A Situational Agile Framework to Support Team Coordination in Global Software Engineering

Abstract

Context: Modern computer systems are prone to a continuous evolution under varying situations such as Application and Organization. The increasing and complex project situations need to employ resources on a global scale that has resulted in Global Software Engineering (GSE), commonly known as Global Software Development (GSD). In addition, GSD teams work round the clock to fulfill the complex and competitive market situation to optimize and decrease costs by utilizing time zones effectively. However, apart from the advantages in GSD, it also entails certain challenges due to distance and time difference such as information sharing, communication delays and lack of control over team coordination that lead to project failure. With the passage of time, the complexity of software has increased greatly. It is for these reasons that organizations are moving from traditional development approaches to Agile based approach as it has the ability to deliver products closer to customer’s expectations. In this study there are two main problems that have been addressed, first and foremost is problem with the integration of two popular trends in Agile practices with GSD and second is formulating a situational method in order to handle the Agile GSD situations. However, literature review suggests the Situational Method Engineering (SME) as a solution for the integration of more than one methods and formulation of situational method. It also arises as a solution when we want to combine two approaches for the formulation of a new paradigm. Hence SME aims at providing method construction techniques by reusing existing methods, practices, techniques and approaches. Objective: The objective of this research is to design the structure of the 3C-SAME (3C _Situational Agile Methods for Global Software Engineering Environment) Framework in order to formulate situational methods to help Agile GSD practitioners to provide a productive solution. Method: In order to design 3C-SAME Framework, we use multi method research methodology. In addition, we use grounded theory to formulate the situational taxonomy. Action Research is also used in order to formulate the Situational Agile framework. In designing the Framework we perform a Literature Review to identify the impacts, challenges and existing issues from published articles, reports, case studies in a structured manner. In the context of the non-structured ad hoc research review, the systematic review is beneficial for the evidence based impact of existing theories, frameworks and challenges. We use the Multi method to design the 3C-SAME Framework. We evaluate our proposed framework through ISO/IEC 9126-1 quality model, case study and experimental study. Result: The results of the proposed 3C-SAME Framework help Agile GSD practitioners in order to improve their performance for Agile GSD managers and practitioners. It is a viable framework which can provide solutions to the well-known problems by applying SME principles. Hence the framework brings improvements in functionality and usability of the software development processes. However, the study is limited to only two agile methods, Scrum and XP, which have been used to formulate the proposed situational framework. The proposed framework is handle specific situations not for general purpose. Keywords: Agile Software Development, Global Software Engineering (GSE), Global Software Development (GSD), Situational Method Engineering (SME), Team Coordination.