Abstract
The transition to agile software development changes the decision-making power in organizations. This study aims to provide researchers and practitioners with empirical insights into how the participation in decision-making by enterprise, solution and system architects evolves due to this transition. For this purpose, a case study was conducted to examine the participation of and challenges for architects in decision-making in agile projects. A mixed-method research approach was used comprising observations, conversations, interviews, literature study and a survey. We found that 101 decision types are used prior to and in agile iterations, in which architects and stakeholders collaborate to make these decisions. The projection of these types of decisions over 25 different actors in the case study organization demonstrates that decision-making is a group effort in which solution and system architects are highly involved. Architecture and agility can indeed co-exist. Another finding of this case study is that stakeholders in agile teams perceive less architecture involvement in decision-making and expect less design decisions up front. Architects are challenged to become team players, to make design decisions only when they are necessary, and finally, to document, communicate, and share design decisions more effectively.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
We consider stakeholders as the actors other than architects who participate in decision-making
- 2.
The complete list can be found on https://bergmart.wordpress.com/2018/04/02/research-into-the-evolving-role-of-architects-in-decision-making-in-an-agile-context/
References
VersionOne: The 11th Annual State of Agile Report. http://stateofagile.versionone.com/
Stavru, S.: A critical examination of recent industrial surveys on agile method usage. J. Syst. Softw. 94, 87–97 (2014)
Hoda, R., Noble, J.: Becoming agile: a grounded theory of agile transitions in practice. In: Proceedings of the 39th International Conference on Software Engineering, IEEE Press, pp. 141–151 (2017)
Williams, L., Cockburn, A.: Guest editors’ introduction: agile software development: it’s about feedback and change. Computer 36(6), 39–43 (2003)
Erder, M., Pureur, P.: Continuous Architecture: Sustainable Architecture in an Agile and Cloud-Centric World. Morgan Kaufmann, Waltham (2015)
Leffingwell, D.: SAFe® 4.0 Reference Guide: Scaled Agile Framework® for Lean Software and Systems Engineering. Addison-Wesley Professional, Boston (2016)
Woods, E.: Aligning architecture work with agile teams. IEEE Softw. 32(5), 24–26 (2015)
Poort, E.R.: Driving agile architecting with cost and risk. IEEE Softw. 31(5), 20–23 (2014)
Erder, M., Pureur, P.: What’s the architect’s role in an agile, cloud-centric world? IEEE Softw. 33(5), 30–33 (2016)
Hanschke, S., Ernsting, J., Kuchen, H.: Integrating agile software development and enterprise architecture management. In: Proceedings of the 48th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, pp. 4099–4108 (2015)
Brown, S.: Software Architecture for Developers. Coding the Architecture. Best Sellers, Pasadena (2016)
Riempp, G., Gieffers-Ankel, S.: Application portfolio management: a decision-oriented view of enterprise architecture. Inf. Syst. E-Bus. Manag. 5(4), 359–378 (2007)
Ågerfalk, P.J., Fitzgerald, B., Slaughter, S.A.: Introduction to the special issue: flexible and distributed information systems development: state of the art and research challenges. Inf. Syst. Res. 20(3), 317–328 (2009)
Drury, M., McHugh, O.: Factors that influence the decision-making process in agile project teams using scrum practices. In: Proceedings of the 6th International Research Workshop on Information Technology Project Management, pp. 29–40 (2011)
Drury, M., Conboy, K., Power, K.: Obstacles to decision making in agile software development teams. J. Syst. Softw. 85(6), 1239–1254 (2012)
Drury-Grogan, M.L., O’Dwyer, O.: An investigation of the decision-making process in Agile teams. Int. J. Inf. Technol. Decis. Making 12(6), 1097–1120 (2013)
Kruchten, P., Capilla, R., Dueñas, J.C.: The decision view’s role in software architecture practice. IEEE Softw. 26(2), 36–42 (2009)
Poort, E.R., van Vliet, H.: RCDA: architecting as a risk-and cost management discipline. J. Syst. Softw. 85(9), 1995–2013 (2012)
Hohpe, G., Ozkaya, I., Zdun, U., Zimmermann, O.: The software architect’s role in the digital age. IEEE Softw. 33(6), 30–39 (2016)
Woods, E.: Return of the pragmatic architect. IEEE Softw. 31(3), 10–13 (2014)
Hornford, D., Paider, T., Forde, C., Josey, A., Doherty, G., Fox, C.: TOGAF Version 9.1. Van Haren Publishing, Zaltbommel (2011)
Marić, M., Tumbas, P.: The role of the software architect in agile development processes. Int. J. Strateg. Manag. Decis. Support Syst. Strateg. Manag. 21(1), 16–22 (2016)
Hauder, M., Roth, S., Schulz, C., Matthes, F.: Agile enterprise architecture management: an analysis on the application of agile principles. In: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Business Modeling and Software Design (2014)
Abrahamsson, P., Babar, M.A., Kruchten, P.: Guest editors’ introduction: agility and architecture: can they coexist? IEEE Softw. 27(2), 16–22 (2010)
Runeson, P., Host, M.: Guidelines for conducting and reporting case study research. software engineering. Empirical Softw. Eng. 14, 131–164 (2009)
Yin, R.: Case Study Research, Design and Methods, 5th edn. Sage Publications, Los Angeles (2014)
Nerur, S., Mahapatra, R., Mangalaraj, G.: Challenges of migrating to agile methodologies. Commun. ACM 48(5), 72–78 (2005)
Knoernschild, K.: 10 Essential Skills of the Modern Software Architect. Gartner Research Note G00338593 (2017)
Cummings, T.G., Worley, C.G.: Organization development and change. Cengage learning, Stamford (2014)
Thaler, R., Sunstein, C.: Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness. Yale University Press, New Haven (2008)
Van den Berg, M., van Steenbergen, M.: Building an Enterprise Architecture Practice. Springer, Dordrecht (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5606-2
Manteli, C., van Vliet, H., van den Hooff, B.: Adopting a social network perspective in global software development. In: Proceedings IEEE 7th International Conference on Global Software Engineering, pp. 124–133 (2012)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Heijenk, F., van den Berg, M., Leopold, H., van Vliet, H., Slot, R. (2018). Empirical Insights into the Evolving Role of Architects in Decision-Making in an Agile Context. In: Cuesta, C., Garlan, D., Pérez, J. (eds) Software Architecture. ECSA 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11048. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00761-4_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00761-4_17
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-00760-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-00761-4
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)