Agility Across Time And Space: Implementing Agile Methods In Global Software Projects

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E-Book Overview

Rather than deciding whether or not to get involved in global sourcing, many companies are facing decisions about whether or not to apply agile methods in their distributed projects. These companies are often motivated by the opportunities to solve the coordination and communication difficulties associated with global software development. Yet while agile principles prescribe close interaction and co-location, the very nature of distributed software development does not support these prerequisites. � mite, Moe, and Ågerfalk structured the book into five parts. In “Motivation” the editors introduce the fundamentals of agile distributed software development and explain the rationale behind the application of agile practices in globally distributed software projects. “ Transition” describes implementation strategies, adoption of particular agile practices for distributed projects, and general concepts of agility. “Management” details practical implications for project planning, time management, and customer and subcontractor interaction. “Teams” discusses agile distributed team configuration, effective communication and knowledge transfer, and allocation of roles and responsibilities. Finally, in the “Epilogue” the editors summarize all contributions and present future trends for research and practice in agile distributed development. This book is primarily targeted at researchers, lecturers, and students in empirical software engineering, and at practitioners involved in globally distributed software projects. The contributions are based on sound empirical research and identify gaps and commonalities in both the existing state of the art and state of the practice. In addition, they also offer practical advice through many hints, checklists, and experience reports. Questions answered in this book include: What should companies expect from merging agile and distributed strategies? What are the stumbling blocks that prevent companies from realizing the benefits of the agile approach in distributed environments, and how can we recognize infeasible strategies and unfavorable circumstances? What helps managers cope with the challenges of implementing agile approaches in distributed software development projects? How can distributed teams survive the decisions taken by management and become efficient through the application of agile approaches?

E-Book Content

Agility Across Time and Space Darja Šmite Nils Brede Moe Pär J. Ågerfalk Editors Agility Across Time and Space Implementing Agile Methods in Global Software Projects Editors Darja Šmite School of Engineering Blekinge Institute of Technology 372 25 Ronneby Sweden [email protected] Nils Brede Moe Dept. Information & Communication Technology (ICT) SINTEF 7465 Trondheim Norway [email protected] Pär J. Ågerfalk Dept. Information Sciences Uppsala University Box 513 751 20 Uppsala Sweden [email protected] ISBN 978-3-642-12441-9 e-ISBN 978-3-642-12442-6 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-12442-6 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2010927809 ACM Computing Classification (1998): D.2, K.6 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this