Revealing the State of the Art of Large-Scale Agile Development Research: A Systematic Mapping Study

Abstract: Context: Success with agile methods in the small scale has led to an increasing adoption also in large development undertakings and organizations. Recent years have also seen an increasing amount of primary research on the topic, as well as a number of systematic literature reviews. However, there is no systematic overview of the whole research field. Objective: This work identifies, classifies, and evaluates the state of the art of research in large-scale agile development. Method: We conducted a systematic mapping study and rigorously selected 136 studies. We designed a classification framework and extracted key information from the studies. We synthesized the obtained data and created an overview of the state of the art. Results: This work contributes with (i) a description of large-scale agile endeavors reported in the industry, (ii) a systematic map of existing research in the field, (iii) an overview of influential studies, (iv) an overview of the central research themes, and (v) a research agenda for future research. Conclusion: This study portrays the state of the art in large-scale agile development and offers researchers and practitioners a reflection of the past thirteen years of research and practice on the large-scale application of agile methods.