Software Development Project Management Research Articles

Metrics-based control in outsourced software development projects

Measurements have been recognised as vital instruments to improve control in outsourced software development projects. However, project managers are still struggling with the design and implementation of effective measurement programs. One reason for this is that although there is a large body of research literature on metrics, practical guidelines for choosing among concrete measurements are scarce. The authors address this gap between research and practice by synthesising knowledge from frameworks and guidelines presented in the software process improvement (SPI) literature. The contribution comprises a framework that provides a set of measurements (selected from the research literature) for control of software development in cooperative settings, and a set of principles and guidelines for the design of an information infrastructure that provides managers with control information. As implication for research, the authors identify the need to develop new theories of SPI through the lens of inter-organisational networks, and taking into account relevant practices from the world of open-source software development. Also lessons for managers of outsourced software development projects are discussed. The results have been validated via expert interviews and by a panel of experts.

A Decision Support System for Game-Based Simulative Environment of Software Development Project Management

Simulations are today very common and are used frequently for education, testing, research, development, gaming etc. With a simulation and a decision support system, certain factors are manipulated depending on what event is being emulated. This report is about how to proceed to develop an environment with the basis of an expert system, which helps project managers to develop a software project. By developing a simulation model, based on a specific software development model, that model could be implemented in a project game, this to give the player the possibility to control and steer certain events in the project and to vary the result of the game.

Coopetitive relationships in cross-functional software development teams: How to model and measure?

Understanding simultaneous cooperative and competitive (coopetitive) dynamics in cross-functional software development teams is fundamental to the success of software development process. The recent coopetition research is, however, hampered by a lack of conceptual focus, and the corresponding inconsistent treatment of the constructs associated with cross-functional coopetitive relationships. This study conceptualizes and operationalizes the multi-dimensional construct of cross-functional coopetition, and then presents an instrument for measuring this construct. Cross-functional coopetition is conceptualized with 5 distinct and independent constructs; 3 of them are related to cross-functional cooperation, and 2 are associated with cross-functional competition. The data collected from 115 software development project managers in Australia confirms the applicability of the constructs and their measures. This study contributes to the extant literature by providing a consensus on the conceptualization of cross-functional coopetitive behaviors, particularly in multi-party software development teams. The conceptual basis for cross-functional coopetition and its instrument will aid researchers and project managers interested in understanding coopetition in cross-functional collaborative contexts. Research and practical implications are discussed.

An evidence‐based model of distributed software development project management: results from a systematic mapping study

ABSTRACTDistributed software development (DSD) has intensified over the past few years, and DSD project management is more complex than collocated project management. However, no systematic research effort has focused on aggregating evidence from the scientific literature to build models to support project management on DSD context. For these reasons, the goal of this paper is to build an evidence‐based model of DSD project management from the research findings about challenges of DSD and the practices, models and tools proposed and used to overcome these challenges. We based the construction of this model on the evidence collected and synthesized by a comprehensive systematic mapping study of 70 research papers published between 1997 and 2009. We believe that our results can help practitioners and researchers to better understand the challenges and implement more effective solutions to improve project management within distributed project management teams. These results also provide a mapping of the research about DSD project management, identifying areas where further research is needed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Comparison of regression model, feed-forward neural network and radial basis neural network for software development effort estimation

Accurate estimation of software development parameters such as effort, cost, and schedule is very important for effectively managing software development projects. Several software development effort estimation models have been developed in the last few decades. Determining, which is the best estimation model is difficult to decide for a software management team. In this paper we have compared Neural Network models and regression model for software development effort estimation. The comparison reveals that the Neural Network (NN) is better for effort prediction compared to regression analysis model. Further, we have compared two Neural Network models - Feed-Forward Neural Network (FFNN) and Radial Basis Neural Network (RBNN). The evaluation of the models is based on Mean Magnitude Relative Error (MMRE), Relative Standard Deviation (RSD) and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE). The experimental results show that the RBNN model exhibits better prediction ability than FFNN.

