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Showing papers presented at "International Conference on Global Software Engineering in 2013"


Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: This paper explores practitioner descriptions of agile method tailoring in large-scale offshore or outsourced enterprise projects and identifies nine roles that product owner teams comprise: Groom, Prioritizer, Release Master, Technical Architect, Governor, Communicator, Traveler, Intermediary and Risk Assessor.
Abstract: This paper explores practitioner descriptions of agile method tailoring in large-scale offshore or outsourced enterprise projects. Specifically, tailoring of the product owner role is discussed. The product owner identifies and prioritizes customer requirements. But in globalized projects, the product owner must reconcile large numbers competing business interests and generate prioritized requirements for many development teams. The study comprises 8 international companies in London, Bangalore and Delhi. Interviews with 46 practitioners were conducted between February 2010 and May 2012. A grounded theory approach was used to identify that product owner teams comprise nine roles: Groom, Prioritizer, Release Master, Technical Architect, Governor, Communicator, Traveler, Intermediary and Risk Assessor. These product owner roles arbitrate between conflicting customer requirements, approve release schedules, make architectural design decisions, provide technical governance and disseminate information across teams. Understanding these roles will help agile coaches guide large scale agile teams.

46 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: How one R&D unit of Ericsson integrated three global sites into their lean and agile transformation involving 400 persons in Finland, Hungary and the US is discussed.
Abstract: Transforming a large organization from a plan-driven process to agile development is challenging. Despite this, large organizations are increasingly adopting agile development and lean thinking. However, there is little research on how to conduct a successful transformation in large organizations, which often are globally distributed. In this paper we discuss how one R&D unit of Ericsson integrated three global sites into their lean and agile transformation involving 400 persons in Finland, Hungary and the US. We describe the challenges and success factors in integrating the global sites. We collected the data by 45 semi-structured interviews and longitudinally observing the transformation during over 20 site visits. Success factors include: early and broad involvement of global sites at all organizational levels, constant communication and cross-site visits, and creation of joint infrastructure. The challenges include: creating a shared understanding of the change, enabling end-to-end development, bridging cultural differences and creating transparency.

46 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: This paper aims to assess whether the many hundreds of GSE research papers written over this period have had an impact on practice, by conducting semi-structured interviews with senior managers and project managers from ten companies.
Abstract: Twelve years ago a group of practitioners and researchers came together to try to solve problems relating specifically to Global Software Engineering (GSE) practice. This paper aims to assess whether the many hundreds of GSE research papers written over this period have had an impact on practice. We conducted semi-structured interviews with senior managers and project managers from ten companies, four of which are large multinationals (three in Fortune 100), four are medium sized enterprises, and two are small startups. GSE research is perceived as useful by industry with all participants stating that studying the subject would improve GSE performance, but all were unanimous in saying they did not read articles on GSE. Practitioners go to books, blogs, colleagues, forums, experience reports of 1-2 pages in length, or depend on their own experience to solve problems in GSE. Controversially, many didn't see GSE as separate from general project management. Practitioners don't want frameworks, they want patterns of context specific help. While dissemination techniques need to be improved, that is not sufficient. Experience-based advice is just as important.

40 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: Agile near shoring is feasible and may produce high satisfaction amongst Product Owners, but this satisfaction might be delusive if process deviations due to misunderstandings of what Agile development means go unnoticed.
Abstract: Previous research in the field of Agile Distributed Software Development often focused on the a synchronicity of working hours due to different time zones, as if this was the only risk when developing software in non-co-located environments. This case study reflects a near shoring setting in which this primary impediment does not exist and investigates a broader range of risks now standing out more clearly. We observed two Polish Scrum teams working for a German company, which has been successfully applying Agile Methods for over four years. We present the actual process and practices of the external teams and contrast them to the intended way of proceeding. Main result: Agile near shoring is feasible and may produce high satisfaction amongst Product Owners, but this satisfaction might be delusive if process deviations due to misunderstandings of what Agile development means go unnoticed.

29 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: A systematic mapping study about works about version control that focus on DSD is presented, finding 29 studies related to DSD version control, published between 2002 and 2012 and presenting challenges, tools, and other solutions proposed to version control in DSD.
Abstract: Along the last decade, many companies started using Distributed Software Development (DSD). The distribution of the software development teams over the globe has become almost a rule in large companies. However, in this context, new problems arise, which mainly involve the physical and temporal distance among the participants. Some studies show that deploying a version control system to alleviate this problem is a big challenge for distributed teams. This paper presents a systematic mapping study about works about version control that focus on DSD. We found 29 studies related to DSD version control, published between 2002 and 2012. Using the systematically extracted data from these works, we present challenges, tools, and other solutions proposed to version control in DSD. These results can support practitioners and researchers to better understand and overcome the challenges related do DSD version control, and devise more effective solutions to improve version control in a distributed setting.

