scholarly journals Analyzing Uncertainty in Release Planning: A Method and Experiment for Fixed-Date Release Cycles

2022 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
Olawole Oni ◽  
Emmanuel Letier
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Net Present Value ◽  
Probability Distributions ◽  
Bayesian Probability ◽  
Development Effort ◽  
Present Value ◽  
Release Planning ◽  
Software Development Effort ◽  
Planning Methods ◽  
Iterative Software

Release planning—deciding what features to implement in upcoming releases of a software system—is a critical activity in iterative software development. Many release planning methods exist, but most ignore the inevitable uncertainty in estimating software development effort and business value. The article’s objective is to study whether analyzing uncertainty during release planning generates better release plans than if uncertainty is ignored. To study this question, we have developed a novel release planning method under uncertainty, called BEARS, that models uncertainty using Bayesian probability distributions and recommends release plans that maximize expected net present value and expected punctuality. We then compare release plans recommended by BEARS to those recommended by methods that ignore uncertainty on 32 release planning problems. The experiment shows that BEARS recommends release plans with higher expected net present value and expected punctuality than methods that ignore uncertainty, thereby indicating the harmful effects of ignoring uncertainty during release planning. These results highlight the importance of eliciting and analyzing uncertainty in software effort and value estimations and call for increased research in these areas.

Agile IT Outsourcing

2009 ◽  
pp. 299-314
Author(s):  
Boris Roussev
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Information Flow ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agile Methods ◽  
Development Effort ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Software Projects ◽  
Software Development Effort ◽  
Iterative Software ◽  
Project Structure

Agile methods are lightweight, iterative software development frameworks used predominantly on small and mid-sized software development projects. This chapter introduces a project structure and management practices creating agile conditions for large software projects outsourced either offshore or onshore. Agility is achieved by slicing a large project into a number of small projects working in agile settings. Development is divided into research and development activities that are located on-site, and production activities located off-site. The proposed approach makes agile methods applicable to the stressed conditions of outsourcing without compromising the quality or pace of the software development effort. Creating an agile environment in an outsourcing project relies on maintaining a balance between the functions and sizes of on-site and off-site teams, on redefining the developers’ roles, and on reorganizing the information flow between the different development activities to compensate for the lack of customers on-site, team colocation, and tacit project knowledge.

Agile IT Outsourcing

2008 ◽  
pp. 60-76
Author(s):  
Boris Roussev
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Information Flow ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agile Methods ◽  
Development Effort ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Software Projects ◽  
Software Development Effort ◽  
Iterative Software ◽  
Project Structure

Agile methods are lightweight, iterative software development frameworks used predominantly on small and mid-sized software development projects. This chapter introduces a project structure and management practices creating agile conditions for large software projects outsourced either offshore or onshore. Agility is achieved by slicing a large project into a number of small projects working in agile settings. Development is divided into research and development activities that are located on-site, and production activities located off-site. The proposed approach makes agile methods applicable to the stressed conditions of outsourcing without compromising the quality or pace of the software development effort. Creating an agile environment in an outsourcing project relies on maintaining a balance between the functions and sizes of on-site and off-site teams, on redefining the developers’ roles, and on reorganizing the information flow between the different development activities to compensate for the lack of customers on-site, team colocation, and tacit project knowledge.

Agile Outsourcing Projects

2010 ◽  
pp. 578-593
Author(s):  
Boris Roussev ◽  
Ram Akella
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Information Flow ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agile Methods ◽  
Development Effort ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Software Projects ◽  
Software Development Effort ◽  
Iterative Software ◽  
Project Structure

Agile methods are lightweight, iterative software development frameworks used predominantly on small- and mid-sized software development projects. This article introduces a project structure and management practices creating Agile conditions for large software projects outsourced either offshore or onshore. Agility is achieved by slicing a large project into a number of small-sized projects working in Agile settings. Development is divided into R&D activities, located onsite, and production activities, located offsite. The proposed approach makes Agile applicable to the stressed conditions of outsourcing without compromising the quality or pace of the software development effort. Creating an Agile environment in an outsourcing project relies on maintaining a balance between the functions and sizes of onsite and offsite teams, on redefining the developers’ roles, and on reorganizing the information flow between the different development activities to compensate for the lack of customer onsite, team co-location, and tacit project knowledge.

APPLYING EXPERT JUDGMENT TO IMPROVE AN INDIVIDUAL'S ABILITY TO PREDICT SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT EFFORT

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (04) ◽  
pp. 467-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
CUAUHTÉMOC LÓPEZ-MARTÍN ◽  
ALAIN ABRAN
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Software Process ◽  
Development Effort ◽  
Academic Environment ◽  
Academic Institutions ◽  
Graduate Courses ◽  
Software Projects ◽  
Personal Software Process ◽  
Software Development Effort ◽  
Effort Prediction

Expert-based effort prediction in software projects can be taught, beginning with the practices learned in an academic environment in courses designed to encourage them. However, the length of such courses is a major concern for both industry and academia. Industry has to work without its employees while they are taking such a course, and academic institutions find it hard to fit the course into an already tight schedule. In this research, the set of Personal Software Process (PSP) practices is reordered and the practices are distributed among fewer assignments, in an attempt to address these concerns. This study involved 148 practitioners taking graduate courses who developed 1,036 software course assignments. The hypothesis on which it is based is the following: When the activities in the original PSP set are reordered into fewer assignments, the result is expert-based effort prediction that is statistically significantly better.

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