GSEPIM: A roadmap for software process assessment and improvement in the domain of global software development.
Abstract
Software development firms have begun adopting the practice of global software development (GSD). The main reason for the shift toward globalization is the various benefits received by software development firms. However, there are several issues Information and Computer Science Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia faced by GSD organizations, particularly those associated with software process 4 COMSATS University, Islamabad, Pakistan could assist in successfully executing development activities in GSD. The core Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT (ISM), Dhanbad, India objective of this research work is to develop a global software engineering process 5 Correspondence Arif Ali Khan, College of Computer Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China. Email: arif.khan@nuaa.edu.cn Funding information Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics research, Grant/Award Number: 1015‐ YAH18056 improvement (SPI). It has been noticed that a formal process improvement approach improvement model (GSEPIM) to assess and improve software process activities in a GSD environment. The proposed model will be developed based on existing models in other domains, an empirical study conducted with GSD practitioners, and an understanding of critical success factors and challenges of SPI. In this study, the first step in the development of GSEPIM is completed by identifying the challenges of SPI in GSD and presenting a solution in the form of a robust framework. KEY W ORDS global software development, GSEPIM, software process improvement, SPI challenges, systematic literature review 1 | I N T RO D U CT I O N Global software development (GSD) is the practice of developing software systems across geographical, socio‐cultural, and temporal boundaries.1 A large number of firms are globalizing development activities in order to receive the benefits of low labor cost, a skilled workforce, and round‐the‐ clock development.2 The development teams face various challenges due to cultural differences, time differences, language barriers, and different social norms and values.1 The