Content area
Full text
The agile methods, such as Scrum and Extreme Programming (XP), have been a topic of much discussion in the software community over the last few years. While the proponents of the agile methods have articulated convincing arguments for their methods, usually within a context of small- to medium-size projects with significant requirements volatility, opponents have expressed serious concerns about the appropriateness and effectiveness of the methods. In this research the author investigated the issues associated with Scrum adoption: the practices that characterize the Scrum method, barriers and enablers for successful adoption of Scrum, and the perceived value of Scrum.
Key words
agile methods, change management, diffusion of innovations, Scrum, software process, technology adoption
INTRODUCTION
This article describes an empirical software engineering research project into Scrum adoption. As arguably the most popular of the agile methods at this time, Scrum is a reasonable focus, yet it is one of a number of methods, whether characterized as agile or not, based on an incremental and iterative lifecycle. Focusing on Scrum allowed the author to investigate specific aspects of adopting the method, but he has also attempted to consider some of the broader issues without expanding the scope of the survey so much as to affect usability.
Potential barriers and enablers of successful technology adoption were considered to identify what issues might be of interest in the case of Scrum. Authorities from the Scrum community, for example, Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, were consulted to identify what is, and is not, a reasonable tailoring of Scrum. Before investigating the factors associated with Scrum adoption, one must be sure he or she is considering a legitimate Scrum implementation. Some interesting questions about the Scrum method itself include:
* What are the critical Scrum practices to consider?
* What variations on each of the Scrum practices occur in projects?
* What tailorings are legitimate variations that a project can use and be considered as following the Scrum method?
The survey also identifies factors that have influenced the adoption of Scrum. Many sources can be used to identify potential factors, including those affecting the diffusion of innovations, those affecting the marketing of new technologies and products, and those that influence the success of software process improvement efforts. Although there...