Measuring Best-in-Class Software Releases

In this research we aimed to identify distinguishing factors in software releases. For this purpose we analyzed the metrics of 26 software projects. These projects were release-based deliveries from two stable, experienced development teams. During the measurement period both teams transformed from a plan-driven delivery model (waterfall) to an agile approach (Scrum). Overall, we observed that these small release-based projects differ largely from non-release-based projects. Our research indicates that a combination of release-based working, a fixed and experienced development team, and a steady heartbeat contribute to performances that can be characterized as best-practice. The main contribution of this paper is that we found five success factors (all reducing development complexity) that result in best-of-class performance for small software releases.