Using Scrum Together with UML Models: A Collaborative University-Industry R&D Software Project

Abstract

Conducting research and development (R&D) software projects, in an environment where both industry and university collaborate, is challenging due to many factors. In fact, industrial companies and universities have generally different interests and objectives whenever they collaborate. For this reason, it is not easy to manage and negotiate the industrial companies' interests, namely schedules and their expectations. Conducting such projects in an agile framework is expected to decrease these risks, since partners have the opportunity to frequently interact with the development team in short iterations and are constantly aware of the characteristics of the system under development. However, in this type of collaborative R&D projects, it is often advantageous to include some waterfall practices, like upfront requirements modeling using UML models, which are not commonly used in agile processes like Scrum, in order to better prepare the implementation phase of the project. This paper presents some lessons learned that result from experience of the authors in adopting some Scrum practices in a R&D project, like short iterations, backlogs, and product increments, and simultaneously using UML models, namely use cases and components.

Adapting the scrum framework for agile project management in science: case study of a distributed research initiative

“…In parallel to evidence of the contribution of AMP to a more flexible and responsive organizational culture outside of the software development world (Küpper, 2016), there is increasingly more academic literature on the adoption of agile methods for different types of collaborative research processes and scientific projects. For example, studies highlight the successful utilisation of APM in academia-industry collaboration (Sandberg and Crnkovic, 2017; Santos et al., 2016; Ota, 2010); the application of agile methods to faculty work (Pope-Ruark, 2017) and bridging the gap between research and practice in the management of case studies (Barroca et al., 2015). There is evidence of success in enabling collaboration in working with and mentoring PhD students (Hicks and Foster, 2010); developing prototypes in “Action Design” research projects (Keijzer-Broers and de Reuver, 2016); coordinating a large-scale European research project with distributed teams (Marchesi et al., 2007) and for the production of multidisciplinary research reports (Senabre Hidalgo, 2018).…”

Project management practices in major university-industry R&D collaboration programs – a case study

“…However, the adoption of agile approaches brings its own challenges, such as the project manager relinquishing some authority (Nerur et al 2005). Several agile frameworks have been studied and developed such as the Dynamic Systems Development Model (Agile Business Consortium 2014), eXtreme Programming (Fernandes and Almeida 2010; Flora and Chande 2014), Scrum (Santos et al 2016; SCRUMstudy 2016), Crystal (Cockburn 2004) and Kanban (Ahmad et al 2013;Flora and Chande 2014). These studies helped to identify the key PM practices that are increasingly dominant in the software development industry, but are also increasingly used in other contexts, such as in R&D projects.…”

Using Agile Project Management in the Design and Implementation of Activity-Based Costing Systems

“…Scrum is a methodology widely used in software development [48,[51][52][53]. However, its fundamentals, tools, and techniques can be used in other types of projects [54].…”