Mansooreh Zahedi

A systematic review of knowledge sharing challenges and practices in global software development

We present systematic literature review of 61 primary studies (2000September 2014) that empirically reported knowledge sharing challenges and practices in Global Software Development (GSD).We found knowledge sharing challenges and practices in GSD could be classified in 6 main themes: management, team structure, work processes/practices, team cognition, social attributes and technology.Regarding contextual settings, we found empirical studies were mainly conducted in offshore outsourcing collaboration model distributed between two sites. Most of the studied organizations were large enterprises. ContextGlobal Software Development (GSD) presents significant challenges to share and understand knowledge required for developing software. Organizations are expected to implement appropriate practices to address knowledge-sharing challenges in GSD. With the growing literature on GSD and its widespread adoption, it is important to build a body of knowledge to support future research and effective knowledge sharing practices. ObjectiveWe aimed at systematically identifying and synthesizing knowledge sharing challenges and practices. We also intended to classify the recurrent challenges and most frequently reported practices in different contextual settings. MethodWe used Systematic Literature Review (SLR) for reviewing 61 primary studies that were selected after searching the GSD literature published over the last 14 years (2000September 2014). We applied thematic analysis method for analysing the data extracted from the reviewed primary studies. ResultsOur findings revealed that knowledge sharing challenges and practices in GSD could be classified in 6 main themes: management, team structure, work processes/practices, team cognition, social attributes and technology. In regard to contextual settings, we found empirical studies were mainly conducted in an offshore outsourcing collaboration model distributed between two sites. Most of the studied organizations were large enterprises. Many of the studies did not report any information for several contextual attributes that made it difficult to analyse the reported challenges and practices with respect to their respective contexts. ConclusionWe can conclude: (a) there is a higher tendency among researchers to report practices than challenges of knowledge sharing in GSD. (b) Given our analysis, most of the reported knowledge sharing challenges and practices fall under the theme of work practices. (c) The technology related knowledge-sharing challenges are the least reported; we discussed the available technologies for supporting knowledge sharing needs in GSD. (d) The organizational contextual information is missing from a large number of studies; hence, it was not possible to investigate the potential relations between knowledge sharing challenges/practices and the contextual attributes of GSD teams. We assert the need of exploring knowledge sharing in the context of small/medium sized organizations to avoid the risk of findings being biased by specific empirical setting (e.g., large enterprises distributed between US and India).

Towards an understanding of enabling process knowing in global software development: a case study

Shared understanding of Software Engineering (SE) processes, that we call process knowing, is required for effective communication and coordination and communication within a team in order to improve team performance. SE Process knowledge can include roles, responsibilities and flow of information over a project lifecycle. Developing and sustaining process knowledge can be more challenging in Global Software Development (GSD). GSD distances can limit the ability of a team to develop a common understanding of processes. Anecdotes of the problems caused by lack of common understanding of processes in GSD are pervasive, but there is no reported empirical effort aimed at exploring the solutions to enable process knowing in GSD. We report a case study aimed at understanding an effort to enable process knowing for improving processes in GSD. The findings provide useful insights into the potential challenges of lack of process knowing and how an organization can enable process knowing for achieving the desired results that also help in increasing social interactions and positive behavioral changes.

Knowledge sharing for common understanding of technical specifications through artifactual culture

Context: Software engineering is a knowledge intensive activity that is supported by documenting and sharing the required knowledge through a wide variety of artifacts. Global Software Development (GSD) teams heavily rely on artifacts as a vital means of knowledge sharing. However, there is little empirical knowledge about the key reasons and practices of using artifacts in GSD for knowledge sharing to support common understanding of technical specifications. Objective: This study aims at empirically studying the key motivators, practices, and drawbacks of artifact-based knowledge sharing for achieving common understanding of technical specifications in the context of GSD. Method: We conducted an exploratory case study in an organization that was involved in several GSD projects. Results: Our findings revealed the key challenges that necessitated the use of artifacts for sharing technical specification knowledge. We also present the practices that make up the artifact-based knowledge sharing system in the studied case. Finally, we shed some light on the caveats of knowledge sharing practices adopted by the studied company. The findings can provide useful insights into the artifact-based knowledge sharing practices and how it can be complemented by having certain level of social ties among distributed team members, even through asynchronous means.

