Skip to main content
Log in

Mastering Agile Practice Adoption through a Model-Driven Approach for the Combination of Development Methods

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Business & Information Systems Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Many software companies are adapting their traditional development processes to incorporate agile practices. In this context, it is necessary to count on expert knowledge to evaluate different agile practices and configure them according to project needs. However, this expert knowledge is scarce, difficult to validate, and time-consuming, since it is applied manually. As a solution, the paper presents a model-driven approach, called SIAM, which automatically generates guidelines for the adoption of agile practices through the combination of different development methods. SIAM is supported by a meta-model architecture to implement a knowledge repository that characterizes method configuration decisions, which can be reused in different development projects. SIAM has been implemented in a tool suite that facilitates the specification of models and the identification of issues during the definition of the development processes. The approach has been successfully applied to reconfigure an industrial development process with agile methods, showing that the effort required for tailoring agile practices according to organizational standards is considerably reduced.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. [Blind Review Warning. It contains information about authors] The complete report generated by the SIAM Tool can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5718107. The original report is in Spanish.

  2. [Blind Review Warning. It contains information about authors] The complete report generated by the SIAM report tool can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5718107. The original report is in Spanish.

  3. [Blind Review Warning. It contains information about authors] The complete model for the Agile Ki Process can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5267178. The original model is in Spanish.

References

  • Ågerfalk P, Fitzgerald B (2006) Old petunias in new bowls? Commun ACM 49(10):27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Zewairi M, Biltawi M, Etaiwi W, Shaout A et al (2017) Agile software development methodologies: survey of surveys. J Comput Commun 5(05):74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson C, Kühne T (2001) Processes and products in a multi-level metamodeling architecture. Int J Softw Eng Knowl Eng 11(06):761–783

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Azizyan G, Magarian MK, Kajko-Matsson M (2011) Survey of agile tool usage and needs. In: 2011 Agile conference, IEEE, pp 29–38

  • Campanelli AS, Parreiras FS (2015) Agile methods tailoring - a systematic literature review. J Syst Softw 110:85–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cervone HF (2011) Understanding agile project management methods using scrum. OCLC systems and services: international digital library perspectives. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bingley

    Google Scholar 

  • Cockburn A (2006) Agile software development: the cooperative game. Pearson Education, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Digitalai (2021) 15th Annual state of agile report. https://stateofagile.com/, Accessed 23 Dec 2021

  • Dybå T, Dingsøyr T (2008) Empirical studies of agile software development: a systematic review. Inf Softw Technol 50(9–10):833–859

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EclipseFoundation (2021) Eclipse modeling tools. https://www.eclipse.org/downloads/packages/release/2021-06/r/eclipse-modeling-toolsl, online. Accessed 23 Dec 2021

  • Elnagar S, Weistroffer H, Thomas M (2018) Agile requirement engineering maturity framework for industry 4.0. European, mediterranean, and middle eastern conference on information systems. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 405–418

    Google Scholar 

  • Fonseca CM, Almeida JPA, Guizzardi G, Carvalho VA (2021) Multi-level conceptual modeling: theory, language and application. Data Knowl Eng 134(101):894

    Google Scholar 

  • Fontana RM, Meyer V Jr, Reinehr S, Malucelli A (2015) Progressive outcomes: a framework for maturing in agile software development. J Syst Softw 102:88–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fontana RM, Albuquerque R, Luz R, Moises AC, Malucelli A, Reinehr S (2018) Maturity models for agile software development: what are they? European conference on software process improvement. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 3–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Fowler M (2001) The new methodology. Wuhan Univ J Nat Sci 6(1):12–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franch X, Ralyté J, Perini A, Abelló A, Ameller D, Gorroñogoitia J, Nadal S, Oriol M, Seyff N, Siena A et al (2018) A situational approach for the definition and tailoring of a data-driven software evolution method. In: International conference on advanced information systems engineering. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 603–618

