Software project management tools in global software development: a systematic mapping study

Abstract

Global software development (GSD) which is a growing trend in the software industry is characterized by a highly distributed environment. Performing software project management (SPM) in such conditions implies the need to overcome new limitations resulting from cultural, temporal and geographic separation. The aim of this research is to discover and classify the various tools mentioned in literature that provide GSD project managers with support and to identify in what way they support group interaction. A systematic mapping study has been performed by means of automatic searches in five sources. We have then synthesized the data extracted and presented the results of this study. A total of 102 tools were identified as being used in SPM activities in GSD. We have classified these tools, according to the software life cycle process on which they focus and how they support the 3C collaboration model (communication, coordination and cooperation). The majority of the tools found are standalone tools (77%). A small number of platforms (8%) also offer a set of interacting tools that cover the software development lifecycle. Results also indicate that SPM areas in GSD are not adequately supported by corresponding tools and deserve more attention from tool builders.

Considerations for Cost Estimation of Software Testing Outsourcing Projects

“…Simultaneously, there are also costs to set up the servers and online storage which are used for storing and retaining all information throughout the project [8]. Besides that, some costs may need to be invested for project management tools in order to manage the project in distributed settings [6], [34] and test tools to manage the testing activities in particular [7], [35]. The project may also need to consider the costs for other facilities such as the storage room and office space which are commonly required to store physical materials generated throughout the project [19], [36].…”

Motivators for adopting social computing in global software development: An empirical study

“…Recently, Chadli et al have classified GSD project management communication tools. They found that software project management in GSD lacks support of software tools for communication, coordination, and cooperation activities …”

“…They found that software project management in GSD lacks support of software tools for communication, coordination, and cooperation activities. 39 However, no study has been conducted to identify motivators for adopting social computing in GSD projects. This study is important for both practitioners and researchers to better understand the current state of the literature and practice in the context of emerging social computing technologies and their adoption motivators.…”

IT solutions supporting project management processes and the choice of software

“…Therefore, the process' approach is recommended as the basis of improving the project management process, important for increasing the efficiency of the functioning of contemporary organizations [5,9,13]. [18]. The functions, which should be accomplished by information systems of particular classes, are presented in Table 1.…”

“…The use of specialist software may, among others, result from local conditions, specificity of the project or the area of the project which engages an organization from the branch in which the project manager is functioning. From the necessity to integrate the dedicated system with the information systems so far used in the organisation [18].…”