28 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: An artifact model for agile methods that results from of a systematic literature review is presented, which serves as an empirically grounded definition of process interfaces to coordinate projects and to define exchanged artifacts while abstracting from the diverse local software processes.
Abstract: Much effort has been spent to investigate the organization of distributed teams and their collaboration patterns. It is, however, not fully understood to which extent and how agile software processes are feasible to support distributed software projects. Practices and challenges that arise from the demands for communication are often in scope of current research. Still, it remains unclear what is necessary to monitor a project and to track its progress from a management perspective. A solution is to monitor projects and their progress on basis of the current quality of the created artifacts according to a given reference model that defines the artifacts and their dependencies. In this paper, we present an artifact model for agile methods that results from of a systematic literature review. The contribution serves as an empirically grounded definition of process interfaces to coordinate projects and to define exchanged artifacts while abstracting from the diverse local software processes.

28 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: Preliminary insights suggest the model's format should be a corporative game, applying constructs of gamification, fun theory and game theory, generating a practical approach to facilitate the implementation of a collaborative and adaptive culture.
Abstract: Agility at the business and organizational levels presents a challenge for many enterprises. Business agility demands the ability to sense and respond to changes in competitive environments, whereas organizational agility demands the dexterity to sense broader market opportunities and respond with changes that are organization-wide. These challenges require an information and communication technologies (ICT or IT) environment flexible and customizable simultaneously with the coordination across multiple organization units, also demands effective and responsive governance in order to deliver faster, better, and cheaper value to the business. Driven by these challenges, the goals of the candidate's PhD thesis is to conceive, define, and evaluate a management model for agile governance on global development environments. Preliminary insights suggest the model's format should be a corporative game, applying constructs of gamification, fun theory and game theory, generating a practical approach to facilitate the implementation of a collaborative and adaptive culture, in order to establish relational integration mechanisms as well as a better understanding of how these arrangements can help the organizations to attain greater enterprise agility and support its overall strategy.

25 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: This study presents results from a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) performed on papers published between 1990 and 2012, finding 36 best practices and 17 challenges for FTS implementation.
Abstract: Follow-the-sun (FTS) software development is a strategy used to reduce the length of software projects that are developed across globally distributed locations However, due to communication and collaboration challenges, software companies find it difficult to adopt this development strategy during task allocation and daily project handovers In this study, we present results from a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) performed on papers published between 1990 and 2012 Our goal was to identify best practices and challenges for FTS implementation We found 36 best practices and 17 challenges for FTS These results are discussed in this paper in order to indicate opportunities for future research and make our results useful for the project managers

25 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: The ontology brings awareness to managers regarding the factors related to task allocation planning and provides researchers with a framework to define processes and design tools to support such activity.
Abstract: An adequate task allocation plan is an effective strategy to reduce collaboration issues in distributed software development. Practitioners adopt distinct processes to allocate tasks as well as diverse labels for the same activities and artifacts. This diversity is also found in literature. Task allocation proposals consider different elements and use distinct names for the same concepts. The lack of a standardized vocabulary and of an understanding of the elements involved impairs knowledge acquisition and sharing. Our paper presents a domain ontology to represent concepts related to task allocation in distributed teams. The ontology was defined based on a literature systematic mapping and on the opinion of experts. Preliminary evaluation suggests that the relationships among concepts are valid in real projects. The ontology brings awareness to managers regarding the factors related to task allocation planning and provides researchers with a framework to define processes and design tools to support such activity.

25 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
30 Sep 2013
TL;DR: The paper presents an extended version of the 3C Collaboration model, drawing upon existing literature of raising awareness cues through the use of boundary objects, and suggests that team members use multifaceted techniques to enhance common ground for better collaborative practices to take place.
Abstract: Distributed Agile Development is gaining prevalence in the global software engineering field. However establishing and negotiating common ground across geographical, temporal and cultural borders can be a challenging process for distributed team members. This paper reports on early findings of one case study and investigates how common ground or mutually shared understanding takes place within one globally distributed agile team. The paper presents an extended version of the 3C Collaboration model, drawing upon existing literature of raising awareness cues through the use of boundary objects. The research seeks a greater understanding of how common ground is negotiated across boundaries. The case study data was obtained from semi-structured interviews within a financial context. The findings suggest that team members use multifaceted techniques to enhance common ground for better collaborative practices to take place.

