Systematic task allocation evaluation in distributed software development
Jürgen Münch, Ansgar Lamersdorf · 2016
Systematic task allocation to different development sites in global software de-velopment projects can open business and engineering perspectives and help to reduce risks and problems inherent in distributed development. Relying only on a single evaluation criterion such as development cost when distributing tasks to development sites has shown to be very risky and often does not lead to suc-cessful solutions in the long run. Task allocation in global software projects is challenging due to a multitude of impact factors and constraints. Systematic al-location decisions require the ability to evaluate and compare task allocation al-ternatives and to effectively establish customized task allocation practices in an organization. In this article, we present a customizable process for task alloca-tion evaluation that is based on results from a systematic interview study with practitioners. In this process, the relevant criteria for evaluating task allocation alternatives are derived by applying principles from goal-oriented measurement. In addition, the customization of the process is demonstrated, related work and limitations are sketched, and an outlook on future work is given. 1.