Investigating gaps on Agile Improvement Solutions and their successful adoption in industry projects-A systematic literature review

Abstract

Background: The focus of Agile software development (ASD) is different than plan-driven development, requiring new software process improvement (SPI) paradigms. Objective: To identify and synthesize the possible gaps of Agile improvement solutions (AIS) given their focus on people factors, report of successful adoption in industry projects and availability of tool support. Method: We applied a Systematic Literature Review of studies published up to (and including) 2017 through backward and forward snowballing given a start set. Results: In total, we evaluated 55 papers, of which 44 included AIS and the main findings are: 1) 26 consider teamwork factors; 2) 21 were applied on industry; 3) 10 out of these 21 presented evidence of increase in company performance; and 4) 19 of the solutions are for the purpose of adoption, 18 for assessment and 8 are maturity models. Conclusion: The main implication for this research is a need for more and better empirical studies documenting and evaluating AIS. For the industry, the review provides a map of current AIS approaches and can be used as a starting point to adopt agile SPI.