Darja Smite

Empirical evidence in global software engineering: a systematic review

Recognized as one of the trends of the 21st century, globalization of the world economies brought significant changes to nearly all industries, and in particular it includes software development. Many companies started global software engineering (GSE) to benefit from cheaper, faster and better development of software systems, products and services. However, empirical studies indicate that achieving these benefits is not an easy task. Here, we report our findings from investigating empirical evidence in GSE-related research literature. By conducting a systematic review we observe that the GSE field is still immature. The amount of empirical studies is relatively small. The majority of the studies represent problem-oriented reports focusing on different aspects of GSE management rather than in-depth analysis of solutions for example in terms of useful practices or techniques. Companies are still driven by cost reduction strategies, and at the same time, the most frequently discussed recommendations indicate a necessity of investments in travelling and socialization. Thus, at the same time as development goes global there is an ambition to minimize geographical, temporal and cultural separation. These are normally integral parts of cross-border collaboration. In summary, the systematic review results in several descriptive classifications of the papers on empirical studies in GSE and also reports on some best practices identified from literature.

Empirical evidence on the link between object-oriented measures and external quality attributes: a systematic literature review

There is a plethora of studies investigating object-oriented measures and their link with external quality attributes, but usefulness of the measures may differ across empirical studies. This study aims to aggregate and identify useful object-oriented measures, specifically those obtainable from the source code of object-oriented systems that have gone through such empirical evaluation. By conducting a systematic literature review, 99 primary studies were identified and traced to four external quality attributes: reliability, maintainability, effectiveness and functionality. A vote-counting approach was used to investigate the link between object-oriented measures and the attributes, and to also assess the consistency of the relation reported across empirical studies. Most of the studies investigate links between object-oriented measures and proxies for reliability attributes, followed by proxies for maintainability. The least investigated attributes were: effectiveness and functionality. Measures from the C&K measurement suite were the most popular across studies. Vote-counting results suggest that complexity, cohesion, size and coupling measures have a better link with reliability and maintainability than inheritance measures. However, inheritance measures should not be overlooked during quality assessment initiatives; their link with reliability and maintainability could be context dependent. There were too few studies traced to effectiveness and functionality attributes; thus a meaningful vote-counting analysis could not be conducted for these attributes. Thus, there is a need for diversification of quality attributes investigated in empirical studies. This would help with identifying useful measures during quality assessment initiatives, and not just for reliability and maintainability aspects.

A Whisper of Evidence in Global Software Engineering

A systematic review of global software engineering (GSE) literature from 2000 to 2007 shows the field to be immature. Studies report many challenges but little evidence regarding specific GSE practices directly related to project success or failure. There is evidence that distance matters and, furthermore, that GSE--although driven by cost-reduction goals--seldom brings immediate cost savings.

From offshore outsourcing to insourcing and partnerships: four failed outsourcing attempts

Most large software companies are involved in offshore development, now small- and medium-sized companies are starting to undertake global sourcing too. Empirical research suggests that offshoring is not always successful; however, only a few comprehensive failure stories have been reported. The objective of our study has been to understand why small and medium-sized companies terminate their offshore outsourcing relationships and what alternative arrangements they undertake afterwards. Therefore, we designed a multiple case study of four medium-sized Scandinavian software companies that have terminated their offshore outsourcing relationships. Our results are based on data collected through semi-structured interviews, informal dialogues and analysis of company documents. We found that all companies terminated their offshore contracts because of low quality of the software being developed. This was caused by an inability to build the necessary human and social capital. The companies reported challenges with domain knowledge, a lack of commitment of external developers, cultural clashes, poor communication and high turnover, which only amplified the problems. After termination all four companies changed their sourcing strategy from offshore outsourcing to offshore insourcing and partnerships. We conclude that successful offshore software development requires a change from a cost-driven focus to an intellectual capital-driven focus. To prevent continuous investments into contracts that are destined to fail, companies should look for signs of escalating commitments and terminate relationships that cannot be corrected. Those companies that choose outsourcing shall also take into account that mismatch between the size of the offshore contract relative to the vendor may have a negative effect on a relationship.

Fundamentals of Agile Distributed Software Development

This chapter provides an introduction to the area of agile distributed software development. It proceeds as follows. We start by introducing and motivating (globally) distributed software development, and follow on with agile software development. With this foundation we discuss the concept of agile distributed development, its motivation and some of the pertinent issues involved.