Understanding Structures and Affordances of Extended Teams in Global Software Development

Growing popularity of Global Software Development (GSD) has resulted in an increasing number of cross-organizational teams that are formed according to Extended Team Model (ETM). There is little known about the structures (work, social, and communication) that may exist in ETM and what affordances those structures provide to support collaboration and coordination. This paper reports a case study that has studied the structures of an ETM in GSD and how those structures provide affordances for dealing with known GSD challenges. This study has revealed that whilst the current structures in the studied team help deal with different GSD challenges, these structures appear to have certain challenges inherent in them and the affordances they provide. We make a few recommendations for improving the current structures to deal with the observed challenges. Our findings are expected to provide insights into the types of structures and associated challenges for implementing ETM in GSD.

Exploring social structures in Extended Team Model

Extended Team Model (ETM) as a type of offshore outsourcing is increasingly becoming popular mode of Global Software Development (GSD). There is little knowledge about the social structures in ETM and their impact on collaboration. Within a large interdisciplinary project to develop the next generation of GSD technologies, we are exploring the role of social structures to support collaboration. This paper reports some details of our research design and initial findings about the mechanisms to support social structures and their impact on collaboration in an ETM.

Security Support in Continuous Deployment Pipeline.

Continuous Deployment (CD) has emerged as a new practice in the software industry to continuously and automatically deploy software changes into production. Continuous Deployment Pipeline (CDP) supports CD practice by transferring the changes from the repository to production. Since most of the CDP components run in an environment that has several interfaces to the Internet, these components are vulnerable to various kinds of malicious attacks. This paper reports our work aimed at designing secure CDP by utilizing security tactics. We have demonstrated the effectiveness of five security tactics in designing a secure pipeline by conducting an experiment on two CDPs - one incorporates security tactics while the other does not. Both CDPs have been analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. We used assurance cases with goal-structured notations for qualitative analysis. For quantitative analysis, we used penetration tools. Our findings indicate that the applied tactics improve the security of the major components (i.e., repository, continuous integration server, main server) of a CDP by controlling access to the components and establishing secure connections.

An empirical investigation of transferring research to software technology innovation: a case of data-driven national security software

Context: Governments are providing more and more support for academia-industry collaborations for industry led research and innovation via Cooperative Research Centers (CRC). It is important to understand the processes and practices of such programs for transferring scientific R&D to innovation. Goal: We aimed at empirically investigating the processes and practices implemented in the context of one of the Australian CRCs, aimed at transferring big data research to innovative software solutions for national security. Method: We applied case study method and collected and analyzed data from 17 interviews and observations of the participants of the studied CRC program. Findings: We present the innovation process implemented in the studied CRC. We particularly highlight the practices used to involve end-users in the innovation process. We further elaborate on the challenges of running this collaborative model for software technology innovation.

An empirical study of architecting for continuous delivery and deployment

Recently, many software organizations have been adopting Continuous Delivery and Continuous Deployment (CD) practices to develop and deliver quality software more frequently and reliably. Whilst an increasing amount of the literature covers different aspects of CD, little is known about the role of software architecture in CD and how an application should be (re-) architected to enable and support CD. We have conducted a mixed-methods empirical study that collected data through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 21 industrial practitioners from 19 organizations, and a survey of 91 professional software practitioners. Based on a systematic and rigorous analysis of the gathered qualitative and quantitative data, we present a conceptual framework to support the process of (re-) architecting for CD. We provide evidence-based insights about practicing CD within monolithic systems and characterize the principle of “small and independent deployment units” as an alternative to the monoliths. Our framework supplements the architecting process in a CD context through introducing the quality attributes (e.g., resilience) that require more attention and demonstrating the strategies (e.g., prioritizing operations concerns) to design operations-friendly architectures. We discuss the key insights (e.g., monoliths and CD are not intrinsically oxymoronic) gained from our study and draw implications for research and practice.