Impediments to requirements engineering during global software development
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Impediments to requirements engineering during global software development Jo Hanisch1 and Brian Corbitt2 1 School of Computer and Information Science, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia; 2 School of Business Information Technology, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia
Correspondence: Jo Hanisch, School of Computer and Information Science, University of South Australia, City West Campus, 27–29 North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia. Tel: þ 61 8 83020252; Fax: þ 61 8 83029190; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract Developing software when team members are located in widely distributed geographic locations poses many challenges for developers, particularly during the requirements engineering (RE) phase. Using a case study of a large software development project with users located in the UK and software developers from an international software house based in New Zealand, the paper argues that while global RE using electronic communication media may be desirable in achieving economy of resources, social and cultural aspects of RE need to be considered so that lasting relationships with clients may be formed, and RE activities achieved. The main impediments to the process of RE during global software development are communication resulting from differences in shared meanings and context associated with the following: distribution of the clients and the development team; distribution of the development team; cultural differences between the clients and the development team; and cultural differences among the development team. European Journal of Information Systems (2007) 16, 793–805. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000723 Keywords: global software development; requirements engineering; global virtual teams
Introduction
Received: 20 August 2004 Revised: 17 October 2005 2nd Revision: 31 January 2006 3rd Revision: 7 November 2006 4th Revision: 30 August 2007 Accepted: 29 September 2007
Requirements engineering (RE) is an important phase in the development of any information system. In the past few years, researchers (Hanisch et al., 2001) have explored the cultural and social aspects of RE, and identified a number of challenges including: developing trust between team members and their client; accounting for communication preferences; and sensitivity to the ways various cultures work. More recently, focus on RE during global software development (GSD) has emerged (Damian & Zowghi, 2002). Issues that appear most frequently in the literature concerning GSD, include loss of communication richness (Carmel, 1999; Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 1998; Battin et al., 2001), cultural differences (Carmel, 1999; Herbsleb & Moitra, 2001), loss of identity with the team (Karolak, 1998; Carmel, 1999), and lack of management support (Karolak, 1998). When RE is undertaken as part of GSD, these issues will most probably be exacerbated by the dynamic nature of the process of RE, as well as by the social and cultural aspects associated with gathering and managing requirements. From the extant literature, it is known that communication is a
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