Fuzzy AHP based prioritization and taxonomy of software process improvement success factors in global software development

Abstract The phenomena of global software development (GSD) face many challenges that are specifically associated with software process improvement (SPI). The main objective of this work is to develop the prioritization-based taxonomy of the SPI success factors using the fuzzy AHP approach. Total of twenty-one factors were extracted from the available literature that were further evaluated by conducting questionnaire survey with the SPI experts. In the second stage, multi-criterion decision making (MCDM) fuzzy AHP tool was used to prioritize and develop the taxonomy of the identified factors and their categories. The implications of fuzzy AHP approach are novel in this research area as it has been successfully used previously in different other domains e.g. electrical and electronics, supplier selection, agile software development and personnel selection. The contribution of this study is not only limited to the development of the factor’s taxonomy, but also their proper prioritization by introducing the novel fuzzy AHP approach in the research field of GSD and SPI, which assist to remove the vagueness and uncertainty in the opinion of the process improvement experts.

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