LIPE:A Lightweight Process for E-Business Startup Companies Based on Extreme Programming

Abstract

Lightweight development techniques (e.g., Extreme Programming) promise important benefits for software development with small teams in the face of unstable and vague requirements. Software development organizations are confronted with the problem that a bunch of techniques exist without knowing which ones are suited for their specific situation and how to integrate them into a comprehensive process. Especially for startup companies, guidance is crucial because they usually do not have time and money for creating their development process on a trial-and-error basis. This paper proposes a lightweight software process for a specific application domain (i.e., database-and userinterface-oriented off-the-shelf e-business applications). The process originates from analyzing experience from past e-business projects, interviews conducted with industry, and literature study. Expected benefits of this process are cost effectiveness, sufficiently high quality of the end product, and accelerated functionality-to-market. The process is described according to the dimensions activities, artifacts, roles and tools. In addition, this paper includes a description of a lightweight measurement program that is tailored to the characteristics of the described process. It can be used for controlling the project progress during project execution as well as for evaluating the effects of performing the process in a specific organization or company.

Software development in startup companies: A systematic mapping study

“…These practices were then adopted only in later stages, when the complexity of the project required them. Zettel et al [82] report that the practice of tracking traditional code metrics has been labeled as "obsolete and irrelevant" and that many companies use their ad-hoc methods of assessing processes and metrics. The software team studied by Zettel et al [82] had a bugfix process centered around their issue-tracking tool and relied on a release system.…”

“…Zettel et al [82] report that the practice of tracking traditional code metrics has been labeled as "obsolete and irrelevant" and that many companies use their ad-hoc methods of assessing processes and metrics. The software team studied by Zettel et al [82] had a bugfix process centered around their issue-tracking tool and relied on a release system. Several authors reported on advantages of constant code refactoring: ensuring readability and understandability of the code [82], improving modularity [80] and providing discipline to developers [93].…”

“…RE practices are often reduced to some key basic activities [82,8]. Su-Chan et al [81] report on efforts in defining the value-proposition that the company aims to achieve at the very first stage of the project.…”

“…However, the market-driven nature of the requirements demands for alternatives. For example, startups can use scenarios in order to be able to identify requirements in the form of user stories [67] and estimate the effort for each story [82]. In scenarios and in similar product-usage simulations, an imaginary customer can be represented by an internal member of the company [80].…”

Is Moderator Opportunity a Trigger Factor for the Contribution of Small Startup Business to the Mechanism Of Self-Organized Entrepreneur Behavior?

“…Additionally, startups initiators do research to develop their understanding of the ideas, technologies or business models and their commercial potential (Park, 2005). In another instance, business prototypes for startups are generally found through a "bottom-up" or "topdown" approach (Zettel, Maurer, Münch, & Wong, 2001). Companies can cease to be a startup firm as it passes through various milestones, such as becoming publicly traded on the stock market in an Initial Public Offering (IPO), or ceasing to exist as an autonomous entity via a merger or acquisition (Blank, 2012).…”