Knowledge management (KM) is essential for success in Global Soft- ware Development (GSD); Distributed Software Development (DSD); or Global Software Engineering (GSE). Software organizations are managing knowledge in innovative ways to increase productivity. One of the major objectives of KM is to improve productivity through effective knowledge sharing and transfer. Therefore, to maintain effective knowledge sharing in distributed agile projects, practitioners need to adopt different types of knowledge sharing techniques and strategies. Distributed projects introduce new challenges to KM. So, practices that are used in agile teams become difficult to put into action in distributed development. Though, informal communication is the key enabler for knowledge sharing, when an agile project is distributed, informal communication and knowledge sharing are challenged by the low communication bandwidth between distributed team members, as well as by social and cultural distance. In the work presented in this thesis, we have made an overview of empirical studies of knowledge management in distributed agile projects. Based on the main theme of this study, we have categorized and reported our findings on major concepts that need empirical investigation. We have classified the main research theme in this thesis within two sub-themes: • RT1: Knowledge sharing activities in distributed agile projects. • RT2: Spatial knowledge sharing in a distributed agile project. The main contributions are: • C1: Empirical observations regarding knowledge sharing activities in distributed agile projects. • C2: Empirical observations regarding spatial knowledge sharing in a distributed agile project. • C3: Process improvement scope and guidelines for the studied project. / +46 760 49 24 84

Quality assurance activities, in software development, are the backbone of whole project. These activities are not only responsible of product quality, but also for process quality. In conventional software development QA is a separate group of QA experts. As the trends of software development moved towards agile development, QA activities also got changed. In agile development most of these activities are performed by developers. Close people collaboration, onsite customer and Test Driven Development are the approaches in agile development to achieve better product quality. In this thesis we have presented the philosophical as well as practical angle QA in agile development. Mindset of agile development revolves around product quality but there is much work to be done to impart quality of process in agile development to get it standardized and more organized. QA activities remain centric and focused to testing. Practices like SPI and following some standards are lacking in agile methodologies. In this thesis we have proposed to inject an extra layer of QA in agile projects. Purpose of injecting and extra layer, is to use the knowledge of QA experts to achieve quality in development process that will result in higher level of product quality.

Context: Today’s software development industry requires high-speed software delivery from the development team. In order to do this, organizations make transformation from their conventional software development method to agile development method while preserving customer satisfaction. Even though this approach is becoming popular development method, from security point of view, it has some disadvantage. Because, this method has several constraints imposed such as lack of a complete overview of a product, higher development pace and lack of documentation. Although security-engineering (SE) process is necessary in order to build secure software, no SE process is developed specifically for agile model. As a result, SE processes that are commonly used in waterfall model are being used in agile models. However, there is a clash or disparity between the established waterfall SE processes and the ideas and methodologies proposed by the agile manifesto. This means that, while agile models work with short development increments that adapt easily to change, the existing SE processes work in plan-driven development setting and try to reduce defects found in a program before the occurrence of threats through heavy and inflexible process. This study aims at bridging the gap in agile model and security by providing insightful understanding of the SE process that are used in the current agile industry. Objectives: The objectives of this thesis are to identify and evaluate security activities from high-profile waterfall SE-process that are used in the current agile industry. Then, to suggest the most compatible and beneficial security activities to agile model based on the study results. Methods: The study involved two approaches: systematic literature review and survey. The systematic literature review has two main aims. The first aim is to gain a comprehensive understanding of security in an agile process model; the second one is to identify high-profile SE processes that are commonly used in waterfall model. Moreover, it helped to compare the thesis result with other previously done works on the area. A survey is conducted to identify and evaluate waterfall security activities that are used in the current agile industry projects. The evaluation criteria were based on the security activity integration cost and benefit provides to agile projects. Results: The results of the systematic review are organized in a tabular form for clear understanding and easy analysis. High-profile SE processes and their activities are obtained. These results are used as an input for the survey study. From the survey study, security activities that are used in the current agile industry are identified. Furthermore, the identified security activities are evaluated in terms of benefit and cost. As a result the best security activities, that are compatible and beneficial, are investigated to agile process model. Conclusions: To develop secure software in agile model, there is a need of SE-process or practice that can address security issues in every phase of the agile project lifecycle. This can be done either by integrating the most compatible and beneficial security activities from waterfall SE processes with agile process or by creating new SE-process. In this thesis, it has been found that, from the investigated high-profile waterfall SE processes, none of the SE processes was fully compatible and beneficial to agile projects. / (046) 73 6136215