Model for Managing Software Development Projects by Fixing Some of the Six Project Management Constraints

This study is focused on the software development process, viewed from perspective of information technology project manager. Main goal of this research is to identify challenges in managing such projects and provide a model for delivering software solutions that satisfies client’s expectations. Project management theory describes six constraints or variables in every project, which project managers can use to better control the project and its outputs. Fixing some of the six project management constraints (scope, cost, time, risks, resources or quality) will allow project manager to focus on most important project aspects, rather than being drawn between all of the variables.This paper is aimed at information technology project managers and portfolio managers, as it describes the practical application of this model on a software development project. Findings of this research support the theory that, by applying good project management practice and focusing on project/business-critical requirements, will enable project managers to complete projects successfully and within tolerance limits. Results show that by identifying key business constraints, project managers can create good balance of six constraints and focus on the most important ones, while allowing other constraints to move between limits imposed by clients and stakeholders.

The value of software sizing

Context One of the difficulties faced by software development Project Managers is estimating the cost and schedule for new projects. Previous industry surveys have concluded that software size and cost estimation is a significant technical area of concern. In order to estimate cost and schedule it is important to have a good understanding of the size of the software product to be developed. There are a number of techniques used to derive software size, with function points being amongst the most documented. Objective In this paper we explore the utility of function point software sizing techniques when applied to two levels of software requirements documentation in a commercial software development organisation. The goal of the research is to appraise the value (cost/benefit) which functional sizing techniques can bring to the project planning and management of software projects within a small-to-medium sized software development enterprise (SME). Method Functional counts were made at the bid and detailed functional specification stages for each of five commercial projects used in the research. Three variants of the NESMA method were used to determine these function counts. Through a structured interview session, feedback on the sizing results was obtained to evaluate its feasibility and potential future contribution to the company. Results The results of our research suggest there is value in performing size estimates at two appropriate stages in the software development lifecycle, with simplified methods providing the optimal return on effort expended. Conclusion The ‘Estimated NESMA’ is the most appropriate tool for use in size estimation for the company studied. The use of software sizing provides a valuable contribution which would augment, but not replace, the company’s existing cost estimation approach.

Agile Project Management: A Case Study of a Virtual Research Environment Development Project

In this paper we use a case study of a project to create a Web 2.0-based, Virtual Research Environment (VRE) for researchers to share digital resources in order to reflect on the principles and practices for embedding eResearch applications within user communities. In particular, we focus on the software development methodologies and project management techniques adopted by the project team in order to ensure that the project remained responsive to changing user requirements without compromising their capacity to keep the project `on track', i.e. meeting the goals declared in the project proposal within budget and on time. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, we describe how the project team, whose members are distributed across multiple sites (and often mobile), exploit a repertoire of coordination mechanisms, communication modes and tools, artefacts and structuring devices as they seek to establish the orderly running of the project while following an agile, user-centred development approach.

Other Duties as Assigned?

The paper states that as you move from job to job, often within the same company, the areas of responsibility become blurred. This is a problem, and how you handle it can affect your career. When you accept a position, you usually receive a job description that, at a very high level, outlines your major duties. However, some statements can be vague, such as "manage software development projects" or "communicate issues in oral and written formats as requested." Others are even more ambiguous, such as "support the cybersecurity program," or worse yet, "perform other duties as assigned". The answer can depend on who's asking the question. The following examples in this paper illustrate some common traps to avoid.

Exploring computer supported collaborative coordination through social networks

The performance of work groups and in particular geographically distributed ones is negatively affected by communication issues and task dependencies. Contemporary science suggests social link optimization apart from improving the technical aspects to address these issues. In our study, we focus on distributed coordination and project performance. Social network structure and coordination performance variables are described by our framework with regards to distributed coordination during bug fixing process. Based on the model and the literature reviewed, we propose two propositions—(i) the level of interconnectedness has a negative relation with coordination performance; and (ii) centrality social network measures have positive relation with coordination performance variables. We use a sample of 415 Open Source Projects hosted on SourceForge.net. The results suggest that both propositions are correct. Furthermore, in the methods section implementation of an automated process is introduced to build graph definitions in adjacency matrix or NCOL format from thousands of forum threads. We describe the implementation of a novel method to plot sociograms in batch from hundreds of graph definitions automatically and calculate network centrality and density measures for all of them at the same time. Finally, we suggest the implications of this study to software development project management research.

