Surviving global software development

Abstract

Software development involves teamwork and a lot of communication. It seems rational to put all your engineers in one place, encourage them to share objectives, and let the project run. Why use distributed sites when it's easier to work in one location without the overhead of remote communication and planning? How is it possible to survive (and succeed with) globally dispersed projects? Working in a global context has its advantages, but it also has drawbacks. On the plus side, you gain time-zone effectiveness and reduced cost in various countries. However, working on a globally distributed project means operating costs for planning and managing people, along with language and cultural barriers. It also creates jealousy as the more expensive engineers (who are afraid of losing their jobs) are forced to train their much cheaper counterparts. In this case study, we try to summarize experiences and share best practices from projects of different types and sizes that involve several locations on different continents and in many cultures.