Traditionalisation of agile processes: Architectural aspects

Abstract

© 2018, ComSIS Consortium. All rights reserved. Mechanisms of agile processes, suited for cost reduction and timely reaction to dynamic market changes, have also been recognized as useful in the development of complex software solutions. Recent studies focused on expansion of agile processes point to a viable possibility for coexistence and integration of complementary elements of agile and traditional development. Within the scope of this paper, this phenomenon is referred to as traditionalisation of agile processes. Software architecture modeling is one of the most sensitive issues associated with incorporation of elements of traditional development into agile processes. The goal of this paper was to determine how suitable particular explicit architectural practices are for incorporation into agile development processes. A mixed method research was carried out for this purpose. Qualitative component of the research resulted in identification of explicit architectural practices suitable for application in agile development processes. Their significances were determined by means of the quantitative component, realized in the form of an empirical research. The research confirmed that emergent architecture in agile processes is not sufficient for the development of complex software solutions, and that agile processes need to incorporate certain explicit architecture practices. Research results revealed that the agile community has an affirmative attitude towards the idea of incorporating explicit architectural practices into agile development processes, with overall agreement on the significances of particular explicit architectural practices for the development of architecture of complex software systems.