Context: In recent times, many organizations have started using agile software development methodologies instead of using traditional methodologies. The main reason for this shift is the ability of agile approaches to cope with changes in the requirements, customer satisfaction and assurance of on-time delivery of quality products [19]. Test-Driven Development (TDD) is a software development methodology that is considered to be one of the most prominent practices of eXtreme Programming (XP) (an agile methodology) [1][9][10]. Test-list in TDD is considered as a temporary repository in which test items are stored and later by using those items test cases are developed. Requirements Traceability is also a major problem in agile development mainly because of lack of formal requirements specification and frequent requirements change. Objectives: This study explores the utilization of test-list and possibility of using test-list for requirements traceability in TDD. This study describes concept of test-list, its formation and exploring its utilization in TDD. Methods for implementing requirements traceability in and identification of possibility of utilizing test-list for requirements traceability in TDD is also explored. Methods: Methods used in this study are systematic literature review, surveys and interviews. Systematic literature review was done using seven electronic databases, including Inspec, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, Springer, Science Direct and Scopus. Studies were selected on the bases of preliminary, basic and advanced developed criteria. Survey was conducted using online questionnaire from TDD practitioners. Findings from literature review and surveys were used to develop interview questionnaires. Interviews were conducted from the same practitioners that were involved in surveys. Results: Based on the findings of literature review, questionnaire and interviews, we obtained TDD practices for test-list development and requirements traceability. Analysis was performed on results of SLR and questionnaire and possibility of using test-list for requirements traceability was identified. Based on the analysis of literature review and surveys, interview questionnaire were developed to further investigate the area of interest. We have found that in literature there is no defined method to develop test-list. and survey participants also confirms it. Majority of survey participants create test-list temporarily and informal. On question of whether test-list can be use for requirements traceability around 70% of participants are agree for its use. Interview respondents also confirm the findings of survey. Conclusions: Literature has not provided any test-list development method and practitioners also have no clear guideline to develop test-list prior to Test development. Systematic literature review and practitioner’s survey and interviews confirm it. Literature is also silent for any specific requirements change management or requirements traceability method in TDD. We identified requirements traceability practices in agile and management through literature and survey. After analysis of gathered data we found TDD lacks in test-list formalization, none of the study focuses on requirements traceability in TDD. In this study our contribution is exploration of test-list creation and utilization through literature and state of the practice; after practitioners feedback we also explored that test-list can be used for requirements traceability. / hasmkh@gmail.com, ibrararshad@gmail.com

The aim of this research work is to study how eXtreme programming could be combined with ISO 9000:2000 standards to improve Nigerian software development processes. The combination of these models will enable organizations take advantage of models’ strengths and compensate for their weaknesses in enhancing continuous software process improvement and rapidly responding customer’s changing needs. This was achieved by adopting a model in balancing ISO and eXtreme programming in software projects. This allows organization to determine whether to choose a pure method (eXtreme programming or ISO) or mixed methods (eXtreme programming and ISO) that will be most successful in executing software projects. Also developed was another strategy in modifying eXtreme programming practices to reflect ISO 9001:2000 standard requirements. / The aim of this research work is to study how eXtreme programming could be combined with ISO 9000:2000 standards to improve Nigerian software development processes / C/o Patrick O. Nordkapsgatan 8,Kista, 164 36, Stockholm Tel:+46-704214035, e- mail address: edisonerhas@yahoo.com

Software testing is the most important process to verify the quality of a product. Software testing in Agile development is very complex and controversial issue in literature and industry. Different people have different views about software testing in Agile methods, because most of Agile methods do not focus much on software testing activities. Agile strongly focus on the close customer collaboration, short iterations and frequent deliveries. But when it comes to software testing, then it is challenging, as Agile do not include many destructive testing practices, which are normally required for a quality product. This thesis covers the area of software testing process in Agile development. Agile development processes could be more beneficial and refined by adding testing practices and for this purpose; we proposed a concept of an independent integrated software testing team. This research also identifies the practices of Agile development in industry and the critical issues in industry while practicing Agile development. The issues of automated and manual testing, good practices in automation, and how to manage independent testing teams in Agile development are also high lightened. This report highlights every aspect of software testing process in Agile development. This research is based on literature reviews and an industrial survey.

