State of the Practice onSoftware Release Planning

2Outline

• Software Release Planning (SRP)• Current state of the practice• Selection of tools• Observations

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3What is SRP?

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4Current state of SRP

• State of the art Update of Svahnberg’s SLR (2010)

• cf. Ameller et al. at PROFES 2016 Only one tool found beyond proof-of-concept state

• State of the practice This paper Analysis of project management tools available in

the IT market

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What kind of AI-assisted feature release planning and /or task scheduling capabilities are supported by projectmanagement tools currently available in the market?

5 Selection of toolsSt

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Wikipedia PMT

119 tools

Vendor websiteanalysis

11 tools

Include tools not in alpha version withlast release newer than 18 months

Collect classification data (schedulingfacilities, web tool vs. desktop, …

RQ1-based indi-vidual analysis

7 tools

Exclusion criteria: low maturity; poorfunctionality; not automated projectplanning methods and algorithms

6 Selected toolsSt

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Tool Task schedulingWorkfront Soft constraint-based task schedulingGenius Project Simulation capabilitiesOracle Primavera Critical path schedulingLibrePlan Queue-based (automated) resource planningSciforma Critical chain schedulingJIRA Automated scheduling of tasks – plug-insMicrosoft Project Automated scheduling of tasks

7 Example of detailSt

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URL http://www.geniusproject.com/Current version V8.0Last release date September 2015Key features andscheduling support

Calendar, Cross Project Dependencies, Gantt Charts,Project Hierarchy, Add Recurring Tasks, AssignStakeholders, Set Priorities, Task History, To-Do List

Agile support Burndown Charts, Card View, Cycle Time Analytics,Kanban, Manage Product Backlog, Scrum Methodology,Version Control

Web-based support Cloud delivery and on-premisePrice From 19.95 USD monthSimulationcapabilities

- Run resource allocation and planning scenarios in aninteractive Gantt chart- Generate unlimited scenarios to compare to youroriginal project- Graphically compare differences in metrics such astime to completion, staffing, costs, etc.

8 Selected toolsSt

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Tool Task schedulingWorkfront Soft constraint-based task schedulingGenius Project Simulation capabilitiesOracle Primavera Critical path schedulingLibrePlan Queue-based (automated) resource planningSciforma Critical chain schedulingJIRA Automated scheduling of tasksMicrosoft Project Automated scheduling of tasks

• Common characteristics Support for project managers at the start of a

project or spring Do not go back to the planning chain Do not adapt dynamically as the project/spring goes

9 Threats to validitySt

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• Not all tools found• Not all features probed• Tools other than project management tools

could incorporate SRP features

10 ObservationsSt

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• Difficulties of academic approaches to go intothe market Competition with well-established tools How to demonstrate the benefits of AI-assisted

features Real conditions are much more difficult than a

research setting• Strategy: develop AI plugins for popular tools JIRA as a good example!

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