, because ineffective communication wastes the time of developers and reviewers, and is even harmful to future product release and maintenance. In distributed software development, CSP is usually in the form of computer-mediated communication (CMC), which is a crucial topic concerned by the CSCW community. However, what to say and how to say in communication including CSP has been rarely studied. To bridge this knowledge gap and provide relevant guidance for developers to conduct CSP, in this study, we conducted an empirical study on the Linux kernel. We found four themes involving 17 expression elements that characterize what to express when submitting patches and three themes of contextual factors that determine how these elements are applied. Considering both expression elements and context, combined with an online survey, we obtained 17 practices for communication. Among them, four practices, such as "provide sufficient reasons" and "provide a trade-off" are the most important but difficult practices, for which we provide specific instructions. We also found that the "individual factors" plays a special role in communication, which may lead to potential problems even in accepted patches. Based on these findings, we discuss the recommendations for different practitioners, including patch submitters, reviewers, and tool designers, and the implications for open source software (OSS) communities and the CSCW researchers.

Dynamic Agile Distributed Development Method

“Agile” is an effective software engineering model with a high trust and acceptance rate among its users. The term agility comes from the concept of rapid development and working in a team for better results and a faster competition rate when compared with any other software engineering model. In this study, an assessment of the different patterns, frameworks, and application program interfaces available for distributed development in an agile model is given. After analyzing the state-of-the-art distributed models, a novel framework of a dynamic agile distributed development method (DADDM) is introduced in this paper. Many researchers have worked on global software development using the agile approach; however, we are presenting the idea of incorporating the agile benefits with dynamic distributed software development. The applicability of the proposed model is checked via two selected parameters: a feasibility study and a business study. The complete DADDM development life cycle is presented in the methodology section. The techniques used in DADDM and team members’ roles and responsibilities in DADDM are defined in this study. This study reflects all pillars of planning, controlling, organizing, and management of leadership. The use of DADDM in distributed agile development encourages future researchers to use this proposed framework for comparison and testing of their models and to check the effectiveness through a comparison with DADDM.

Towards Scrum Based Agile Framework for Global Software Development Teams

Organizations are moving their workforce to guarantee matters of trade and profit where accounts are expected to be less expensive and provide better quality products with the accessibility of skilled labor. With the evident benefits, distributed teams often face challenges with reliable and efficient communication coordination patterns that lead towards project failure. In the rapidly growing software industry, it becomes critical for any business to have better management activities to acquire right processes and practices. Agile methods are considered as a remedy for mitigating distributed teams’ challenges, with their consistent focus on communication. Here, we intend to propose a tailored Scrum based solution for distributed teams that empowers anticipated communication and coordination throughout the development process. In the first phase of framework development we have evaluated the state of agile practices from both literature and industry; based on collected evidence and suggestive guidelines a scrum based agile framework was formulated. The Scrum is a project management method in Agile Methods family. Scrum is an iterative process that asks for incremental development of the product, includes cross functional development and testing teams. Evaluation results show that the proposed framework contributes positively to improve development process quality. We have performed theoretical as well as empirical evaluation to validate proposed framework. We have eight project managing rising aspects in DSD (Distributed Software Development) to evaluate the proposed framework.

Challenges in Distributed Agile Software Development Environment: A Systematic Literature Review

Due to increasing interest in distributed agile software development, there is a need to systematically review the literature on challenges encountered in the agile software development environment. Using the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach, 32 relevant publications, dated between 2013 and 2018 were selected from four electronic databases. Data from these publications were extracted to identify the key challenges across the system development life cycle (SDLC) phases, which essentially are short phases in each agile-based iteration. 5 types of key challenges were identified as impacting the SDLC phases; these challenges are Communication, Coordination, Cooperation, Collaboration and Control. In the context of the SLDC phases, the Communication challenge was discussed the most often (79 times, 33%). The least discussed challenges were Cooperation and Collaboration (26 times, 11% each). The 5 challenges occur because of distances which occur in distributed environment. This SLR identified 4 types of distances which contribute to the occurrence of these key challenges - physical, temporal, social-cultural and knowledge/experience. Of the 32 publications, only 4 included research which proposed new solutions to address challenges in agile distributed software development. The authors of this article believe that the findings in this SLR are a resource for future research work to deepen the understanding of and to develop additional solutions to address the challenges in distributed agile software development.

