Kundbvärde i agila projekt

Abstract: Agile methods have the recent years gained ground within the software industry by being lean and flexible, and one of the companies having adopted agile methods is the fast‐growing Swedish developer of mobile applications Tactel AB. The company was interested in enhanced knowledge within the agile area, specifically about Scrum, and with one of its development teams – Mobical – in focus, Tactel wanted to analyze what is described by the research question: How and where can Scrum be lifted from an internal management tool to get the customers more involved, and where is customer value created? For answering the research question, four propositions were identified investigating ways for a customer to be involved in the agile process, underlying factors that gain customer value, how Mobical’s competitors work, and how Mobical can benefit from the research. The research was approached qualitatively by a multiple case study where flexible semi‐structured interviews were the main sources of information. As a foundation for the data collection and analysis, theoretical models for customer classification and customer value analysis were identified and evolved from the literature. These models are referred to as the Scrum Customer‐classification System (SCS) and the Critical Success Factors (CSFs). Two cases besides Mobical were selected to investigate; an outsourced Sony Ericsson project and a project at TAT, The Astonishing Tribe, AB. By the case studies the SCS and CSF models were further evolved, the studied projects benchmarked, and the propositions investigated. The benchmark showed differences and similarities between the projects, and identified several areas for Mobical to improve; among others co‐locating of all project‐members, definition of done, and the team‐members motivation. The research points out that customer value is created by factors identified by the CSFs, and that the classification levels in the SCS can describe how to get customers more involved. Though, the customer must experience that the total benefits with a deeper engagement are greater than the total sacrifices – only then is customer value created.