23 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: Findings indicate that mentoring is an important factor for effective on boarding in OSS projects, promoting cohesion within distributed teams and maintaining an appropriate pace.
Abstract: Nowadays, many software projects are partially or completely open-source based. There is an increasing need for companies to participate in open-source software (OSS) projects, e.g., in order to benefit from open source ecosystems. OSS projects introduce particular challenges that have to be understood in order to gain the benefits. One such challenge is getting newcomers onboard into the projects effectively. Similar challenges may be present in other self-organised, virtual team environments. In this paper we present preliminary observations and results of in-progress research that studies the process of on boarding into virtual OSS teams. The study is based on a program created and conceived at Stanford University in conjunction with Facebook's Education Modernization program. It involves the collaboration of more than a dozen international universities and nine open source projects. More than 120 students participated in 2013. The students have been introduced to and supported by mentors experienced in the participating OSS projects. Our findings indicate that mentoring is an important factor for effective on boarding in OSS projects, promoting cohesion within distributed teams and maintaining an appropriate pace.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: The study highlights that coordination practices, such as face-to-face contact, process synchronization and shared collaborative development are compulsory but not sufficient for effective team coordination across organizational boundary.
Abstract: Coordinating teams across geographical, temporal and cultural boundaries has been identified as a critical task to achieve the success of global software projects. Organizational boundary is another dimension of global distribution, which is a less visible but equally important factor that influences team coordination. This study investigates attributes of the organizational boundary that inhibits coordination and development activities. Besides, we explore a set of effective coordination practices to overcome organizational boundary. The data were collected from two projects involving four different software development organizations. We found that the variety on collaboration policy, team organization, engineering process, and development practices contributes to extra coordination efforts, insufficient communication, team awareness and mistrust. The study also highlights that coordination practices, such as face-to-face contact, process synchronization and shared collaborative development are compulsory but not sufficient for effective team coordination across organizational boundary.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: This paper compares coordination strategies identified in both the literature and in primary research which was conducted in Indian vendor companies with the Project Communication Management section of the PMBOK® Guide to define a set of expert-validated coordination strategies for use by GSD practitioners.
Abstract: Global software development (GSD) carried out at various locations is impeded by global distance categorized as exterior and interior. To overcome this, specific communication strategies are required to coordinate a range of activities between client and vendor teams working on GSD projects. The literature on GSD recommends many coordination strategies, but tends to take the client viewpoint as vendor companies have been underrepresented in publications. In this paper, we compare coordination strategies identified in both the literature and in primary research which we conducted in Indian vendor companies with the Project Communication Management section of the PMBOK® Guide. This comparison helped us to define a set of expert-validated coordination strategies for use by GSD practitioners. While developed from the vendor rather than the client perspective, indications are that project managers from both client and vendor organisations can implement these strategies to overcome GSD coordination issues.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: The study suggests that CDB's collaboration features are often perceived as important for effective debugging, and can improve the overall debugging experience in collaborative settings.
Abstract: Debugging - the process of finding and correcting programming mistakes - faces too the challenges of distributed and collaborative development. The debugging tools commonly used by programmers are integrated into traditional development environments such as Eclipse or Visual Studio, and hence do not offer specific features for collaboration or remote shared usage. In this paper, we describe CDB, a debugging technique and integrated tool specifically designed to support effective collaboration among developers during shared debugging sessions. We also discuss the design and results of an empirical study aimed at identifying features that can ameliorate the effectiveness of collaborative debugging processes, and at evaluating the usefulness of our CDB collaborative debugging approach. The study suggests that CDB's collaboration features are often perceived as important for effective debugging, and can improve the overall debugging experience in collaborative settings.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: This paper emphasizes variant trace ability achievements in a large global software engineering project, elaborates existing challenges, and evaluates an industrial usage of an integrated variant management based on experiences.
Abstract: In the automotive domain, customer demands and market constraints are progressively realized by electric/electronic components and corresponding software. Variant trace ability in SPL is crucial in the context of different tasks, like change impact analysis, especially in complex global software projects. In addition, trace ability concepts must be extended by partly automated variant configuration mechanisms to handle restrictions and dependencies between variants. Such variant configuration mechanism helps to reduce complexity when configuring a valid variant and to establish an explicit documentation of dependencies between components. However, integrated variant management has not been sufficiently addressed so far. Especially, the increasing number of software variants requires an examination of traceable and configurable software variants over the software lifecycle. This paper emphasizes variant trace ability achievements in a large global software engineering project, elaborates existing challenges, and evaluates an industrial usage of an integrated variant management based on experiences.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: It is found that distributed teams need significant support from senior management in terms of organisational culture, human resource management, financial sponsorship, infrastructure and technology, and customer liaison.
