Open AccessBenefits management in software development: A systematic review of empirical studies
Author(s) -
Holgeid Knut Kjetil,
Jørgensen Magne,
Sjøberg Dag I. K.,
Krogstie John
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iet software
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.305
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1751-8814
pISSN - 1751-8806
DOI - 10.1049/sfw2.12007
Subject(s) - agile software development , process management , context (archaeology) , project management , knowledge management , structuring , software project management , software development , software development process , empirical research , process (computing) , software , computer science , business , engineering , systems engineering , software engineering , software construction , paleontology , philosophy , finance , epistemology , biology , programming language , operating system
Considerable resources are wasted on software projects delivering less than the planned benefits. Herein, the objective is to synthesize empirical evidence of the adoption and impact of benefits management (BM) in software development, and to suggest directions for future research. A systematic review of the literature is performed and identified 4836 scientific papers of which the authors found 47 to include relevant research. While most organizations identify and structure benefits at the outset of a project, fewer organizations report implementing BM as a continuous process throughout the project lifecycle. Empirical evidence gives support for positive impact on project outcome from the following BM practices: identifying and structuring benefits, planning benefits realization, BM during project execution, benefits evaluation and the practice of having people responsible for benefits realization. The authors suggest four research directions to understand (1) why BM practices sometimes not are adopted, (2) BM in relation to other management practices, (3) BM in agile software development and (4) BM in the context of organizations' value creation logics.