Practical techniques for managing software development projects(<Special Issue>Mechanism and organization activity for succeeding project)

Practical techniques for managing software development projects(<Special Issue>Mechanism and organization activity for succeeding project)

Activity Driven Budgeting of Software Projects

There are numerous forecast models of software development costs, however, various problems become apparent in context to practical application. Standardized methods, such as COCOMO II have to be calibrated at an individual operational level on the basis of the underlying database. This paper presents a new activity based approach that is based on business specific cost data that can be easily integrated into existing management accounting systems. This approach can be applied to software development projects based on the unified process in which activity driven budgeting promises several advantages compared to common tools in use. It supports enterprise specific cost forecasting and control and can be easily linked with risk analysis. In addition to the presentation of a conceptual design model, the authors present a framework for activity driven budgeting and cost management of software development projects combined with concrete implementation examples.

A multi-criteria distribution model for global software development projects

Abstract The allocation of development tasks to sites is one of the most important activities in the management of global software development projects. Its various influences on the risks and benefits of distributed projects require careful consideration of multiple allocation criteria in a systematic way. In practice, however, work is often allocated based on only one single criterion such as cost, and defined processes or algorithms for task allocation are typically not used. Existing research approaches mainly focus on selected aspects such as the minimization of cross-site communication and are difficult to adapt to specific environments. This article presents a customizable multi-criteria model for task allocation in global software development projects. Based on an analysis of the state of the practice, a set of requirements was derived and used for evaluating existing task allocation models from different domains. The Bokhari algorithm was identified as a suitable starting point and modified with respect to the fulfillment of the requirements. The modification includes the development of mechanisms for customization, the incorporation of cause-effect relationships, and the use of probabilistic modeling of uncertainty with Bayesian networks. The application of the model is demonstrated in different scenarios that represent typical hypothetical and real distribution decision problems in industrial contexts. Experience from applying the model to such problems has shown, for instance, that depending on the weight of different criteria, very different task distributions will result. This demonstrates, in consequence, the need for systematic multi-criteria task allocation support in global software development.

The rise and fall of the Chaos report figures

In 1994, Standish published the Chaos report that showed a shocking 16 percent project success. This and renewed figures by Standish are often used to indicate that project management of application software development is in trouble. However, Standish's definitions have four major problems. First, they're misleading because they're based solely on estimation accuracy of cost, time, and functionality. Second, their estimation accuracy measure is one-sided, leading to unrealistic success rates. Third, steering on their definitions perverts good estimation practice. Fourth, the resulting figures are meaningless because they average numbers with an unknown bias, numbers that are introduced by different underlying estimation processes. The authors of this article applied Standish's definitions to their own extensive data consisting of 5,457 forecasts of 1,211 real-world projects, totaling hundreds of millions of Euros. The Standish figures didn't reflect the reality of the case studies at all.

Building project management communities: exploring the contribution of patterns supported by web 2.0 technologies

This article describes an approach whereby patterns are used to describe management issues and solutions to be used during the project management of team-based software development. The work describes how web 2.0 technologies have been employed to support the use and development of such patterns. To evaluate the success of patterns and the technologies supporting their dissemination the work of 12 software development teams over 2 years is explored. The results of the research describe how students find access to the experiences of their predecessors useful to guide their actions and how they find patterns particularly useful as a way of expressing social issues concerned with the management of student groups.

A new perspective on data homogeneity in software cost estimation: a study in the embedded systems domain

Cost estimation and effort allocation are the key challenges for successful project planning and management in software development. Therefore, both industry and the research community have been working on various models and techniques to accurately predict the cost of projects. Recently, researchers have started debating whether the prediction performance depends on the structure of data rather than the models used. In this article, we focus on a new aspect of data homogeneity, "cross- versus within-application domain", and investigate what kind of training data should be used for software cost estimation in the embedded systems domain. In addition, we try to find out the effect of training dataset size on the prediction performance. Based on our empirical results, we conclude that it is better to use cross-domain data for embedded software cost estimation and the optimum training data size depends on the method used.