An analysis of design process and performance in distributed data science teams

PurposeOften, it is assumed that teams are better at solving problems than individuals working independently. However, recent work in engineering, design and psychology contradicts this assumption. This study aims to examine the behavior of teams engaged in data science competitions. Crowdsourced competitions have seen increased use for software development and data science, and platforms often encourage teamwork between participants.Design/methodology/approachWe specifically examine the teams participating in data science competitions hosted by Kaggle. We analyze the data provided by Kaggle to compare the effect of team size and interaction frequency on team performance. We also contextualize these results through a semantic analysis.FindingsThis work demonstrates that groups of individuals working independently may outperform interacting teams on average, but that small, interacting teams are more likely to win competitions. The semantic analysis revealed differences in forum participation, verb usage and pronoun usage when comparing top- and bottom-performing teams.Research limitations/implicationsThese results reveal a perplexing tension that must be explored further: true teams may experience better performance with higher cohesion, but nominal teams may perform even better on average with essentially no cohesion. Limitations of this research include not factoring in team member experience level and reliance on extant data.Originality/valueThese results are potentially of use to designers of crowdsourced data science competitions as well as managers and contributors to distributed software development projects.

Requirement Engineering Challenges in Distributed Software Development

In process of software development, requirement engineering is one of the main pillars and important elements because of the role it plays. Requirements acts as baseline upon which the pacts between the team members, people using it and those purchasing it are affirmed. For an increasing number of globalization and technological reasons, it is imperative to note that software development has grown in recent years and has resulted in several changes that are crucial in the establishment of development projects. The change is supported and geared by the desire to work round the clock and capitalize on the extensive number of available resources, reduce on expenses and the urge to be near or closer to the users but the negative effect of such applications is the risks associated with gaps in communications. The distributed development of software is a complex phenomenon, facing the challenges like: geographical separation of project members, different time zones, different languages, different backgrounds, team structure, organizational structure, communication and technology to be used for communication and coordination.

How to go global: A transformative process model for the transition towards globally distributed software development projects

We employ design science research to develop a process model for the management of globally distributed software development (GDSD) projects. The model provides guidance for transforming established project frameworks in organizations to cope with additional challenges that a global project scale entails. The model integrates extant GDSD project management knowledge and makes it actionable for project managers, especially those with limited GDSD experience. The model was evaluated and found to be effective in transforming an actual GDSD project with teams in Germany, Poland, and India. Interviews with project managers with and without GDSD experience support the model's wider applicability to other contexts and IT project types. The model can also be used in GDSD project retrospectives to identify areas for improvement. In a research perspective, our model constitutes a novel type and instance of a social meta-artefact intended to transform existing social artefacts to retain their usefulness in evolving contexts.

How a geographically distributed software team managed to negotiate successfully using chat technology

Negotiation is best accomplished in collocated settings, and negotiation in geographically distributed settings is prone to failure with a risk of conflicts. Investigating distributed software development, we were surprised to discover that a software development team, located in different parts of Brazil, was able to negotiate successfully and reach an agreement to change from ticket-oriented processes towards release-oriented processes for bug fixing activities using only chat technology. In this paper, we explore how the chat technology allowed the distributed software team (including both vendor and client team members) to successfully negotiate and reach agreement about adopting and implementing a new collaborative workflow in the governmental IT-project. Our research method is based upon an ethnographically informed empirical study of the software development involved in a Brazilian software company. Thus, the data collected shows that the chat technology provided a platform for the team to engage informally in important discussions across locations. The chat technology allowed participants to navigate both within and across diverse subgroups (collocated client-developers; distributed clientdeveloper, and distributed developers-developers), which supported successful subgroup dynamics avoiding the risk of conflicts emerging from faultlines.

