Managing distributed software development -: A portfolio based methodology

Within the research project FORSOFT1 deficiencies in the process of assessing and selecting locations for a distributed software development project were discovered. These problems especially occur in large projects within global operating companies. In this paper a new and innovative methodology is presented to make the risks and chances transparent in the decision process for distributed development and support the assessment of locations. A modular framework is developed step by step to show how to distribute the work of the development project to a set of locations. In detail we discuss algorithms which check the matching of technical requirements in the projects with the present qualifications on the one side and the business assessment of these locations on the other side. Both directions are finally focused into one single portfolio. Our method is both easy to use and very powerful and ensures traceability and objectivity of management decisions by a semi automated decision process. In addition we illustrate a metric for measuring the influence on expenses due to the distribution. The main expenses are located in the areas of communication, coordination and workflow. This methodology was developed in close cooperation with industrial partners of FORSOFT, particularly the Siemens AG.