Abstract

Software development organizations are adopting values, principles, and frameworks to implement agile ways of working today, even in larger organizations. When several teams need to cooperate, and development needs to scale, many organizations are implementing the Scaled Agile Framework. At the same time, both researchers and practitioners have raised critical voices towards this framework, and the impacts are not much studied. This study aims to fill that gap by providing perceptions of benefits and drawbacks experienced in three different organizations: one in the automotive industry, one government agency, and one bank in Sweden. The analysis of survey answers from 154 respondents showed that the most commonly perceived benefits from implementing the Scaled Agile Framework were increased visibility, overview, and transparency. Authors of the framework claim massive productivity gains in every single team but, regarding perceived drawbacks, a lack of productivity, focus, and efficiency were most commonly reported.

Recommended Citation

Gustavsson, T. & Bergkvist, L. (2019). Perceived Impacts of Using the Scaled Agile Framework for Large-Scale Agile Software Development. In A. Siarheyeva, C. Barry, M. Lang, H. Linger, & C. Schneider (Eds.), Information Systems Development: Information Systems Beyond 2020 (ISD2019 Proceedings). Toulon, France: ISEN Yncréa Méditerranée.

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Perceived Impacts of Using the Scaled Agile Framework for Large-Scale Agile Software Development

Software development organizations are adopting values, principles, and frameworks to implement agile ways of working today, even in larger organizations. When several teams need to cooperate, and development needs to scale, many organizations are implementing the Scaled Agile Framework. At the same time, both researchers and practitioners have raised critical voices towards this framework, and the impacts are not much studied. This study aims to fill that gap by providing perceptions of benefits and drawbacks experienced in three different organizations: one in the automotive industry, one government agency, and one bank in Sweden. The analysis of survey answers from 154 respondents showed that the most commonly perceived benefits from implementing the Scaled Agile Framework were increased visibility, overview, and transparency. Authors of the framework claim massive productivity gains in every single team but, regarding perceived drawbacks, a lack of productivity, focus, and efficiency were most commonly reported.