  • Frank U (2011) Some guidelines for the conception of domain-specific modelling languages. In: Nuttgens M, Thomas O, Weber B (eds) Enterprise modelling and information systems architectures (EMISA 2011). Gesellschaft fur Informatik e.V., Bonn, pp 93–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Frank U (2019) Specification and management of methods-a case for multi-level modelling. Enterprise, business-process and information systems modeling. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 311–325

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • García-Borgoñon L, Barcelona MA, García-García JA, Alba M, Escalona MJ (2014) Software process modeling languages: a systematic literature review. Inf Softw Technol 56(2):103–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez-Perez C, Henderson-Sellers B (2007) Modelling software development methodologies: a conceptual foundation. J Syst Softw 80(11):1778–1796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez-Perez C, Henderson-Sellers B (2008) A work product pool approach to methodology specification and enactment. J Syst Softw 81(8):1288–1305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2007.10.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez-Perez C, Henderson-Sellers B, McBride T, Low GC, Larrucea X (2016) An ontology for ISO software engineering standards: 2 proof of concept and application. Comput Stand Interface 48:112–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gren L, Torkar R, Feldt R (2015) The prospects of a quantitative measurement of agility: a validation study on an agile maturity model. J Syst Softw 107:38–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heimicke J, Dühr K, Krüger M, Ng GL, Albers A (2021) A framework for generating agile methods for product development. Procedia CIRP 100:786–791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson-Sellers B (2006) Method engineering: theory and practice. In: Information systems technology and its applications, 5th international conference ISTA 2006, Gesellschaft für Informatik eV

  • Henderson-Sellers B, Ralyté J, Ågerfalk PJ, Rossi M (2014) Situational method engineering. Springer, Heidelberg

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Henriques V, Tanner M (2017) A systematic literature review of agile and maturity model research. Interdiscipl J Inf Knowl Manag 12:53–73

    Google Scholar 

  • International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (2000) ISO 9001:2000 quality management systems-requirements

  • Jossic A, Del Fabro MD, Lerat JP, Bézivin J, Jouault F (2007) Model integration with model weaving: a case study in system architecture. In: 2007 International conference on systems engineering and modeling, IEEE, pp 79–84

  • Khalil C, Khalil S (2020) Exploring knowledge management in agile software development organizations. Int Entrep Manag J 16(2):555–569

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiv S, Heng S, Kolp M, Wautelet Y (2018) Agile manifesto and practices selection for tailoring software development: a systematic literature review. International conference on product-focused software process improvement. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 12–30

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kurapati N, Manyam VSC, Petersen K (2012) Agile software development practice adoption survey. In: International conference on agile software development. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 16–30

  • Liu S (2010) An approach to applying sofl for agile process and its application in developing a test support tool. Innov Syst Softw Eng 6(1):137–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Łukasiewicz K, Miler J (2012) Improving agility and discipline of software development with the scrum and CMMI. IET Softw 6(5):416–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lycett M, Macredie RD, Patel C, Paul RJ (2003) Migrating agile methods to standardized development practice. Comput 36(6):79–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maciel CP, de Souza ÉF, de Almeia Falbo R, Felizardo KR, Vijaykumar NL (2018) Knowledge management diagnostics in software development organizations: a systematic literature review. In: Proceedings of the 17th Brazilian symposium on software quality, pp 141–150

  • Mahanti A (2006) Challenges in enterprise adoption of agile methods-a survey. J Comput Inf Technol 14(3):197–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manesh MF, Pellegrini MM, Marzi G, Dabic M (2020) Knowledge management in the fourth industrial revolution: mapping the literature and scoping future avenues. IEEE Trans Eng Manag 68(1):289–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mutafelija B, Stromberg H (2003) Systematic process improvement using ISO 9001: 2000 and CMMI. Artech House, London

    Google Scholar 

  • OMG (2008) Software and systems process engineering meta-model (SPEM) specification. Version 2