Trust dynamics in global software engineering

Trust is one of the key factors that determines success or failure of any software project. However, achieving and maintaining trust in distributed software projects, when team members are geographically, temporally and culturally distant from each other, is a remarkable challenge. This paper explores the dynamics of trust and best practices performed in software organizations to address trust-related issues in global software engineering. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in six different distributed software development organizations and a resulting trust dynamics model is presented. Based on the findings, the paper also provides suggestions for the industry to achieve trust in distributed collaborations.

Lessons learned from transferring software products to India

Globalization has influenced the way software is developed today, and many software organizations have started to actively utilize resources from around the world. However, these endeavors are recognized as very challenging, and they have attracted a lot of attention in software research in the past decade. Unlike many other research initiatives, which explore the complexities of distributed software development activities, the focus of this paper is on software transfers. Software transfers refer to activities that are moved from one location to another. The authors draw attention to the lessons learned from an empirical investigation of two transfer projects conducted at Ericsson. Both transfers were performed between a site in Sweden and a site in India. The observations outline a set of generic practices that have been found useful for transferring software development within a company. It also highlights a number of challenges to be addressed and a set of corresponding recommendations. Finally, the paper emphasizes the need to identify software products that are suitable for transfers and the need to monitor the long‐term effects of transfer. Copyright

Networking in a large-scale distributed agile project

Context: In large-scale distributed software projects the expertise may be scattered across multiple locations. Goal: We describe and discuss a large-scale distributed agile project at Ericsson, a multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Sweden. The project is distributed across four development locations (one in Sweden, one in Korea and two in China) and employs 17 teams. In such a large scale environment the challenge is to have as few dependences between teams as possible, which is one reason why Ericsson introduced cross-functional feature teams -- teams that are capable of taking the full responsibility for implementing one entire feature. To support such teams when solving problems, ensure knowledge sharing within the project and safeguard the quality Ericsson introduced a new role -- Technical Area Responsible (TAR). Method: We conducted extensive fieldwork for 9 months at two Ericsson sites in Sweden and China. We interviewed representatives from different roles in the organization, in addition to focus groups and a survey with seven teams. Results: We describe the TAR role, and how the TARs communicate, coordinate and support the teams. Also architects support the teams, however not as closely as the TARs. We found that the TAR is usually a senior developer working halftime or fulltime in the role. We also present measures of the actual knowledge network of three Chinese and three Swedish teams and the TARs position in it. Conclusions: TARs are central in the knowledge network and act as the boundary spanners between the teams and between the sites. We learned that availability of the TARs across sites is lower than that with local TARs. We also found that the size of a teams knowledge network depends on how long the team members have been working in the company. Finally we discuss the advantages and the challenges of introducing experts in key roles in large scale distributed agile development.

Offshore insourcing in software development: Structuring the decision-making process

A variety of new forms of business are enabled through globalization and practiced by software organizations today. While companies go global to reduce their development costs, access a larger pool of resources and explore new markets, it is often assumed that the level of delivered services shall remain the same after implementing the sourcing decisions. In contrast, critical studies identified that global software development is associated with unique challenges, and a lot of global projects fail to mitigate the implications of a particular global setting. In this paper we explore offshore insourcing decisions on the basis of empirical research literature and an empirical field study conducted at Ericsson. By analyzing decisions in two different cases we found that each offshore insourcing decision consisted of deciding what, where, when, how and why to insource. Related empirical research and field observations suggest that not all combinations are successful and alignment between different decision points has thus a prominent role. To address these concerns we built an empirically based insourcing decision structure, which outlines a logical path through the decision options and helps selecting an offshore insourcing strategy that targets creation of the necessary alignment. The key element of the proposed approach is a structured and well-defined decision-making process, which is intended to support managers in their decision-making. The usefulness of the proposed approach is evaluated in an additional empirical case of a new offshore insourcing decision.

Managing Knowledge in Global Software Development Projects

Software is increasingly developed in global projects, and such projects are challenged by distance, different time zones, and cultural differences. Knowledge management is central to ensuring effective development of a product with the right features and the right level of quality. A central question then is what knowledge management approach to apply in global software development. This article draws on established research in software engineering, combined with three focus groups in two global companies, to discuss what knowledge management schools are appropriate on a global level and what approaches are relevant for new global projects.