Challenges In Transitioning From Waterfall To Scrum

• Main Author: Iyju, Rini
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@CalPoly 2015
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1479; https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2510&context=theses

In today's fast-paced, fiercely competitive world; speed and flexibility are essential. Companies are increasingly realizing that the sequential approach to developing new product simply will not get the job done. The goal of this thesis is to investigate critical issues and challenges that occur during the transition from a traditional software development methodology such as Waterfall to Scrum. During the last decade, Scrum has gained a vast success in software development due to its lightweight character and efficient way of handling the challenges of increased market speed, change and product complexity. This thesis is based on a sequential exploratory mixed methods research model, which uses both qualitative as well as quantitative research methods to investigate the problem. The rationale for this is that neither method is sufficient by itself to capture the trends and details of situations. When used in combination, both quantitative and qualitative methods complement each other and provide a more complete picture of the research problem. There are six main results from this thesis. First the main challenges are identified. Second, they are ranked based on their frequency of occurrence and thirdly, based on their importance. Fourth, the correlation between the frequency of occurrence of challenge and their importance is measured. This thesis also examines the varied perspectives of Scrum Coaches and Scrum Practitioners regarding the frequency of challenges as the fifth result and regarding the importance of challenges as the sixth result.