Traditionalisation of agile processes: Architectural aspects

Abstract

Mechanisms of agile processes, suited for cost reduction and timely reaction to dynamic market changes, have also been recognized as useful in the development of complex software solutions. Recent studies focused on expansion of agile processes point to a viable possibility for coexistence and integration of complementary elements of agile and traditional development. Within the scope of this paper, this phenomenon is referred to as traditionalisation of agile processes. Software architecture modeling is one of the most sensitive issues associated with incorporation of elements of traditional development into agile processes. The goal of this paper was to determine how suitable particular explicit architectural practices are for incorporation into agile development processes. A mixed method research was carried out for this purpose. Qualitative component of the research resulted in identification of explicit architectural practices suitable for application in agile development processes. Their significances were determined by means of the quantitative component, realized in the form of an empirical research. The research confirmed that emergent architecture in agile processes is not sufficient for the development of complex software solutions, and that agile processes need to incorporate certain explicit architecture practices. Research results revealed that the agile community has an affirmative attitude towards the idea of incorporating explicit architectural practices into agile development processes, with overall agreement on the significances of particular explicit architectural practices for the development of architecture of complex software systems.

Goals and challenges in hybrid software development approaches

“…To reach this goal, companies emphasize more on planning and control , 46 define constraints for the project up‐front , 43 and use more up‐front requirements analysis 75 . The next mentioned goal is maintaining of the big picture and dependencies in projects 47,58,61,67 . Two mentioned means to reach this goal are based on a higher architectural effort.…”

“…Two mentioned means to reach this goal are based on a higher architectural effort. It is described that an up‐front architecture design 47,58,67 can support this goal or the use of the WIM with an emphasis on the design phase 61 . Also more up‐front requirements analysis can support this goal 75 …”

“…The use of existing frameworks significantly decreases the complexity of an application because they can be used as prepared modules. Hence, less up‐front effort is needed to define the architecture and a more emergent architecture and agile way of working can be used 58,69,71 . However, if no prepared frameworks can be used and the application has to be built from scratch, the complexity is increased and a more up‐front architecture design is needed 71 .…”

“…An up‐front architecture design can help to coordinate different teams and different development locations 55,63,72 . The up‐front architecture design helps to keep the big picture and overview of the project and therefore to plan and manage dependencies 47,58,67 . Also, a lot of standards and regulations require the usage of an up‐front architecture design 47,48 .…”

Towards continuous value delivery with review meetings in agile methodologies: A structured review

“…Agile is a software development approach in which requirements and solutions evolve through the collaborative effort of small cross-functional teams and their customers (end users). These team are self-organized to the major extent and perform adaptive planning and development to achieve early delivery (Conboy, 2009;Matkovic et al, 2018). The focus is on rapid and flexible response to change to deliver continuous value.…”