Role of Situational Agile Distributed Model to Support Modern Software Development Teams

ADSD (Agile Distributed Software Development) is a growing trend for software development organizations to develop quality software with limited cost and time. However, it gives rise to additional situational challenges. Situational variations result in unstable agile architecture which gets highly affected. Although the present literature focuses on agile architecture but effect of situational variation on the agile architecture still needs consideration. One possible solution is development of conceptual model and incorporation of multiple situational factors. This research study aims to identify the most relevant situations and propose situational ADSD approach for the development of situation-based software architecture framework for agile distributed projects. The study focuses on agile methods, rendering identified situational variations. The approach is developed through analyzing data from literature and their associated work documents. Comprehensive survey helps to bridge the gaps from conceptual to architecture model. The experimental results are acquired through both practical and statistical analysis. The results support Conway’s law, e.g. correlation that maps architecture with the communication and coordination needs. Correlation results show that architecture has major contribution in ADSD and validate the relationship among conceptual model and architecture model. The results also suggest that stable architecture in ADSD can positively affect the product.

Resilience of distributed student teams to stress factors: A longitudinal case-study

Context: Teaching global software engineering is continuously evolving and improving to prepare future software engineers adequately. Geographically distributed work in project-oriented software development courses is both demanding and rewarding for student teams, who are susceptible to various risks stemming from different internal and external factors, being the sources of stress and impacting team performance. Objective: In this paper, we analyze the resilience of teams of students working in a geographically fully distributed setting. Resilience is analyzed in relation to two representative stress factors: non-contributing team members and changes to customer project requirements. We also reason on team collaboration patterns and analyze potential dependencies among these collaboration patterns, team resilience and stress factors. Method: We conduct a longitudinal case-study over five years on our Distributed Software Development (DSD) course. Based on empirical data, we study team resilience to two stress factors by observing their impact on process and product quality aspects of team performance. The same performance aspects are studied for identified collaboration patterns, and bidirectional influence between patterns and resilience is investigated. Results: Teams with up to two non-contributing members experience graceful degradation of performance indicators. A large number of non-contributing students almost guarantees the occurrence of educationally undesirable collaboration patterns. Exposed to requirements change stress, less resilient teams tend to focus on delivering the functional product rather than retaining a proper development process. Conclusions: Practical recommendations to be applied in contexts similar to our case have been provided at the end of the study. They include suggestions to mitigate the sources of stress, for example, by careful planning the team organization and balancing the number of regular and exchange students, or by discussing the issue of changing requirements with the external customers before the start of the project.

AGILE DISTRIBUTED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT IN NINE CENTRAL EUROPEAN TEAMS:CHALLENGES, BENEFITS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Although initially designed for co-located teams, agile methodologies promise mitigation to the challenges present in distributed software development with their demand for frequent communication. We examine the application of agile practices in software engineering teams with low geographical distribution in Austria and Germany. To gather insights on challenges and benefits faced by distributed teams we conduct interviews with eleven representatives and analyse the interview transcripts using the inductive category formation method. As a result, we identify four major challenges, such as technical obstructions or the impediments different language abilities have on communication, and four benefits, regarding collaboration and information radiation, that agile methods yield in distributed teams. Based on our analysis of challenges and benefits, we deduct seven recommendations to improve collaboration, overcome distance and avoid pitfalls. Key recommendations for teams with low geographical distance include that teams should get together at certain points to build relationships and trust and share information face-toface.

AGILE DISTRIBUTED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT IN NINE CENTRAL EUROPEAN TEAMS:CHALLENGES, BENEFITS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Although initially designed for co-located teams, agile methodologies promise mitigation to the challenges present in distributed software development with their demand for frequent communication. We examine the application of agile practices in software engineering teams with low geographical distribution in Austria and Germany. To gather insights on challenges and benefits faced by distributed teams we conduct interviews with eleven representatives and analyse the interview transcripts using the inductive category formation method. As a result, we identify four major challenges, such as technical obstructions or the impediments different language abilities have on communication, and four benefits, regarding collaboration and information radiation, that agile methods yield in distributed teams. Based on our analysis of challenges and benefits, we deduct seven recommendations to improve collaboration, overcome distance and avoid pitfalls. Key recommendations for teams with low geographical distance include that teams should get together at certain points to build relationships and trust and share information face-to-face.