Att arbeta agilt är idag vanligt förekommande inom IT-branschen där företag ständigt måste anpassa sig till förändringar. Scrum är idag den främst tillämpade agila metoden och har stark koppling till utvecklingsprojekt och kravhantering. Trots detta finns det få empiriska studier om Scrum och det finns även en brist på jämförande studier som ställer kravhantering i praktiken mot det som finns formulerat i litteraturen. Vi har därför i denna studie undersökt hur arbetet med kravhantering i utvecklingsprojekt bedrivs i praktiken hos en organisation som arbetar efter Scrum och jämfört om arbetet utförs i enlighet med det som står i litteraturen. Vi har även tittat på vilka problem och svårigheter som kan uppkomma i kravhanteringsarbetet samt vilka aspekter som utövarna i praktiken betraktar som viktigast. För att ta reda på hur arbetet faktiskt genomförs intervjuade vi fyra personer på företaget Arris, alla med olika befattningar och kopplingar till kravhantering.   Slutsatsen av undersökningen visar att kravhanteringsarbetet i praktiken i de flesta aspekter överensstämmer med det som formuleras i litteraturen. Det finns dock områden som ej går helt i linje, dokumentation av krav är ett sådant. / Working agile is nowadays common within the IT industry where companies constantly have to cope and adapt to change. Scrum is today the most applied agile method and is strongly linked to development projects and requirements engineering. Despite this, there are few empirical studies on Scrum and it also lacks comparative studies where requirements engineering in practice are compared to what is formulated in the literature. As a result of this, we have in this survey, examined how requirements engineering in an organization that is using Scrum is conducted in practice in accordance to what is formulated in the literature. We also identified problems and difficulties that may arise in the work with requirements engineering and also which aspects practitioners considers as most important. In order to be able to realize this study we interviewed four practitioners from Arris, all with different positions and connections to requirements engineering. The conclusion of this study shows that the requirements engineering in practice in most aspects is consistent with what the literature advocates. However, there are areas that not fully correspond to what is written in the literature, documentation of requirements is one such area.

Examensarbetet har sin ansats i utvecklingsmetoder närmare bestämt den lättrörliga utvecklingsmetoden Extreme Programming (XP). Beståndsdelen i en utvecklingsmetod är människorna, deras erfarenheter och kunnande samt deras förmåga att skapa idéer och lösa problem såväl enskilt som tillsammans. Utan nödvändig kompetens inom utvecklingsteamen ökar risken att utvecklingsprojekten misslyckas eller försenas. Syftet med detta arbete är att utifrån intervjuer med systemutvecklare undersöka vilka nödvändiga kompetenser som är nödvändiga för att XP skall kunna användas på ett effektivt sätt, även att uppmärksamma vilka problem som kan uppstå då den sociala kompetensen saknas. Metoden som har använts för att undersöka vilka faktorer som är nödvändiga i avseende till kompetenser är baserad på en kvalitativ ansats. Undersökningen har gjorts på två medelstora företag som använder XP vid utveckling av programvara. I stora drag har resultatet från denna undersökning utifrån intervjuer visat att social kompetens är viktig hos medarbetarna för att uppnå ett lyckat resultat. I ett projekt där samarbete med kunden sker kontinuerligt är det nödvändigt att systemutvecklarna har en god kommunikation vilken grundar sig på den sociala kompetensen. Slutsatser som kan dras från denna undersökning utifrån det empiriska materialet visar att social kompetens utgör en central roll inom XP. Systemutvecklare som använder XP behöver kunna kommunicera på ett klart och tydligt sätt, samt kunna samarbeta med övriga gruppmedlemmar för att projekten skall drivas framåt. I resultaten berörs även ytterligare kompetenser som kan vara till nytta vid användning av XP. Vidare redogörs för faktorer som kan vidtas för att uppnå kraven.

