Measuring Best-in-Class Software Releases

Conference paper (2013)

Authors

H.K.M. Huijgens Goverdson, Software Engineering - EEMCS
D.M. van Solingen Prowareness, Software Engineering - EEMCS
Research Group
Software Engineering (EEMCS) (TU Delft)
Quality Scrum Software engineering Productivity Performance Measurement IT-metrics Time-to-Market
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Published Date

2013

Language

English

Reuse Rights

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Faculty

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Department

Software Technology

Research Group

Software Engineering

Abstract

In this research we aimed to identify distinguishing factors in software releases. For this purpose we analyzed the metrics of 26 software projects. These projects were release-based deliveries from two stable, experienced development teams. During the measurement period both teams transformed from a plan-driven delivery model (waterfall) to an agile approach (Scrum). Overall, we observed that these small release-based projects differ largely from non-release-based projects. Our research indicates that a combination of release-based working, a fixed and experienced development team, and a steady heartbeat contribute to performances that can be characterized as best-practice. The main contribution of this paper is that we found five success factors (all reducing development complexity) that result in best-of-class performance for small software releases.