Virtual software team project management (original) (raw)

Success Factors for the Management of Global Virtual Teams for Software Development

International Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals, 2011

The management of globally distributed software teams is complex because of problems of linguistic differences, geographical dispersion, different time zones, and the cultural diversity of the team members; what is particularly common in software development environments. These problems are amplified when a single software development team is composed of highly skilled individuals working in dispersed geographical locations, and they have to work as a team across distances. This paper describes several of the most important factors that contribute to the correct and effective management of global virtual teams for software development and underlying solutions are addressed to reduce cultural and time barriers. These factors are obtained from an industrial case study, which lasted 36 months, corresponding to a huge software development project that involved several global virtual teams. These success factors consider different perspectives as technology, human factors and process.

Virtual Software Teams: Overcoming the Obstacles

Given the current popularity of Global Software Development (GSD) increasing numbers of organisations are taking the opportunity offered to set up virtual software teams. In the research presented here the virtual software team environment within two Irish based companies was studied. One company had partnered with an organisation located in the US to develop and maintain soft- ware. The other company was the Irish division of a US multi-national company who had distributed their software testing to the Far East. and discuss how they were addressed. In this paper, we describe particular cases of concern Following the research in both companies, and based on the results from both of these cases, the researchers developed a framework to support the management of virtual software teams. Given the importance of GSD to the software industry this experience should be of value to anyone interested in outsourcing and virtual team software development and maintenance.

Project Management within Virtual Software Teams

IEEE International Conference on Global Software Engineering, 2006

When implementing software development in a global environment, a popular strategy is the establishment of virtual teams. The objective of this paper is to examine the effective project management of this type of team. In the virtual team environment problems arise due to the collaborative nature of software development and the impact distance introduces. Distance specifically impacts coordination, visibility, communication

Factors Affecting Global Virtual Teams’ Performance in Software Projects

2016

Today the trend is to perform software development work via distributed geographical area among team, individual or even as an organization. However, due to the global market and international presence of many companies, there is a need to implement a global virtual teams. The global virtual team members are gradually engaged in globalized business environments across space, time and organizational boundaries via information and communication technologies. A global virtual team relies on communication, collaboration, and information exchange are the most important criteria in global virtual teams’ operations. The purpose of this paper is to answer two research questions. The first research question is to identify the factors affecting global virtual teams’ performance. A systematic literature review was conducted to answer the first research question. The second research question is on what the rank of the factor affecting the global virtual teams’ performance according to their lev...

Managing Globally Distributed Software Development Projects using Virtual Teams: A Middle East Case Study

This paper examines how globally distributed software development projects are managed in the Middle East. We outline the factors that were perceived as important by project managers. We also consider how culture and religion affects the operation of virtual teams in a globally distributed software development environment in the Middle East. To understand how these factors influence the success of globally distributed software development projects in the Middle East, we conducted a qualitative research study involving three different companies operating in Dubai, Oman, Abu Dhabi, India and Pakistan. The study indicates that cultural awareness, the use of technology, use of a common language and applying project management techniques positively influence the operation of virtual teams

Managing geographically dispersed teams: from temporary to permanent global virtual teams

Built and Natural Environment …, 2012

The rise and spread of information communication technologies (ICT) has enabled increasing use of geographically dispersed work teams (Global Virtual Teams). Originally, Global Virtual Teams were mainly organised into temporary projects. Little research has focused on the emergent challenge for organisations to move towards establishing permanent Global Virtual Teams in order to leverage knowledge sharing and cooperation across distance. To close this gap, this paper will set the scene for a research project investigating the changed preconditions for organisations. As daily face-to-face communication is not the basis for developing manager-subordinate, as well as member-member relations, the development of teams to work together efficiently and effectively in a virtual setting has often been neglected. Part of this discussion are the changed parameters in relation to increasing global competition; a new generation of self-lead digital natives, who are already practising virtual relationships and a new approach to work, and currently joining the global workforce; and improved communication technologies.

Uncovering the Reality within Virtual Software Teams

To support software development globalisation, organisations are increasingly implementing virtual team strategies. However, these teams have to work within the confines of the factors which distance introduces, thus not always allowing effective coordination, visibility, communication and cooperation to take place. The successful implementation and management of such teams must be done differently to those at single-site locations. To establish what factors significantly affect the implementation of virtual teams, the authors carried out qualitative research in two organisations in Ireland. Results from this research demonstrate that many factors are reality for those involved in global software development. In this paper we present five of these factors and discuss the impact these had on the virtual teams. These five are: use of communication tools, project management, process engineering, technical ability and motivational issues. knowledge transfer and motivational issues. If These are not explicitly addressed by management it can lead to serious problems

Practical Experience of Virtual Team Software Development

Given the current popularity of Global Software Development (GSD) increasing numbers of organisations are taking the opportunity offered to set up virtual software teams. In the research presented here the virtual software team environment within two Irish based companies was studied. One company had partnered with an organisation located in the US to develop and maintain software. The other company was the Irish division of a US multi-national company who had distributed their software testing to the Far East. and discuss how they were addressed. In this paper, we describe particular cases of concern Following the research in both companies, and based on the results from both of these cases, the researchers developed a framework to support the management of virtual software teams. Given the importance of GSD to the software industry this experience should be of value to anyone interested in outsourcing and virtual team software development and maintenance.