Experiences in Distributed Development: A Case Study

The findings from a case study involving a mid-sized software development organization illustrate the complex interaction of factors common to many global software development projects. The focus of the study is a single product development group that was distributed between two international divisions of the company, one in Canada and one in Germany, for a twenty-month period. When the distribution ultimately failed, it was a web of social, cultural, linguistic and political factors, rather than use or misuse of specific tools or techniques, that emerged as being most significant in the project’s ultimate demise. A summary of these factors is presented here.