Exploratory Study of Agile Methods in the Vietnamese Software Industry

This paper reports on exploratory research to examine the adoption of agile methods by the software industry in Vietnam. Agile methods for designing and developing software have existed for over a decade. Yet there is limited research or data about the adoption of agile practices in industry. Much of the existing literature focuses predominantly on adoption rates in America (USA). However, software design and development is increasingly a global endeavor. Outsourcing software design and development to firms in countries such as Vietnam is an important characteristic of global information technology. In response to these circumstances, an exploratory multi-site study into the adoption of agile methods was carried out in Vietnam using structured interviews. Outsourcing vendors reported additional challenges to incorporating agile methods into their software processes. The research offers additional data regarding the adoption of agile methods by industry, specifically regarding practices in Vietnam, and contributes to broadening the foundation for future research in global information systems.