AM-QuICk : a measurement-based framework for agile methods customisation

Software development practitioners are increasingly interested in adopting agile methods and generally recommend customisation so that the adopted method can fit the organisational reality. Many studies from the literature report agile adoption and customisation experiences but most of them are hardly generalisable and few are metric-based. They therefore cannot provide quantitative evidence of the suitability of the customised agile method, neither assess the organisation readability to adopt it, nor help in decision-making concerning the organisation transformation strategy. In this paper, we first describe the Agile Methods Quality-Integrated Customisation framework (AM-QuICk) that relies on measurements and aims to continuously assist agile methodologists throughout the agile adoption and customisation process, i.e., during the initial organisation adoption, the method design and throughout the working development process. Then, we present a case study using AM-QuICk within an organisation. With this study, we aim to analyse the current development process and its level of agility and identify the initial risk factors. The data were collected using preliminary interviews with the different team members and two questionnaires. The results reveal that though most respondents are enthusiastic towards agile principles, a progressive transformation strategy would be beneficial.