@misc{17990,
  author = {Magne J{\o}rgensen},
  title = {Successful cost-benefit management of agile software development projects},
  abstract = {The primary criterion for success in software development is that it enables the realization of sustainable benefits (value, profit, gains, etc.) for users, clients, and other stakeholders and that these benefits are sufficiently large to make the investment (i.e., the cost) worthwhile. Despite this pretty obvious criterion, most software development processes, including those belonging to the family of agile processes, often seem to have their main focus elsewhere. In this presentation, I will report on results from our empirical studies over the last ten years to give a better understanding of how to successfully integrate cost-benefit management practices and roles in agile software development contexts. The studies give results on planning the realization of benefits, implementing continuous benefits management, designing the role of a {\textquotedblleft}benefits responsible{\textquotedblright}, and evaluating the realization of benefits. In general, the studies find a positive effect of benefits management practices on benefits realization but also a lack of maturity in implementing such processes. We find, among others, that the benefits management practices have a better effect in agile compared to non-agile software development contexts, and that the practices were easier to implement and did not conflict with agile principles and values. A surprising finding was that, in general, the front-end (requirements analysis and planning) phase of agile software development typically did not differ from that of non-agile software development. For example, the time spent, the level of detail of specifications, cost-benefit analyses, and plans, and the planning methods were typically the same for agile and non-agile software development. I discuss why agility has not yet impacted the front-end phase of software development and to what extent it would benefit from more agility, such as the use of {\textquotedblright}just in time{\textquotedblright} specifications and a stronger emphasis on flexibility in the definition of scope and plans.},
  year = {2024},
  journal = {The 15th International Conference on Software Business (ICSOB 2024), Utrecht, the Netherlands},
}