Case studies of industry-academia research collaborations for software development with Agile

Successful industry-academia research collaborations (IARCs) in the software development area can be challenging. The literature identifies best practices in IARCs along with process frameworks with the aim of ensuring successful outcomes for both industry and academia, namely: funding opportunities for universities, training and employment possibilities for students, new knowledge leading to innovative products for industry, and on-time delivery of software benefiting the economy, the institution, and the community. This paper shows ways in which core principles of the project management approach, Agile, and the Scrum framework have been applied and have led to the success of three IARCs. In addition to IARCs’ common challenges, these case studies represented additional challenges as they were short-term software development projects accomplished by small geographically distributed teams. A report of the demographic, collaboration setting, and challenges, along with the lessons learned from the application of Agile and Scrum in these case studies will contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of IARCs. Using a qualitative and quantitative approach, five Agile/Scrum aspects for each project are assessed: product ownership, release, sprint, team, and technical health. Findings indicate several success factors directly linked to the application of the Agile principles and the Scrum framework. Specifically, early and frequent customer-centric software delivery, constant communications, responsiveness to change, and highly motivated individuals were key in terms of realizing the positive outcomes in spite of the obstacles inherent to IARCs. Cautions to this approach when applied in IARCs are reported along with solutions.