Top management involvement in project management

PurposeTop management support is considered to be an area that has high impact on project success. However, previous studies have also stated that effective top management support practices may vary across industries. This paper focuses on top management support for projects executed in the software sector. The objective of this study is to identify those top management support processes that have the greatest impact on software development project success and to compare these critical processes with the actual type of support provided by organisations.Design/methodology/approachAbout 17 top management support processes have been identified from the literature. Their effectiveness has been calculated according to their relative impact on project success. Data has been collected from 213 software development project managers and their supervisors in Japan, Israel and New Zealand. For each country, the impact of top management support processes on project success has been analysed to identify critical processes. Then, the actual level of use of both critical and non critical top management support processes by senior managers has been compared.FindingsDifferent critical top management support processes have been identified in each country. However, six processes have been found to have higher contribution to project success than others. These processes are described and discussed in the paper. It has also been found that in all three countries top managers do not invest more effort in critical processes, than in non critical ones. Instead, in all countries, executives choose to perform easy‐to‐do processes. Critical top management support processes, which have higher impact on project success, often do not receive an appropriate level of attention from senior managers in the software industry.Practical implicationsSenior managers in the software industry may focus on critical processes, rather than paying lip service to less important ones. Specific practices designed to support these critical processes are also presented in the paper.Originality/valueThe paper suggests a detailed list of critical top management support processes, which significantly improve project success in different cultures. The paper also discusses this list in comparison with what is currently done by executives in the software industry and concludes with specific recommendations to managers in the software industry.

An industrial case study in reconstructing requirements views

Requirements views, such as coverage and status views, are an important asset for monitoring and managing software development projects. We have developed a method that automates the process of reconstructing these views, and we have built a tool, ReqAnalyst, that supports this method. This paper presents an investigation as to which extent requirements views can be automatically generated in order to monitor requirements in industrial practice. The paper focuses on monitoring the requirements in test categories and test cases. In order to retrieve the necessary data, an information retrieval technique, called Latent Semantic Indexing, was used. The method was applied in an industrial study. A number of requirements views were defined and experiments were carried out with different reconstruction settings for generating these views. Finally, we explored how these views can help the developers during the software development process.

Project agility assessment: an integrated decision analysis approach

Agility is the ability of a project to respond to a changing environment effectively. This may include the capability of a project to be adapted to the dynamism that exists in the stakeholders’ needs, technological changes, etc. To assure such a capability, it is necessary to assess the extent of projects’ adaptability to change. This could be done by expressing the agility in terms of some quantifiable parameters such as size of the project's organisation, levels of expertise, etc. However, there are uncertainties embedded in measurement of such parameters caused by imprecision and lack of well-defined information, which cannot be well treated by conventional assessment approaches. To address such a complexity, in this article, a decision aid model using fuzzy set theory is proposed for agility assessment of projects. The applicability of the proposed model will be demonstrated by a case study in software development project management.

The mechanisms of project management of software development

The changing environments of software development such as component-based, distributed and outsourced software development require matching changes by project managers to monitor, control and coordinate their projects. While the objectives of project management may be well established, the mechanisms with which those objectives are achieved are less well known. An empirical study was undertaken to investigate which mechanisms were used by practising project managers to monitor, control and coordinate software development projects. First, the types of mechanisms are discussed so that the mechanisms can be classified usefully. Then, the design of the empirical study is described. The data were collected through structured interview, which provided both quantitative and qualitative data. The data are analysed for each mechanism separately and the findings presented. The study found that project managers use multiple mechanisms to achieve project management objectives and use the same mechanism to serve multiple objectives. Further research is suggested to investigate project management from the opposite orientation, that is, which objectives are served by specific project management mechanisms.