Systematic Task Allocation Evaluation in Distributed Software Development

Systematic task allocation to different development sites in global software development projects can open business and engineering perspectives and help to reduce risks and problems inherent in distributed development. Relying only on a single evaluation criterion such as development cost when distributing tasks to development sites has shown to be very risky and often does not lead to successful solutions in the long run. Task allocation in global software projects is challenging due to a multitude of impact factors and constraints. Systematic allocation decisions require the ability to evaluate and compare task allocation alternatives and to effectively establish customized task allocation practices in an organization. In this article, we present a customizable process for task allocation evaluation that is based on results from a systematic interview study with practitioners. In this process, the relevant criteria for evaluating task allocation alternatives are derived by applying principles from goal-oriented measurement. In addition, the customization of the process is demonstrated, related work and limitations are sketched, and an outlook on future work is given.