A Systematic Tertiary Study of Communication in Distributed Software Development Projects
Alinne C.C. dos Santos, Ivaldir H. de Farias, Hermano Perrelli de Moura, Sabrina dos Santos Marczak · 2012
Distributed Software Development (DSD) is characterized by physical distance and/or different time-zones among those involved in the process of developing software. This physical and temporal separation entails some advantages, but it also brings challenges related to communication, coordination and cooperation in carrying out complex software development tasks. Cultural and time-zone differences, lack of standardized processes, tools and infrastructure incompatibility are examples of such challenges. Communication is among one of the main challenges faced by distributed teams. Therefore, this study aims at moving towards a consolidated knowledge about communication in distributed projects by developing a better understanding of which factors influence communication processes and which are the reported effects of this influence in DSD projects. To attend our goal, we conducted a systematic tertiary literature review of communication in distributed projects. The research questions that guided our study are: Q.1 Which factors influence communication in Distributed Software Development projects?; Q.2 Which are the effects of these factors in communication in Distributed Software Development projects?; and Q.3 Which factors identified in Q.1 are related to the effects identified in Q.2 in Distributed Software Development projects? We briefly present below the result of the identification, analysis, and synthesis of the effects of communication process in DSD projects and the factors in the distributed context that affect communication effectiveness.