Analysis of task allocation in distributed software development through a hybrid methodology of verbal decision analysis

The management of distributed software development projects presents many challenges. One of them happens right at the start of the project and consists of the allocation of tasks between remote teams. When allocating a task to a site, the project manager takes into account several factors such as technical knowledge of staff and proximity to the client. The project manager usually takes this decision in a subjective way. The verbal decision analysis is an approach based on solving problems through multicriteria qualitative analysis, which means it considers the analysis of subjective criteria. This paper describes the application of verbal decision analysis methods ORdinal CLASSification and ZAPROS III‐i to classify and rank the most relevant factors that the project managers should take into account when allocating tasks in projects of distributed software development.

[1]  Plácido Rogério Pinheiro,et al.  Applied hybrid model in the neuropsychological diagnosis of the Alzheimer's disease: a decision making study case , 2010, Int. J. Soc. Humanist. Comput..

[2]  Plácido Rogério Pinheiro,et al.  Project management aided by verbal decision analysis approaches: a case study for the selection of the best SCRUM practices , 2015, Int. Trans. Oper. Res..

[3]  Jürgen Münch,et al.  Towards a Multi-criteria Development Distribution Model: An Analysis of Existing Task Distribution Approaches , 2008, 2008 IEEE International Conference on Global Software Engineering.

[4]  Darja Šmite,et al.  Software Development Processes in Globally Distributed Environment , 2011 .

[5]  Carlos A. Bana e Costa,et al.  INTRODUCCIÓN A MACBETH , 2011 .

[6]  Plácido Rogério Pinheiro,et al.  Verbal decision analysis applied on the optimization of Alzheimer's disease diagnosis: a case study based on neuroimaging. , 2011, Advances in experimental medicine and biology.

[7]  Plácido Rogério Pinheiro,et al.  Applying a Decision Making Model in the Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease , 2007, RSKT.

[8]  Marcelo Cataldo,et al.  Siemens Global Studio Project: Experiences Adopting an Integrated GSD Infrastructure , 2006, 2006 IEEE International Conference on Global Software Engineering (ICGSE'06).

[9]  Adriano Bessa Albuquerque,et al.  Applying verbal decision analysis in distributed software development: Rank ordering the influencing factors in task allocation , 2016, 2016 11th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (CISTI).

[10]  Tony Gorschek,et al.  Empirical evidence in global software engineering: a systematic review , 2010, Empirical Software Engineering.

[11]  Oleg I. Larichev,et al.  Method ZAPROS for Multicriteria Alternatives Ranking and the Problem of Incomparability , 2001, Informatica.

[12]  I. Tamanini,et al.  Towards an applied multicriteria model to the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: A neuroimaging study case , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Intelligent Systems.

[13]  Raymond J. Madachy.  Distributed Global Development Parametric Cost Modeling , 2007, ICSP.

[14]  Rafael Prikladnicki,et al.  MuNDDoS - Um Modelo de Referência para Desenvolvimento Distribuído de Software , 2004, SBES.

[15]  Philippe Kruchten,et al.  Task Coordination in an Agile Distributed Software Development Environment , 2006, 2006 Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering.

[16]  Isabelle Tamanini,et al.  A Novel Multicriteria Model Applied to Cashew Chestnut Industrialization Process , 2009 .

[17]  Helen M. Moshkovich,et al.  Marketing decisions in small businesses: how verbal decision analysis can help , 2010 .

[18]  Siri-on Setamanit,et al.  Planning and improving global software development process using simulation , 2006, GSD '06.

[19]  Muhammad Ali Babar,et al.  Global Software Development: A Review of the State-Of- The-Art (2007 - 2011) , 2012 .

[20]  Isabelle Tamanini,et al.  Reducing incomparability in multicriteria decision analysis: an extension of the ZAPROS method , 2011 .

[21]  Adriano Bessa Albuquerque,et al.  A Multi-criteria Model for Planning and Fine-Tuning Distributed Scrum Projects , 2011, 2011 IEEE Sixth International Conference on Global Software Engineering.

[22]  Oleg I. Larichev,et al.  An approach to ordinal classification problems , 1994 .

[23]  Adriano Bessa Albuquerque,et al.  Task Allocation Approaches in Distributed Agile Software Development: A Quasi-systematic Review , 2015, CSOC.

[24]  Omar Abou Khaled,et al.  Interweaving knowledge management, argumentation and decision making in a collaborative setting: the KAD ontology model , 2005, Int. J. Knowl. Learn..

[25]  Adriano Bessa Albuquerque,et al.  Applying Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis to Global Software Development with Scrum Project Planning , 2011, RSKT.

[26]  David L. Olson,et al.  Verbal Decision Analysis , 2005 .

[27]  Thelma Elita Colanzi,et al.  Um Ambiente de Desenvolvimento Distribuído de Software- DiSEN , 2007 .

[28]  Jürgen Münch,et al.  A Survey on the State of the Practice in Distributed Software Development: Criteria for Task Allocation , 2009, 2009 Fourth IEEE International Conference on Global Software Engineering.

[29]  Claes Wohlin,et al.  Experimentation in software engineering: an introduction , 2000 .

