implementing lean and agile software development in industry

309 Pages·2010·2.04 MB·English

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Background: The software market is becoming Results: The agile situation was investigated m
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more dynamic which can be seen in frequent- through a series of case studies. The baseline oe ImplemenTIng leAn And AgIle
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ly changing customer needs. Hence, software situation (plan-driven development) was eva- f
TT SofTwARe developmenT In InduSTRy
companies need to be able to quickly respond luated and the effect of the introduction of agile
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to these changes. For software companies this practices was captured, followed by an in-depth n
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means that they have to become agile with the analysis of the new situation. Finally, a novel ap-
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objective of developing features with very short proach, Software Process Improvement through l
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lead-time and of high quality. A consequence of the Lean Measurement (SPI-LEAM) method, was
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this challenge is the appearance of agile and lean introduced providing a comprehensive measu-
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software development. Practices and principles rement approach supporting the company to v
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of agile software development aim at increasing manage their work in process and capacity. SPI- e
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flexibility with regard to changing requirements. LEAM focuses on the overall process integrating
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Lean software development aims at systemati- different dimensions (requirements, maintenance,
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Kai Petersen
cally identifying waste to focus all resources on testing, etc.). When undesired behavior is obser- m
value adding activities. ved a drill-down analysis for the individual dimen- e
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sions should be possible. Therefore, we provided
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Objective: The objective of the thesis is to evalua- solutions for the main product development flow

te the usefulness of agile practices in a large-scale and for software maintenance. The lean solutions I
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industrial setting. In particular, with regard to agi- were evaluated through case studies.

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le the goal is to understand the effect of migra- n
ting from a plan-driven to an agile development Conclusion: With regard to agile we found that d
approach. A positive effect would underline the the migration from plan-driven to agile develop- u
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usefulness of agile practices. With regard to lean ment is beneficial. Due to the scaling of agile new
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software development the goal is to propose no- challenges arise with the introduction. The lean
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vel solutions inspired by lean manufacturing and practices introduced in this thesis were percei- y
product development, and to evaluate their use- ved as useful by the practitioners. The practitio-
fulness in further improving agile development. ners identified concrete decisions in which the
lean solutions could support them. In addition,
Method: The primary research method used the lean solutions allowed identifying concrete
throughout the thesis is case study. As secon- improvement proposals to achieve a lean soft-
dary methods for data collection a variety of ware process.
approaches have been used, such as semi-struc-
tured interviews, workshops, study of process
documentation, and use of quantitative data.
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Blekinge Institute of Technology
Doctoral Dissertation Series No. 2010:04
2
0 School of Computing
ISSN 1653-2090 1
0
2010:04 ISBN 978-91-7295-180-8 :04
Implementing Lean and Agile Software
Development in Industry
Kai Petersen

Blekinge Institute of Technology Doctoral Dissertation Series
No 2010:04
Implementing Lean and Agile Software
Development in Industry
Kai Petersen
School of Computing
Blekinge Institute of Technology
SWEDEN
© 2010 Kai Petersen
School of Computing
Publisher: Blekinge Institute of Technology
Printed by Printfabriken, Karlskrona, Sweden 2010
ISBN 978-91-7295-180-8
Blekinge Institute of Technology Doctoral Dissertation Series
ISSN 1653-2090
urn:nbn:se:bth-00465
Q: What are the most exciting, promising software engineering ideas or
techniquesonthehorizon?
A: I don’t think that the most promising ideas are on the horizon. They
arealreadyhereandhavebeenforyears,butarenotbeingusedproperly.
–DavidL.Parnas
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Abstract
Background: Thesoftwaremarketisbecomingmoredynamicwhichcanbeseenin
frequently changing customer needs. Hence, software companies need to be able to
quicklyrespondtothesechanges. Forsoftwarecompaniesthismeansthattheyhaveto
become agile with the objective of developing features with very short lead-time and
of high quality. A consequence of this challenge is the appearance of agile and lean
softwaredevelopment. Practicesandprinciplesofagilesoftwaredevelopmentaimat
increasing flexibility with regard to changing requirements. Lean software develop-
ment aims at systematically identifying waste to focus all resources on value adding
activities.
Objective:Theobjectiveofthethesisistoevaluatetheusefulnessofagilepractices
inalarge-scaleindustrialsetting. Inparticular, withregardtoagilethegoalistoun-
derstandtheeffectofmigratingfromaplan-driventoanagiledevelopmentapproach.
Apositiveeffectwouldunderlinetheusefulnessofagilepractices. Withregardtolean
softwaredevelopmentthegoalistoproposenovelsolutionsinspiredbyleanmanufac-
turingandproductdevelopment,andtoevaluatetheirusefulnessinfurtherimproving
agiledevelopment.
Method: The primary research method used throughout the thesis is case study.
Assecondarymethodsfordatacollectionavarietyofapproacheshavebeenused,such
assemi-structuredinterviews,workshops,studyofprocessdocumentation,anduseof
quantitativedata.
Results: Theagilesituationwasinvestigatedthroughaseriesofcasestudies. The
baseline situation (plan-driven development) was evaluated and the effect of the in-
troduction of agile practices was captured, followed by an in-depth analysis of the
new situation. Finally, a novel approach, Software Process Improvement through the
LeanMeasurement(SPI-LEAM)method, wasintroducedprovidingacomprehensive
measurement approach supporting the company to manage their work in process and
capacity. SPI-LEAM focuses on the overall process integrating different dimensions
(requirements, maintenance, testing, etc.). When undesired behavior is observed a
drill-down analysis for the individual dimensions should be possible. Therefore, we
provided solutions for the main product development flow and for software mainte-
nance. Theleansolutionswereevaluatedthroughcasestudies.
Conclusion: With regard to agile we found that the migration from plan-driven
to agile development is beneficial. Due to the scaling of agile new challenges arise
with the introduction. The lean practices introduced in this thesis were perceived as
usefulbythepractitioners. Thepractitionersidentifiedconcretedecisionsinwhichthe
leansolutionscouldsupportthem. Inaddition,theleansolutionsallowedidentifying
concreteimprovementproposalstoachievealeansoftwareprocess.
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Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor and collaborator Professor
Claes Wohlin for his support and feedback on my work, for the fruitful collaboration
onpapers,andforalwaysrespondingtomyquestionsatanytimeofdayornight.
I would also like to thank all colleagues at Ericsson AB for participating in my
studies. Theseincludeparticipantsininterviews, workshops, andintheTiQanalysis
team. Allofyouhaveprovidedvaluableinputandfeedbacktomyworkdespiteyour
busy schedules, for which I am thankful. In particular, I also would like to express
mygratitudetoEvaNilssonatEricssonforherstrongsupportandthusformakingthe
implementations of the solutions presented in this thesis possible, and for providing
importantfeedback. ThanksalsogotoPerOlofBengtssonforhiscontinuoussupport
andcommitmentthroughoutmystudies.
The support from my friends and colleagues from the SERL and DISL research
groupsisalsohighlyappreciated. Inparticular,IwouldliketothankDejanBacaand
ShahidMujtabafortheircollaborationonpapers,andforthegoodtimesafterwork.
Lastbutnotleast,IwouldliketoexpressmysinceregratitudetomymotherFrauke
foralwayssupportingmeinwhatIwantedtoachieveagainstallobstacles,andtomy
brotherStephanforalwaysbeingthere.
ThisworkwasfundedjointlybyEricssonABandtheKnowledgeFoundationinSwe-
denunderaresearchgrantfortheproject“Blekinge-EngineeringSoftwareQualities
(BESQ)”(http://www.bth.se/besq).
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