Investigation into Agile as a Model for Cloud Service Delivery
2019 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Whilst Agile has been studied as a subject in Information Systems as a methodology in both Software Development and Project Management, research into its use with Cloud Service Delivery has been lacking. As Cloud technology becomes more pervasive in everyday life the opportunity to leverage powerful Cloud backed digital services is pushing organisations to explore new ways of delivering these at breakneck speed often with unclear and changing specifications in order to satisfy their customers. Traditional top-down waterfall approaches to requirements gathering, design, implementation and operation of these Clouds and Services does not allow for rapid change, adaption and the speed required to manage the complexities involved however Agile methodology is being used to address this. This thesis studies how Agile methodology is used in Cloud Service Delivery by the Professional Services Organisation of a leading Global Virtualisation Software Company. Enterprise Customers use the Software produced by the Global Software Company to build Clouds and Services and engage the Organisation to help them build the required infrastructure, automation and in some cases the services themselves. The research uses a qualitative case study approach encompassing observation and a questionnaire, to investigate the differences and parallels with previous studies in other Information Systems studies by focusing on the human aspect of Agile projects handled by the Professional Service Organisation. Complex Adaptive Systems Theory and its emerging principles is used to interpret the results of observations and a questionnaire. The findings show what is important to the success of Cloud Service Delivery projects that allow them to be delivered in a rapid fashion in an ever-changing environment. It shows how certain patterns or themes emerge. The study attempts to open a new discourse for Agile Methodology focusing on Cloud Service Delivery as a previously understudied area in Information Systems Development Research, the thesis contributes to the current discourse by showing that further deeper study into a new rapidly developing area is required.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2019. , p. 73
Keywords [en]
Agile Methodology, Cloud, Service Delivery, Complex Adaptive Theory, Emergence, Scrum, Kanban
National Category
Information Systems
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-89528OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-89528DiVA, id: diva2:1360077
Subject / course
Informatics
Educational program
Master Programme in Information Systems, 120 credits
Supervisors
Examiners
2019-10-152019-10-112019-10-15Bibliographically approved