Using Scrum in Distributed Agile Development: A Multiple Case Study Maria Paasivaara, Sandra Durasiewicz and Casper Lassenius Software Business and Engineering Institute Helsinki University of Technology P.O.Box 9210 FIN-02015 TKK, Finland Firstname.lastname@tkk.fi Abstract Distributed agile development (DAD) has received increasing interest both in industry and academia as global software development (GSD) is becoming main- stream. However, agile methods and in particular agile practices have been designed for collocated software development, and are thus not directly applicable to DAD. In this paper, we present findings from a multiple case study on agile practices in two small and one mid- sized distributed Scrum project. Based on an interview study of 19 project team members, we describe how Scrum practices, such as daily scrums, backlogs, and sprints were successfully adopted to distributed devel- opment. We also describe supporting GSD practices employed, such as frequent visits and multiple commu- nication modes that the projects used. Finally, we de- pict the challenges and benefits the case projects reported, as well as lessons learned from applying Scrum in distributed settings. 1. Introduction Global software development (GSD) including out- sourcing, subcontracting and partnerships has become a common business reality [29]. GSD offers many poten- tial benefits, e.g., reduced development costs, but also creates significant challenges with respect to communi- cation, coordination, and control [1]. Several of these challenges have been identified [7][17][21], and solu- tions have been proposed, i.e., to reduce intensive col- laboration between sites [5], and to minimize interdependencies between modules being developed at different sites [9][12]. However, many of the existing solutions are based on the assumption of stable requirements. This makes it possible to develop a clear modular structure and mi- nimize communication. The current dynamic business environment requires projects to work with uncertain requirements and implementation technologies [26]. As a consequence, software development organizations have attempted to apply agile development to GSD [1], as agile methods are particularly suitable for projects facing high uncertainty [6]. Due to the physical separation of de- velopment teams in GSD, many of the key assumptions within agile development, with respect to, e.g., customer interaction, team communication, and being face-to-face [35], do not hold. To gain the benefit from agile develop- ment, the practices need to be modified when applied to distributed settings. In addition, supporting practices known from GSD might be needed. Previous case studies [10][11][24][32] have shown that agile methods such as Scrum [31] and XP [2] can be suc- cessfully customized to distributed projects. Distributed versions of agile methods like Scrum [33] and XP [18] have also been developed. Nevertheless, scientific research on pairing agile soft- ware development and GSD, also referred to as distributed agile development (DAD), is scarce. There are only a few reported experiences in applying DAD to industrial projects, e.g, [34][36] and even fewer case studies, e.g, [20]. However, in our experience, many companies are interested in taking DAD into use, or have already started to use it. In this paper, our goal is to shed additional light on DAD by presenting the results of a multiple case study on applying Scrum in distributed settings. Our data is based upon semi-structured interviews in three case organiza- tions. We describe both how agile practices have been tai- lored for adoption to distributed development, as well as supporting GSD practices employed, and lessons learned. Following this introduction, we present practices re- ported in the literature for using agile practices in distri- buted projects. Then, we describe our case study method and our findings. Finally, we discuss our findings and sug- gest future research topics. 2. Previous work on distributed agile devel- opment Distributed software projects with volatile requirements and uncertain implementation technologies need effective practices to be organized and managed successfully. We performed a literature review on practices used in distri- 2009 Fourth IEEE International Conference on Global Software Engineering 978-0-7695-3710-8/09 $25.00 © 2009 IEEE DOI 10.1109/ICGSE.2009.27 195 2009 Fourth IEEE International Conference on Global Software Engineering 978-0-7695-3710-8/09 $25.00 © 2009 IEEE DOI 10.1109/ICGSE.2009.27 195