Challenges when adopting continuous integration: A case study

Abstract

The complexity of software development has increased over the last few years. Customers today demand higher quality and more stable software with shorter delivery time. Software companies strive to improve their processes in order to meet theses challenges. Agile practices have been widely praised for the focus they put on customer collaboration and shorter feedback loops. Companies that have well established agile practices have been trying to improve their processes further by adopting continuous integration - the concept where teams integrate their code several times a day. However, adopting continuous integration is not a trivial task. This paper presents a case study in which we, based on interviews at a major Swedish telecommunication services and equipment provider, assess the challenges of continuous integration. The study found 23 adoption challenges that organisations may face when adopting the continuous integration process.