Managing Distributed Software Development - Coursework Example

MANAGING DISTRIBUTED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT Student’s Name: Code + Course name Professor’s name University City, State Date Abstract The modern organisation has opted for the distributed software development approach rather than the traditional in-house approach due to the several benefits associated with the offshoring of software developers. Some of the incentives include the enhanced process of developing the software applications, reduction of the costs associated with hiring full-time in-house developers and the access to a wider skill and labour set. The paper presents an overview of the issues regarding the development and management of distributed software applications. It provides a general overview of the processes involved in distributed software development, the available opportunities and threats and the emerging trends in the development of distributed software applications. The analysis presents a discussion of the threats in relation to the communication, coordination and control processes associated with distributed software applications. The paper also identifies the three dimensions of temporal distance, geographical distance and socio-cultural differences and their impact on the communication, control and coordination processes. The paper also discusses the cost management issues associated with distributed software applications in comparison to the traditional in-house system of developing software applications for the organisation. Finally, the paper identifies large geographical distance, cultural differences and different time zones as the major contributors to the weak communication that impedes the functionality of the distributed software development process. Introduction The development of software programmes entails a real-world scenario that utilises a distributed scenario to work (Gutwin et al. 2004). The development of open source software (OSS) applications is a real-time example of a distributed software development programme by a group of several developers located in different parts of the world. The developers of distributed software programmes rarely meet face to face. Such distributed efforts have resulted in significant software applications such as Apache Web server, Linux Operating System and the OpenOffice Application suite. Individuals and organisations have the permission to make hardcopies or digital copies of the software applications without having to seek permission from the distributed software developers. Barriers associated with coordination have impacted negatively on the effective development of the programmes. One of the coordination-related challenges is the uncoordinated integration of changes on a section of the programme by a developer without the consent of other developers. It is evident that such changes have impacted adversely on the performance of the programme especially if the integrated change contradicts some sections of the programme. Distributed Software Development There has been an increase in the number of organisations that have embraced the distribution of the software development process in pursuit of enhanced productivity, reduced costs, heightened profits and quality improvements. However, the use of physically distributed environments and teams has turned out to be a challenge on itself on the distributed software development process. The incentives behind the distributed software development (DSD) among organisations encompass the intense pressure to minimise costs, the ever rising competitiveness of the enterprise, and the strategic role that Information Technology (IT) plays in organisations (Shrivastava 2010). The definition of the software development process reclines on the processes, practices, technologies and methods that companies and individuals utilise in the development and maintenance of the software applications. The higher the quality of the software development process, the better the quality of the developed software (Bird et al. 2009). Moreover, it is possible to measure, manage and improve the software development process Organisations understand that adopting a well-defined process of software development is not an easy task. In fact, the complexity of software development for organisations has been increasing with respect to the complexity of the organisational functions. The geographical distribution of software developers all over the world is a main characteristic of the DSD. It is also known as multi-site development or global software development (GSD). The challenge of coordination witnessed by the software developers situated in different backgrounds has resulted in the development of certain tools that target to deal with the challenge (Lanubile 2009). Apparently, the development of software applications under the DSD framework suffices to be one of the greatest challenges that organisations encounter in the modern world (Prikladnicki et al. 2003). A number of companies have opted to distribute their software development processes to countries such as India, Brazil and Ireland. Rather than reducing costs and improving the quality of the developed software as a result of the involvement of several software developers, organisations have also opted for the DSD approach due to the flexibility that it guarantees to the software development process. Firms develop software programmes under the DSD approach through outsourcing. Outsourcing refers to the issuing of a contract to an external organisation or team of software developers to develop a system rather than using an in-house system development process. Outsourcing enables organisations to concentrate on their core processes thereby reducing the number of in-house software developers. In essence, the distributed system of software development enables firms to reduce costs used in hiring permanent programmers as well as reducing the time necessary for developing a programme. Additional management concerns emanating from the coordination constraint is the challenge that organisations have to deal with whenever they opt for the DSD process (Prikladnicki et al. 2003). The firm realises the benefits of the approach if it has managed the software development process effectively thereby resulting in the development of a programme that responds to all the anticipated technological needs of the organisation. Offshore outsourcing is one of the recent trends associated with the DSD process. It occurs when a company hires the services of another company located outside the home country of the firm to develop the software application. Some of the incentives that compel firms to embrace offshore outsourcing encompass the ability of the offshore company to provide higher quality products at comparatively lower costs. It is also evident that some offshore companies have a better schedule of software development as compared to some of the firms located within the country. There are different criteria associated with the DSD approach of software development (Prikladnicki et al. 2003). They include the physical distance of the stakeholders, the distribution of the programmers, development outsourcing, cultural differences, and the size of the project. DSD Opportunities With regard to temporal distance, enhanced record of communications is the first opportunity associated with the adoption of the DSD approach towards software development (Thissen et al. 2007). Temporal distance refers to the time dislocation experienced by two or more actors that intend to interact. The time shifting of work patterns and time zone differences are responsible for the temporal distances. It is apparent that the software development process necessitates timely conscious communication. As a result, low temporal distances increases the opportunities associated with timely synchronous communication at the expense of reducing the available management opportunities. In the event that there is an effective division of work among the different software development teams, the organisation will require minimal