An optimal coordination method for software development

The problem of coordinating activities while developing large software systems is challenging. In this paper, we formulate a quantitative coordination model to analyze the optimal management policy for incremental software development. Then we develop an effective solution procedure with polynomial complexity to solve the model. Numerical studies show: (1) too large a team size is counter-productive resulting intensive communication overhead; (2) higher level of product structural complexity and communication efficiency favor more development cycles; (3) higher changeover costs and tighter schedule compression discourage more development cycles; (4) communication efficiency has no great impact on the optimal coordination policy but induces great overhead; (5) the optimal number of modules released reveals a U-shape characteristic. Case study shows that communication costs, module integration costs and system integration costs can be greatly reduced through the use of an optimal coordination policy.