Software process improvement in geographically distributed software engineering: an initial evaluation

Presents initial findings in evaluating specific requirements for software process improvement in geographically distributed processes and suggests possible solution approaches. A case study was designed with the purpose of identifying key issues of successful software development in a geographically distributed environment. The results of the case study indicate that communication and co-ordination of actions is the most important issue in software process improvement in geographically distributed environments. Research is suggesting that a co-ordination tool for distributed development has to account for flexible exception handling and role allocation which can be achieved by capturing commitments for each role. The results of the case study are built upon by the development of a support tool utilising results from within multi-disciplinary work in managing commitments.