Supporting Software Development in Virtual Enterprises

This paper presents recent developments in a distributed semantic hypertext framework called DHT that supports software development projects within virtual enterprises. We show how hypertext functionality embodied in DHT solves the practical problems of project coordination. These include collaborative data sharing in a virtual enterprise of distributed teams, integrating existing tools and environments, and enacting software processes to coordinate development activities for teams across wide-area networks.In particular, we describe how software process enactment can be achieved within a virtual enterprise without centralized mechanisms. This is when the process description is represented as a usernavigable hypertext graph the nodes of which associate process steps, staff roles and associated tools with designated software products. Overall, these capabilities provide support for coordinating software development projects across a virtual enterprise of teams connected via the Internet.