Evaluating and Improving a Scrum Project Management Tool Aimed at Distributed Teams

Abstract

The intersection of two recent IT evolutions appear to be a source of conflict: large majorities of IT resources are being moved to off-shore locations while increasingly popular Agile development methodologies greatly value tight-knitted co-located development teams. These distributed Agile teams use a wide variety of digital (and physical) tools to support them during their work processes. The goal of this study was to evaluate a tool that was built specifically to support these teams in as many aspects of their daily workflow as possible.

This case tool aims specifically at the Scrum framework for software development. The tool was analyzed using three distinct methods: by comparing the tool with the Scrum guidelines and other scientific literature, by analyzing usage data that was gathered throughout several months of usage, and by observing directly the users of the tool and prospects interested in purchasing a license of the tool over a prolonged period of time. Two new features were designed and implemented, based on the analysis of the tool. These features were deemed useful, but not sufficient to increase the perceived value of the case tool significantly.

There appears to be very little reason for the distributed teams within the setting of the case company to use a tool that is as broad in functionality as the case tool. The distributed teams work independently and are relatively small, the majority of the communication takes place through synchronous communication channels, rendering the asynchronous case tool relatively useless. Further research should focus on the requirements for tool support in a more complex environment.