Overview and Guidance on Agile Development in Large Organizations
Communications of the Association for Information Systems, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 25-44, July 2011
21 Pages Posted: 17 Aug 2011 Last revised: 27 Jul 2013
Date Written: August 14, 2011
Abstract
A continual debate surrounds the effectiveness of agile software development practices. Some organizations adopt agile practices to become more competitive, improve processes, and reduce costs. Other organizations are skeptical about whether agile development is beneficial. Large organizations face an additional challenge in integrating agile practices with existing standards and business processes. To examine the effects of agile development practices in large organizations, we review and integrate scientific literature and theory on agile software development. We further organize our theory and observations into a framework with guidelines for large organizations considering agile methodologies. Based on this framework, we present recommendations that suggest ways large organizations with established processes can successfully implement agile practices. Our analysis of the literature and theory provides new insight for researchers of agile software development and assists practitioners in determining how to adopt agile development in their organizations
Keywords: agility, agile development, software development, life cycle, large organizations, waterfall method, extreme programming, Scrum, informal communication, interdependencies, coordination
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation