The factors influencing the success of Agile software development projects : a portuguese perspective

Abstract

Nowadays reality can be characterized by the fast pace through which business necessities change. Newer necessities regarding software often means higher complexity in terms of needed functionalities and subsequently higher project risk, forcing organizations to step away from traditional software development techniques, and move towards agility. Agile has emerged as a set of methodologies that increases projects probability of success by focusing on individuals and interactions, functional software, customer collaboration, and fast response to change. However, success rates on agile software development projects are still falling short of expectations. Based on existing literature we propose a model consisting of five people-factors that influence the success of agile software development projects in which success is measured in terms cost, time, and customer satisfaction. The study was conducted in Portugal and total of 216 agile practitioners were surveyed. The results obtained using SEM-PLS suggest that “team capability” and “customer involvement” are factors contributing to agile software development project success. By knowing which factors are truly important to achieve success, managers and teams will be able to establish priorities, thereby improving the project outcome. This matter is addressed in the discussion section along with research limitations and future work.