A strategy to support software planning based on piece of work and agile paradigm

Abstract

Background: The estimation of iterations must be as precise as possible, especially for the agile methods, since the success of this kind of development is intrinsically related to this fact. Aim: In order to establish a systematic planning of iterations, this paper presents the PW-Plan strategy that works with different planning techniques and a generic unit of work to plan the iteration, under the agile paradigm development focus. Method: PW-Plan strategy was extracted from a real software development process and evolved from another strategy that combines the application of Use Case Points and Personal Software Process. Results: PW-Plan was applied in two case studies of two small businesses companies that showed the feasibility of its application. Conclusion: The case studies provided insights of the PW-Plan contribution for both the developer's and the manager's processes. Also, its application provides more precise estimations for each iteration. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.