Maturing in agile: What is it about?

Abstract

Maturity in agile software development is a subject still in definition. Although a number of models have been proposed, they usually adapt agile practices to CMMI-DEV requirements or differ among authors. The objective of this study was to identify how agile practitioners define a road map to maturity. We conducted a survey with Brazilian agilists and analyzed data using statistical Chi-square method. Our findings suggest that practitioners' opinion is that a prescribed model to agile maturity would not be useful - we propose, then, an initial guide for maturity. This guide defines some essential practices, but space should be left for teams to do the job as they please. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.