Abstract: Agile teams advocates face-to-face conversation, frequent communication and close collaboration between team members in order to work together as one team. In distributed software development, however, separation through space, time and culture affects the ability of the members of a distributed team to work together as one team. Through a Grounded Theory study that involved 55 participants from 38 different software companies in the USA, India and Australia, we investigate key concerns of distributed teams in Agile software development. We found that distributed teams need significant support from senior management in terms of organisational culture, human resource management, financial sponsorship, infrastructure and technology, and customer liaison. In this paper, we discuss the importance of senior management support for Agile software development with distributed teams.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: A research under development aims at developing a Communication Maturity Model for distributed software development inspired in quality maturity models such as the CMMI, which will aim at supporting the management of communication strategies and processes in such software development context.
Abstract: Communication related issues are among the main reasons of the low rate of success in software development, more specifically in distributed projects in which developers are located apart from each other and need to establish virtual relationships to communicate and to collaborate. It is important for a distributed team to be able to communicate properly and in a timely manner. As time goes by and the team gets used to working together and is aware of protocols and working processes, it is expected that communication issues will reduce. Hence, we can say that the communication processes evolve and mature. This paper presents a research under development that aims at developing a Communication Maturity Model for distributed software development inspired in quality maturity models such as the CMMI. The expected model will aim at supporting the management of communication strategies and processes in such software development context.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: This participatory single-case study indicates that, distributed team members rely heavily on knowledge codification and application of tools for knowledge sharing, and parts of the knowledge items not codified were destined to be unavailable for remote team members.
Abstract: Knowledge management (KM) is key to the success of any software organization. KM in software development has been the center of attention for researchers due to its potential to improve productivity. However, the knowledge is not only stored in repositories but is also shared in the office space. Agile software development teams use the benefits of shared space to foster knowledge creation. But it is difficult to create and share this type of knowledge, when team members are distributed. This participatory single-case study indicates that, distributed team members rely heavily on knowledge codification and application of tools for knowledge sharing. We have found that, the studied project did not use any specific software or hardware that would enable spatial knowledge creation and sharing. Therefore parts of the knowledge items not codified were destined to be unavailable for remote team members.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: The findings show the differences in the software-testing approaches of the two teams with respect to team structure, thought processes, expectations, testing focus areas, and trust levels and the analysis suggests that cultural differences are responsible for these differences.
Abstract: This paper presents the results of a four-month ethnographically-informed study that we performed at a vendor organization in India to understand how culture influences global software-testing practice. The paper discusses our findings and analysis of software-testing activities conducted by two teams: one working for a Japanese client, the other working for a U.S. client. The findings show the differences in the software-testing approaches of the two teams with respect to team structure, thought processes, expectations, testing focus areas, and trust levels. The analysis suggests that cultural differences (e.g., national, user, and software-developer) are responsible for these differences in testing approaches. The paper describes the study details, our observations about the different testing-approach patterns that the teams adopted, our analysis of the reasons for those differences, and our reflections and suggested implications based on the findings.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: It is demonstrated how a modified form of dilemma analysis can be a powerful technique for highlighting risks and stakeholder impacts from empirical data, and that adopting an evaluative-critical approach to such projects can usefully highlight tensions and barriers to satisfactory project outcomes.
Abstract: Global Software Engineering (GSE) research contains few examples consciously applying what Glass and colleagues have termed an 'evaluative-critical' approach. In this study we apply dilemma analysis to conduct a critical review of a major (and ongoing) near shore Business Process Outsourcing project in New Zealand. The project has become so troubled that a Government Minister has recently been assigned responsibility for troubleshooting it. The 'Novo pay' project concerns the implementation of a nationwide payroll system responsible for the payment of some 110,000 teachers and education sector staff. An Australian company won the contract for customizing and implementing the Novo pay system, taking over from an existing New Zealand service provider. We demonstrate how a modified form of dilemma analysis can be a powerful technique for highlighting risks and stakeholder impacts from empirical data, and that adopting an evaluative-critical approach to such projects can usefully highlight tensions and barriers to satisfactory project outcomes.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: It is shown how problems and solutions extracted from these events can lead to the definition of patterns, and this pattern model is integrated into a GSD Community Web intended to promote collaboration between industry and academia.