[30]  Adriano Bessa Albuquerque,et al.  Applying Verbal Decision Analysis to Task Allocation in Distributed Development of Software , 2016, SEKE.

[31]  Sanjay Misra,et al.  Methodological framework for the allocation of work packages in global software development , 2014, J. Softw. Evol. Process..

[32]  Plácido Rogério Pinheiro,et al.  A Multicriteria Model Applied in the Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease: A Bayesian Network , 2008, CSE.

[33]  Rafael Prikladnicki,et al.  Process models in the practice of distributed software development: A systematic review of the literature , 2010, Inf. Softw. Technol..

[34]  Alexander I. Mechitov,et al.  Verbal Decision Analysis: Foundations and Trends , 2013, Adv. Decis. Sci..

[35]  Tayana Conte,et al.  Systematic Literature Reviews in Distributed Software Development: A Tertiary Study , 2012, 2012 IEEE Seventh International Conference on Global Software Engineering.

[36]  Plácido Rogério Pinheiro,et al.  A hybrid model in the selection of prototypes for educational tools: An applicability in verbal decision analysis , 2011, 2011 IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence in Multicriteria Decision-Making (MDCM).

[37]  Siri-on Setamanit,et al.  Using simulation to evaluate global software development task allocation strategies , 2007, Softw. Process. Improv. Pract..

[38]  Sabrina Marczak,et al.  An Ontology for Task Allocation to Teams in Distributed Software Development , 2013, 2013 IEEE 8th International Conference on Global Software Engineering.

[39]  Margaret M. Wiecek,et al.  International Series in Operations Research and Management Science , 2016 .

[40]  Pankaj Jalote,et al.  Assigning tasks in a 24-h software development model , 2006, J. Syst. Softw..

[41]  S.-o. Setamanit,et al.  Improving Global Software Development Project Performance Using Simulation , 2007, PICMET '07 - 2007 Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering & Technology.

[42]  Jürgen Münch,et al.  A multi-criteria distribution model for global software development projects , 2010, Journal of the Brazilian Computer Society.

[43]  Adriano Bessa Albuquerque,et al.  Hybrid Approaches of Verbal Decision Analysis in the Selection of Project Management Approaches , 2015, ITQM.

[44]  Plácido Rogério Pinheiro,et al.  Applying a New Approach Methodology with ZAPROS , 2008 .

[45]  Oleg I. Larichev,et al.  Ranking multicriteria alternatives: The method ZAPROS III , 2001, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[46]  Isabelle Tamanini,et al.  Applying verbal decision analysis in selecting prototypes for educational tools , 2010, 2010 IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Intelligent Systems.

[47]  Plácido Rogério Pinheiro,et al.  Challenging the Incomparability Problem: An Approach Methodology Based on ZAPROS , 2008, MCO.

[48]  Sabrina Marczak,et al.  MuNDDoS: A Research Group on Global Software Development , 2006, 2006 IEEE International Conference on Global Software Engineering (ICGSE'06).

[49]  Plácido Rogério Pinheiro,et al.  A Co-evolutionary Interaction Design of Digital TV Applications Based on Verbal Decision Analysis of User Experiences , 2008, WSKS.

[50]  Dmitry Kochin,et al.  VERBAL DECISION ANALYSIS METHODS FOR DETERMINING THE EFFICIENCY OF INVESTMENTS IN CONSTRUCTION , 2004 .

[51]  Thierry Marchant,et al.  Evaluation and Decision Models: A Critical Perspective , 2000 .

[52]  Roger Atkinson,et al.  Project management: cost, time and quality, two best guesses and a phenomenon, its time to accept other success criteria , 1999 .

[53]  Vladimir M. Ozernoy,et al.  Choosing The “Best” Multiple Criterlv Decision-Making Method , 1992 .

[54]  Siri-on Setamanit,et al.  Using simulation to evaluate global software development task allocation strategies: Research Sections , 2007 .

[55]  Plácido Rogério Pinheiro,et al.  Verbal decision analysis applied on the choice of educational tools prototypes: a study case aiming at making computer engineering education broadly accessible , 2014 .

[56]  Rex V. Brown,et al.  Numerical and verbal decision analysis: comparison on practical cases , 2000 .

[57]  Oleg I. Larichev,et al.  Verbal Decision Analysis for Unstructured Problems , 1997 .

[58]  Adriano Bessa Albuquerque,et al.  Task Allocation in Distributed Software Development Aided by Verbal Decision Analysis , 2016, CSOC.

[59]  Plácido Rogério Pinheiro,et al.  A Model for Mobile Television Applications Based on Verbal Decision Analysis , 2007, SCSS.

[60]  Adriano Bessa Albuquerque,et al.  Applying Verbal Decision Analysis in Selecting Specific Practices of CMMI , 2012, RSKT.

[61]  Plácido Rogério Pinheiro,et al.  OrclassWeb: A Tool Based on the Classification Methodology ORCLASS from Verbal Decision Analysis Framework , 2014 .

[62]  Jürgen Münch,et al.  TAMRI: A Tool for Supporting Task Distribution in Global Software Development Projects , 2009, 2009 Fourth IEEE International Conference on Global Software Engineering.

[63]  M. Teixeira,et al.  Robust Switched Control Design for Nonlinear Systems Using Fuzzy Models , 2014 .