Identification and Prioritization of Agile Requirements Change Management Success Factors in the Domain of Global Software Development

Abstract

The economic and strategic gains motivated the majority of software firms to adopt global software development (GSD). The adoption of GSD is not straightforward. The geographical distance between the GSD teams causes the various problems for the implementation of agile software development activities, particularly, that related to requirements change management in agile (ARCM). The objective of this study is to explore the success factors of ARCM in GSD context and prioritized them based on their significance. The study comprised of two steps: (1) identify the success factors of ARCM using systematic mapping study (SMS) and validate them with industry practitioners using questionnaire survey approach; (2) prioritize the identified success factors by applying the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach. A total of 21 success factors that are significant for ARCM process were identified using SMS and questionnaire survey study. The results of AHP shows that allocation of resources at overseas sites, 3C's (communication, coordination and control), geographically distributed change control board (CCB), RCM process improvement expertise and continuous top management support are the highest priority success factors of ARCM process in the context of GSD. The findings assist the practitioners to address the most priority success factors in order to successfully implement the ARCM activities in the domain of GSD.