Abstract: Sources of Global Software Development (GSD) information, such as academic literature, often focus on high-level issues rather than on specific problems. Researchers tend to generalize problems and solutions, however, practitioners and instructors frequently need to identify real low-level scenarios and patterns in an effort to study specific problems and their solutions. We propose a method for collecting and defining GSD scenarios and related patterns. Scenarios depicting events that happen in certain GSD contexts associated with communication, coordination are central to this method. In this paper we show how problems and solutions extracted from these events can lead to the definition of patterns. Patterns describe generalized information that can be re-used in similar contexts. To facilitate knowledge sharing, we have integrated this pattern model into a GSD Community Web intended to promote collaboration between industry and academia. News, resources and discussion forums on GSD topics are also available through this website.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
Andreas Deuter1
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: A new approach is proposed, called "sliced V-model", where documents are split into work items and these work items are linked between the documents, forming small and independent "V" shapes, which downsizes the efforts for keeping documents updated, simplifies the management of trace ability and increases flexibility.
Abstract: Companies requiring a formal software process model tend to choose the V-model. Having its advantages in a strong focus on verification and validation, the main drawbacks of the V-model are the need to create a large amount of documentation, to keep this documentation continuously updated and to manage trace ability of requirements implementation and testing. As it is based on the waterfall process model the timing behavior of the V-model is considered to be stiff. Additional complexity arises whenever teams work together in globally distributed environments. All these aspects reduce the software productivity of the teams when using the V-model. It is known that agile processes solve some of the mentioned problems. However, agile processes are not always accepted in formal environments, e.g., if certification bodies need to approve safety critical developments. This article proposes a new approach, called "sliced V-model", where documents are split into work items and these work items are linked between the documents, forming small and independent "V" shapes. Working with such so-called "V" slices downsizes the efforts for keeping documents updated, simplifies the management of trace ability and increases flexibility. Since the sliced V-model requires the utilization of a web-based repository, it is easy to apply in globally distributed teams. An example of successful implementation in a globally operating industry company is shown.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: This work investigates and reports on the prioritization of information for distributed software engineers based on their current activity and status, and illustrates the applicability of the findings by describing how to apply them in a support tool for distributedSoftware engineers.
Abstract: Just like in co-located teams, software engineers in distributed teams need a variety of information about the project and their team members to collaborate effectively. In contrast with the co-located situation however, acquiring and maintaining sufficient awareness is more difficult. Therefore technological support is developed to assist them with this. However, such support walks a fine line: if it provides too little information software engineers will not be able to collaborate effectively, yet if it provides too much, an information overload can occur. To further complicate matters, the information needs of software engineers dynamically change based on their current activity, context and focus. Therefore we assist tool developers by investigating and reporting on the prioritization of information for distributed software engineers based on their current activity and status. Finally, we illustrate the applicability of the findings by describing how to apply them in a support tool for distributed software engineers.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: The results of this investigation into the factors that engender trust in Global Systems Engineering teams in five multinational organizations are reported, which can be used to inform the development of future tools that aim to support collaborative work in general and GSE teams specifically.
Abstract: Trust is generally considered a key element of effective and productive distributed team collaborations. In this paper, we report the results of our investigation into the factors that engender trust in Global Systems Engineering (GSE) teams in five multinational organizations. We extend our previous work by conducting a new field study focused solely on factors that engender trust and identify the implications of these factors. Our work provides significant contributions to practitioners, researchers and tool developers. Managers working in study field sites have confirmed that our findings will be used to inform future team management strategies. Our results can also be used to structure and guide future research in this field, as it identifies gaps in existing literature. Finally, our findings can be used to inform the development of future tools that aim to support collaborative work in general and GSE teams specifically.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: The objective of this research project is to develop Green IT-Outsourcing Assurance Model to assist outsourcing vendor organisations to ensure greenness of the organisations and to develop energy-efficient softwares.
Abstract: Context - Green IT or green computing has emerged as a fast growing business paradigm in recent years in order to develop energy-efficient softwares and peripheral devices. Objective - The objective of this research project is to develop Green IT-Outsourcing Assurance Model to assist outsourcing vendor organisations to ensure greenness of the organisations and to develop energy-efficient softwares. Method - Our research design for the proposed model is based on systematic literature review, empirical study and case study. Expected Outcome - The outcome of this project will be Green IT-Outsourcing Assurance Model (GITAM) that will assist outsourcing vendor organisations to engineer energy-efficient softwares at low cost.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: This paper has developed a middleware and support tool, ABC4GSD, to enable collaborative distributed features in an application, while maintaining common interactions with the workstation that users are accustomed to.
