Research in Global Software Engineering: A Systematic Snapshot

Abstract

Abstract. This paper reports our extended analysis of the recent literature addressing global software engineering (GSE), using a new Systematic Snapshot Mapping (SSM) technique. The primary purpose of this work is to understand what issues are being addressed and how research is being carried out in GSEand comparatively, what work is not being conducted. We carried out the analysis in two stages. In the first stage we analyzed 275 papers published between January 2011 and June 2012, and in the second stage we augmented our analysis by considering a further 26 papers (from the 2013 International Conference on Global Software Engineering (ICGSE'13). Our results reveal that, currently, GSE studies are focused on management-and infrastructure-related factors, using principally evaluative research approaches. Most of the studies are conducted at the organizational level, mainly using methods such as interviews, surveys, field studies and case studies. The USA, India and China are major players in GSE, with USA-India collaborations being the most frequently studied, followed by USA-China. While a considerable number of GSE-related studies have been published since January 2011 they are currently quite narrowly focused, on exploratory research and explanatory theories, and the critical research paradigm has been untouched. An absence of formulative research, experimentation and simulation, and a related focus on evaluative approaches, all suggest that existing tools, methods and approaches from related fields are being tested in the GSE context, even though these may not be inherently applicable to the additional scale and complexity of GSE.

Continuous Transition in Outsourcing: A Case Study

“…In conducting their analysis Butler et al [7] categorized 116 articles based upon the focus of attention of GSE projects and found that just 2 of those articles were related to the transition phase. This finding coincides with the results of a systematic snapshot mapping study which categorized 301 articles across various dimensions and found that only 19 were related to transition [8]. This suggests that researchers have focused more on establishing the drivers behind outsourcing while less attention has been given to issues relating to the switching of vendors and/or transition of software systems.…”

“…In general the need for case study research arises out of a desire to understand a complex phenomenon and to focus on a specific instance or 'case' while retaining an holistic and real-world perspective [14]. Case studies have been increasingly adopted in software engineering in general and in Global Software Engineering in particular -prior research [8] has found that the most dominant methods used in GSE-related research are field and case studies and interviews. Choosing a particular research method implies making a trade-off between level of control and degree of realism.…”

“…Case studies have been increasingly adopted in software engineering in general and in Global Software Engineering in particular -prior research [8] has found that the most dominant methods used in GSE-related research are field and case studies and interviews. Choosing a particular research method implies making a trade-off between level of control and degree of realism.…”

A Systematic Snapshot of Small Packaged Software Vendors' Enterprises

“…Inotherwords,packagedsoftware(PS)hasformedasignificantvalueintheworldofeconomics. Moreover,softwarepackagingvendorshaveconsiderablecompetitionamongthemtobeconsistent withtheirnewestproductupdatesseekingtofulfilcustomers'satisfactionaccordingtothefeatures andalsothecostsinPSmarket.Inthispaper,wefollowedavariantofthestructuralproceduresof ourSystematicSnapshotMapping(SSM)methodisderivedfromRaza (Raza,MacDonell,&Clear, 2013)systematicsnapshot,andHaddaraliteraturereviews (Haddara&Zach,2012).…”