Globally distributed software development has become an important topic for small and medium enterprises. However, the distinct requirements of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are still not fullyunderstood. To contribute to this growing discussion, I will present an ethnographical field study of a Swedish software company engaged in a distributed development practice with its American branch. By applying a theoretical view based on communication, coordination and control over time, space and socio/cultural difference, I show to what extent a distributed software development model affects SMEs. Whereproblems related to formal and informal communication, knowledge sharing, articulation work and programming methodologies are discussed. My findings suggest that organizational adjustments are needed for SMEs in order to take advantage of distributed software development (DSD), that specialized tools supporting coordination and articulation work is not so common in practice and that certain adjustment to agile methodologies could be made in order to better support DSD.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-203325 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Rangevik, Alexander |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Informationssystem |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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