Abstract: Global Software Engineering (GSE) teams face challenges due to the need to replace traditional physical presence interactions and co-ordination with computer-mediated means. A vast majority of the available tool support for distributed collaboration is deep-seated in a desktop metaphor introduced in the `70s, and huge efforts are being devoted to overcome its known limitations. Over the last few years we have looked into the feasibility of providing an approach based on Activity-Based Computing (ABC) to address these issues in a novel way. We have developed a middleware and support tool, ABC4GSD, to enable collaborative distributed features in an application, while maintaining common interactions with the workstation that users are accustomed to. In this paper we present the results of a user evaluation we conducted on ABC4GSD using exemplar GSE scenarios. Participants' responses show positive and encouraging reception of the activity-based approach to supporting GSE.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: Results from surveying 17 pairs of teams from 15 organizations indicate that level of awareness in cross-team collaborations is generally lower than that within the teams and a few other factors with potential positive and negative influence on team awareness are identified.
Abstract: Developing and maintaining team awareness within and across teams working in the same project helps team members in aligning their activities and facilitates implicit coordination. This requires both task and presence awareness. In this paper, we share our findings from a survey in which we measured the level of team awareness in cross-team collaborations with varying degree of separation. To measure the levels of awareness we asked questions like who is who, who knows what, who is on a vacation, who depends on whom and alike. Results from surveying 17 pairs of teams from 15 organizations indicate that level of awareness in cross-team collaborations is generally lower than that within the teams. We also found that task and presence awareness levels are independent and can vary. In addition to distance, we identified a few other factors with potential positive and negative influence on team awareness.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
Alpana Dubey1, John Hudepohl1
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: The experience of a global roll out of a software engineering tool in a large organization is presented and it is observed that besides tool's features, factors such as knowledge sharing, active feedback, and training plays an important role in an effective tool deployment.
Abstract: Global nature of multinational organizations pose a different set of challenges in an effective adoption of software engineering tools. Software projects are spread across multiple geographies and tools are deployed globally in these organizations. Global tool deployment is often motivated by an attractive enterprise cost of the tool. Moreover, it helps in harmonizing practices across development groups and useful in establishing benchmarks without further normalizations. There are various parameters to drive a successful tool deployment in a global setup. For example, a good roll out plan, knowledge sharing platform, coordination and trust building among the change agents from different geographies, and a good central support. In this paper, we present our experience of a global roll out of a software engineering tool in a large organization. It has been observed that besides tool's features, factors such as knowledge sharing, active feedback, and training plays an important role in an effective tool deployment.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: Some key 'lessons learned' from a new case study, the DESTECS project, are presented, including the creation of a small, representative 'requirements authority' (RA), investing time in studying common concepts early in the project, and ensuring that expectations for requirements and for deliveries are made explicit.
Abstract: This paper describes the experience of managing a requirements process between distributed parties with diverse interests in a research project context. We present some key 'lessons learned' from a new case study, the DESTECS project, and summarise lessons learned from previous experience reports. Key risks include obstacles imposed by the geographic distance, the different domain knowledge and working contexts of partners, and a risk that autonomous partners' goals do not always coincide. Our observations on a new case study broadly support a previous study, but we also propose some new lessons to learn, including the creation of a small, representative 'requirements authority' (RA), investing time in studying common concepts early in the project, and ensuring that expectations for requirements and for deliveries are made explicit.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
26 Aug 2013
TL;DR: Logistic regression equation method is suggested to capture the schedule changes that are possible due to the dynamic changes to the project to augments shared decision-making in distributed environment resulting in better actions.
Abstract: With the advent of iterative software development methodologies such as Agile the emphasis is on light weight software development methodologies. Emphasis is on accommodating frequent changes and also relies on individuals and interaction over processes and tools. Estimation methods used rely on expert-judgment and methods such as planning-poker. During project execution, when changes arise due to dynamic nature of the project, individuals' interaction, mode of communication and expert judgment decide the actions and decision-making in distributed teams. In this paper logistic regression equation method is suggested to capture the schedule changes that are possible due to the dynamic changes to the project. Logistic regression provides the change in probability of completing the feature for an expected change in any of the explanatory variables. Due to the quantified output from logistic regression it augments shared decision-making in distributed environment resulting in better actions.