Agile methods have become a popular project managing method within software development (Cervone, 2011, ss. 19-20; Maximini, 2015, s. 3). Though there is an absence of studies on agile methods and motivation in employees (Dybå & Dingsøyr, 2008). Furthermore, the agile manifesto (2001) explains the importance of motivated employees for the development of software.   The purpose of this study is to examine how employees in two well-known Swedish companies perceive the use and the effects of agile methods in their organization, and their internal communication. The study followed a qualitative approach to measure data collected from semi-structured interviews and includes interviews with eight developers and two agile coaches in two organizations. The theoretical framework is based on Media Richness Theory and Self-determination Theory. The selected theories help the examination why a communication channel is chosen for disseminating information and motivational factors through asking questions about their sense of autonomy, relatedness and competence.   The results show that face-to-face conversation is the efficient communication channel to disseminate information, but the most utilized channel was chat and mail to the respondents. Additionally, our respondents experience motivational factors such as the feeling of competence and relatedness as being moderately fulfilled at their workplace, though feelings of autonomy on an individual level were not fulfilled. This indicates that a complete introduction to the work method, a variation between independent and group work and face-to-face communication should be encouraged to achieve internal communication.

Context. Distributed software development teams frequently faced several issues from communication, co-ordination and control aspects. Teams are facing these issues because between teams there is socio-cultural distance, geographical distance and temporal diatance. So, the purpose of the study is to find out the acts when distributed Scrum teams face the problems. Objectives. There are several numbers of common GSD challenges or issues exist; such as, face to face meetings difficult, increase co-ordination costs and difficult to convey vision & strategy so on. The purpose of this study was to search, additional frequently occurred Global Software Development (GSD) issues or challenges. As well as, to find out the mitigation strategies, those practices by the Scrum practitioners (distributed software environment) in the industry. Methods. In this study, systematic literature review and scientific interview with distributed Scrum practitioners were conducted for empirical validation. One of the purpose for interview was to get challenges & mitigations from distributed Scrum practitioners point of view; as well as, verifying the literature review’s outcomes. Basically, we have extended the Hossain, Babar et al.’s [1] literature review and followed the similar procedures. Research papers were selected from the following sources, such as, IEEEXplore, ACM Digital library, Google Scholar, Compendex EI, Wiley InterSciene, Elsevier Science Direct, AIS eLibrary, SpringerLink. In addition, interviews were conducted from the persons who have at least six months working experience in a distributed Scrum team. Moreover, to analyze the interviews thematic analysis method has been followed. Results. Three additional common GSD challenges and four new mitigation strategies are found. Among the additional issues, one of them is communication issues (i.e. lack of trust/teamness or interpersonal relationship) and rest of them are co-ordination issues (i.e. lack domain knowledge/ lack of visibility and skill difference and technical issues). However, additional mitigation strategies are synchronizing works, preparation meeting, training and work status monitoring. Finally, frequently faced GSD issues are mapped with mitigation strategies by basing on the results obtained from SLR and interviews. Conclusions. Finally, we have got three additional GSD issues (such as, lack of trust/ teamness/ interpersonal relationship, lack of visibility/ lack of knowledge and difference in skills & technical issues) with the existing twelve common communication, co-ordination and control issues. The mitigation techniques (such as, synchronized works hour, ICT mediated synchronous communication and visit so on) for the common GSD issues has been found out and validated by Scrum practitioners. Among the existing issues, several of them use new mitigation strategies, those were gotten from practitioners. Moreover, for the two existing control issues (i.e. management of project artifacts may be subject to delays; managers must adapt to local regulations) lessening or mitigation techniques have been addressed by interviewees. This study was carried out to get the common GSD issues & mitigations from literature and distributed Scrum practitioners.