Open Access

ARTICLE

Investigating Crucial Factors of Agile Software Development through Composite Approach

AbdulHafeez Muhammad¹, Ansar Siddique^2,*, Quadri Noorulhasan Naveed³, Usman Saleem¹, Mohd Abul Hasan⁴, Basit Shahzad⁵

1 Department of Computer Science, Bahria Uuniversity Lahore Campus, Punjab, 54600, Pakistan
2 Department of Software Engineering, University of Gujrat, Punjab, 50700, Pakistan
3 College of Computer Science, King Khalid University, Abha, 62529, Saudi Arabia
4 Department of Civil Engineering, King Khalid University, Abha, 62529, Saudi Arabia
5 Department of Software Engineering, National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan

* Corresponding Author: Ansar Siddique. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Soft Computing Methods for Innovative Software Practices)

Intelligent Automation & Soft Computing 2021, 27(1), 15-34. https://doi.org/10.32604/iasc.2021.014427

Received 20 September 2020; Accepted 12 October 2020; Issue published 07 January 2021

Abstract

The major emphasis of Software Engineering (SE) discipline is to produce successful software systems. The success of software projects is estimated through quadruple measures including budget, cost, scope, and quality. To meet this aim of SE, several software development processes are presented in the literature. Such processes are categorized into two different methodologies which are known as traditional and agile software development methodologies. The issue with traditional software development methodologies is that they had not shown any remarkable progress towards the fundamental goal of SE. Consequently, software development organizations have started to adopt agile methodologies in the pursuit of successful software development. However, agile adoption does not come without challenges that vary from one context to another. Therefore, it is necessary to figure out the key factors of agile software development for successful project outcomes. In the wake of such need, this study investigated the Critical Success Factors (CSFs), categorized and prioritized them through a mixed-method approach. Such an approach was based on the detailed literature review and Delphi method accompanied with Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) technique. Twelve CSFs were revealed and categorized into people, organization and technical dimensions. Among these factors, ‘team capability’ was found the most significant factor where ‘culture’ was revealed as the least significant factor. The findings of the study would be promising for agile software development that is carried on in the local software industry.

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Keywords

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