  • OMG (2011) Business process model and notation (BPMN) specification. Version 2.0

  • OMG (2017) Unified modeling language (UML) specification. Version 2(5):1

  • Paulk MC (2001) Extreme programming from a CMM perspective. IEEE Softw 18(6):19–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qumer A, Henderson-Sellers B (2008) A framework to support the evaluation, adoption and improvement of agile methods in practice. J Syst Softw 81(11):1899–1919

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rao KN, Naidu GK, Chakka P (2011) A study of the agile software development methods, applicability and implications in industry. Int J Softw Eng Appl 5(2):35–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratiu D, Nordmann A, Munk P, Carlan C, Voelter M (2021) Fasten: an extensible platform to experiment with rigorous modeling of safety-critical systems. Domain-specific languages in practice. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 131–164

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Runeson P, Host M, Rainer A, Regnell B (2012) Case study research in software engineering: guidelines and examples. Wiley, Hoboken

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ruy FB, de Almeida Falbo R, Barcellos MP, Guizzardi G (2014) An ontological analysis of the iso/iec 24744 metamodel. In: Fois, pp 330–343

  • Sandkuhl K, Seigerroth U (2019) Method engineering in information systems analysis and design: a balanced scorecard approach for method improvement. Softw Syst Model 18(3):1833–1857

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwaber K, Beedle M (2002) Agile software development with scrum, vol 1. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River

    Google Scholar 

  • SEI (2006) CMMI for development (cmmi-dev). Version 1:2

  • Singh A, Singh K, Sharma N (2012) Managing knowledge in agile software development. Int J Adv Comput Sci Appl. https://doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2011.020411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sousa K, Vanderdonckt J, Henderson-Sellers B, Gonzalez-Perez C (2012) Evaluating a graphical notation for modelling software development methodologies. J Vis Lang Comput 23(4):195–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sreenivasan S, Kothandaraman K (2019) Improving processes by aligning capability maturity model integration and the scaled agile framework®. Glob Bus Organ Excell 38(6):42–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tripp JF, Armstrong DJ (2014) Exploring the relationship between organizational adoption motives and the tailoring of agile methods. In: 47th Hawaii international conference on system sciences, IEEE, pp 4799–4806

  • Valdés G, Visconti M, Astudillo H (2011) The tutelkan reference process: a reusable process model for enabling spi in small settings. In: European conference on software process improvement, Springer, pp 179–190

  • de la Vara JL, Marín B, Ayora C, Giachetti G (2020) An empirical evaluation of the use of models to improve the understanding of safety compliance needs. Inf Softw Technol 126(106):351

    Google Scholar 

  • Wohlin C, Runeson P, Höst M, Ohlsson MC, Regnell B, Wesslén A (2012) Experimentation in software engineering. Springer, Heidelberg

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Yin A, Figueiredo S, da Silva MM (2011) Scrum maturity model. In: Proceedings of the ICSEA, pp 20–29

Download references

Acknowledgements

The work leading to this paper has received funding from the VALU3S (H2020-ECSEL ref. 876852; MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 ref. PCI2020-112001; European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR), iRel40 (H2020-ECSEL ref. 876659; MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 ref. PCI2020-112240; European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR), and Treasure (JCCM ref. SBPLY/19/180501/000270; ERDF A way of making Europe) projects, and from the Ramon y Cajal Program (MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 ref. RYC-2017-22836; ESF Investing in your future); and SIAM (Chile’s CORFO-INNOVA ref. 16COTE-60218), and from NISUM Technologies Chile.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giovanni Giachetti.

Additional information

Accepted after 1 revision by Pnina Soffer.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Giachetti, G., de la Vara, J.L. & Marín, B. Mastering Agile Practice Adoption through a Model-Driven Approach for the Combination of Development Methods. Bus Inf Syst Eng 65, 103–125 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-022-00785-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-022-00785-5

Keywords

Navigation