Applying verbal decision analysis to task allocation in distributed development of software

Abstract

The management of distributed software development projects presents many challenges. One of them happens right at the start of the project and consists of the allocation of tasks between remote teams. When allocating a task to a site, the project manager takes into account several factors such as technical knowledge of staff and proximity to the client. The project manager usually takes this decision in a subjective way. The verbal decision analysis is an approach based on solving problems through multi-criteria qualitative analysis, which means it considers the analysis of subjective criteria. This paper describes the application of verbal decision analysis methodologies ORCLASS and ZAPROS III-i to classify and rank the most relevant factors that the project managers should take into account when allocating tasks in projects of distributed development of software.