coordination efforts. However, it is imperative that the different software developers should understand their roles in each of the assigned sections so as to avert incidences of overlapping or conflicting codes of the programme under development. Temporal distance also has an effect on the control of the software development process (Agerfalk et al. 2005). For instance, the effectiveness of the time zone plays an important role in enabling the team to achieve a 24/7 working environment. Geographical distance suffices to be the other critical dimension of the DSD process. It provides a directional measure of the effort that one actor requires to visit another actor at the home site of the latter actor (Agerfalk et al. 2005). Instead of using kilometres to measure geographical distance, the ease of relocation turns out to be the most proper measure of the distance. Therefore, the existence of fast and reliable modes of transport such as airports between two locations implies that it is easy for one party to relocate from on location to the other regardless of the physical distance (in kilometres) between the two locations. Similarly, even though the physical distance between two locations may just be some few kilometres, it can be hard for one actor to relocate to the other location if the existing transport infrastructure is poor or only limited to slow modes of transport. The geographical distance dimension impacts positively on the communication process between the actors in the software development process. The approach enhances closer market proximity thereby subjecting organisations to a great variety of software development teams (Agerfalk et al. 2005). As a result, the firm is capable of selecting the most efficient team of professional developers based on the predefined qualities under consideration. Moreover, the approach increases the exposure of firms to a variety of skilled workforces located in remote areas or offshore countries. The other positive impact of the increased geographical distance on the coordination of the software development process entails the guarantee of a more flexible coordination planning as a result of the increase in the skills and size of the labour pool (Agerfalk et al. 2005). Geographical distance also has a positive impact on the control of the software development process. For instance, the utilised communication channels leave trails that can be significant in auditing as compared to informal contacts where it is difficult to have audit trails unless if there exists an in-house voice recording system that records all the voice communications between the actors. The socio-cultural distance dimension also impacts both positively and negatively on the processes of communication, coordination and control associated with the development of distributed software. The dimension provides a directional measure on the understanding of one actor about the normative practices and values of the other actor. It involves organisational culture, national culture, individual motivation, work ethics, politics and language. The advantage of the dimension on the communication process is the fact that it enhances the sharing of best practice and innovation. With respect to the coordination process, the dimension fosters learning besides enhancing access to a richer and wider skill set. DSD Challenges The temporal distance dimension compels the organisation to incur more costs while trying to coordinate the software development process. Temporal distance also impacts negatively on the control aspect of the software development process since the management of the artefacts of the project may witness delays. With regard to the geographical distance dimension, it is apparent that it also poses a threat to the DSD approach besides contributing positively towards enhancing the access to a variety of skilled workforces situated in remote areas. The organisation has to incur more costs and logistics in the event that it intends to hold face to face meetings with the software developers (Agerfalk et al. 2005). This would not have been the case if the firm had opted for the in-house system of software development. In such systems, holding face to face meetings would only involve sending emails to the in-house software developers requiring them to attend a meeting at a specified venue within the organisation. Rather than increasing the flexibility of coordination planning, geographical distance reduces informal contact between the actors of the software development process (Agerfalk et al. 2005). The result is reduced trust among the actors as well as the lack of awareness of the critical tasks of the process. It is evident that informal contact contributes immensely to the trust and awareness of critical tasks in any strategic process at the workplace. Geographical distance also impacts negatively on the control of the software development process. For instance, it is difficult to convey the strategy and the vision of the programme as compared to an in-house system enjoys the availability of informal contact between the actors. Moreover, even though the communication channels leave audit trails, it is evident that the trails are subject to many threats such as viruses, Trojan horses, logic bombs and worms that can corrupt them thereby rendering them useless. The socio-cultural dimension also impacts negatively on the communication process. It may lead to misunderstandings between the actors (Agerfalk et al. 2005). The socio-cultural differences can also yield inconsistencies in the software development practices thereby having an adverse impact on coordination and cooperation. The dimension also yields perceived threat emanating from the training of low cost rivals. The existence of different perceptions can also undermine the morale of other workers due to the different perceptions of hierarchy and authority. DSD Trends The acceleration of the software development process is one of the emerging trends in the industry. The increasing business pressure, the need of customers to take part in the software development process and the necessity of rolling out new features as fast as possible have contributed to the acceleration of the SD process. The fluctuation of staff and the rendering of firm structures flexible are the other trends associated with the SD process especially under the ‘SD for the Web’ domain and large scale projects (EC SPRIDE 2014). The trend has seen companies transform into either “caring companies” or “fluid organisations”. Caring companies tend to withhold the outsourced software developers for an extended period whereas “fluid companies” do not. The frequency of outsiders joining and leaving the company under “fluid organisations” is high. The increased distribution of sites for software development is the other trend in SD that is on the rise. This entails the integration of third party components and the outsourcing of production. Agile software development suffices to be the other emerging trend in the SD sector (Ramesh et al. 2006). The SD methods adopted are majorly Continuous Integration (CI) and Scrum. Conclusion There are several opportunities provided by temporal distance, geographical distance and socio-cultural differences dimensions towards the processes of communication, coordination and control of the DSD processes. They include enhanced time zone effectiveness, increased time zone efficiency, increased access to technical infrastructure, work modularisation, enhanced proximity to the customer or market, standardised work practices and access to a larger skill and labour set. On the other hand, the dimensions have also posed threats such as delayed communication, reduced collaboration hours, lack of informal communication, high costs of travel, reduced trust, and misunderstandings and language differences. The emerging trends in DSD include the acceleration of software development processes, staff fluctuation due to the emergence of “fluid” and “caring” companies, and the increased distribution of SD sites. 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