Abstract
Background – Startup companies are becoming important suppliers of innovative and software intensive products. The failure rate among startups is high due to lack of resources, immaturity, multiple influences and dynamic technologies. However, software product engineering is the core activity in startups, therefore inadequacies in applied engineering practices might be a significant contributing factor for high failure rates. Aim – This study identifies and categorizes software engineering knowledge areas utilized in startups to map out the state-of-art, identifying gaps for further research. Method – We perform a systematic literature mapping study, applying snowball sampling to identify relevant primary studies. Results – We have identified 54 practices from 14 studies. Although 11 of 15 main knowledge areas from SWEBOK are covered, a large part of categories is not. Conclusions – Existing research does not provide reliable support for software engineering in any phase of a startup life cycle. Transfer of results to other startups is difficult due to low rigor in current studies.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Ambler, S.: Lessons in agility from Internet-based development. IEEE Software 19(2), 66–73 (2002)
Blank, S.: Embrace failure to start up success. Nature 477(7363), 133 (2011)
Blank, S.: The four steps to the epiphany, 2nd edn. K&S Ranch (2013)
Bosch, J., Olsson, H.H., Björk, J., Ljungblad, J.: The early stage software startup development model: A framework for operationalizing lean principles in software startups. In: Fitzgerald, B., Conboy, K., Power, K., Valerdi, R., Morgan, L., Stol, K.-J. (eds.) LESS 2013. LNBIP, vol. 167, pp. 1–15. Springer, Heidelberg (2013)
Brereton, P., et al.: Lessons from applying the systematic literature review process within the software engineering domain. J. Syst. Softw. 80(4), 571–583 (2007)
Budgen, D., Turner, M., Brereton, P., Kitchenham, B.: Using Mapping Studies in Software Engineering. In: Proceedings of PPIG 2008, pp. 195–204 (2008)
Carmel, E.: Rapid development in software package startups. In: Proc. 27th Hawaii Int’l. Conf. System Sciences, pp. 498–507 (1994)
Chorev, S., Anderson, A.R.: Success in Israeli high-tech start-ups; Critical factors and process. Technovation 26(2), 162–174 (2006)
Coleman, G., O’Connor, R.V.: An investigation into software development process formation in software start-ups. J. Enterp. Inf. Manag. 21(6), 633–648 (2008)
Consumano, M., Yoffie, D.: Competing on Internet Time: Lessons from Netscape and Its Battle with Microsoft In This Issue. Free Press (2000).
Crowne, M.: Why software product startups fail and what to do about it. In: Engineering Management Conference, pp. 338–343. IEEE, Cambridge (2002)
Dande, A., Eloranta, V.: Software Startup Patterns-An Empirical Study (2014)
Deakins, E., Dillon, S.: A helical model for managing innovative product and service initiatives in volatile commercial environments. Int. J. Proj. Manag. 23(1), 65–74 (2005)
Deias, R., et al.: Introducing XP in a start-up. In: International Conference on eXtreme Programming and Agile Processes in Software Engineering, pp. 62–65 (2002)
Fayad, M.E., Laitinen, M.: Process Assessment Considered Wasteful. Commun. ACM 40(11), 125–128 (1997)
Group, S.E.: Guidelines for performing Systematic Literature Reviews in Software Engineering. Engineering (2007)
Ivarsson, M., Gorschek, T.: A method for evaluating rigor and industrial relevance of technology evaluations. Empir. Softw. Eng. 16(3), 365–395 (2010)
James, L., Mater, B.S.: Solving the Software Quality Management Problem in Internet Startups. In: Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, pp. 503–512 (2000)
Kajko-Mattsson, M., Nikitina, N.: From Knowing Nothing to Knowing a Little: Experiences Gained from Process Improvement in a Start-Up Company. In: 2008 Int. Conf. Comput. Sci. Softw. Eng., pp. 617–621 (October 2008)
Kautz, K.: Improvement In Very Small Enterprisese: Does It Pay Off? Softw. Process Improv. Pr. 226, 1988, 209–226 (2000)
May, B.: Applying Lean Startup: An Experience Report. In: Agile Conference (2012)
Mendes, E., Counsell, S.: Investigating Early Web Size Measures for Web Cost Estimation. J. Syst. Softw. 77( 2), 157–172 (2005)
Paternoster, N., et al.: Software development in startup companies: A systematic mapping study. Inf. Softw. Technol. 56(10), 1200–1218 (2014)
Petersen, K., et al.: Systematic Mapping Studies in Software Engineering. In: Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, pp. 68–77 (2008)
Pino, F.J., et al.: Software process improvement in small and medium software enterprises: a systematic review. Softw. Qual. J. 16(2), 237–261 (2007)
Ries, E.: The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses, 1st edn. Crown Business (2011)
Shakir, S., Nørbjerg, J.: IT Project Management in Very Small Software Companies: A Case of Pakistan. In: Americas Conference on Information Systems, pp. 1–8 (2013)
Sicilia, M., et al.: The Evaluation of ontological representations of the SWEBOK as a revision tool, 1–4 (1990)
da Silva, A.F., Kon, F., Torteli, C.: Xp south of the equator: An experience implementing xp in brazil. In: Baumeister, H., Marchesi, M., Holcombe, M. (eds.) XP 2005. LNCS, vol. 3556, pp. 10–18. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)
Jansen, S., Brinkkemper, S.: Ivo Hunink, C.D.: Pragmatic and Opportunistic Reuse in Innovative Start-up Companies. IEEE Softw. 42–49 (2008)
Society, I.C.: Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge Version 3.0 (SWEBOK Guide V3.0)
Sulayman, M., et al.: Towards a theoretical framework of SPI success factors for small and medium web companies. Inf. Softw. Technol. 56(7), 807–820 (2014)
Sutton, S.M., et al.: The Role of Process in a Software Start-up. IEEE Softw. 17(4), 33–39 (2000)
Tanabian, M.M., et al.: Building High-Performance team through effective job design for an early stage software startup. In: Engineering Management Conference, pp. 789–792 (2005)
Tingling, P., Saeed, A.: Extreme programming in action: a longitudinal case study. In: Jacko, J.A. (ed.) Human-Computer Interaction 2007. Part I. LNCS, vol. 4550, pp. 242–251. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)
Wall, D.: Using open source for a profitable startup. Computer (Long. Beach. Calif), 158–160 (2001)
Watson, K., et al.: Small business start-ups: implications. Int. J. Entrep. Behav. Res. 4(3), 217–238 (2006)
Wohlin, C.: Guidelines for Snowballing in Systematic Literature Studies and a Replication in Software Engineering. In: Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering (2014)
Yau, A., Murphy, C.: Is a Rigorous Agile Methodology the Best Development Strategy for Small Scale Tech Startups? (2013)
Zettel, J., et al.: LIPE: A Lightweight Process for E-business Startup Companies Based on Extreme Programming, pp. 255–270 (2001)
Getting Real The smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful web application, http://37signals.com/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Klotins, E., Unterkalmsteiner, M., Gorschek, T. (2015). Software Engineering Knowledge Areas in Startup Companies: A Mapping Study. In: Fernandes, J., Machado, R., Wnuk, K. (eds) Software Business. ICSOB 2015. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 210. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19593-3_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19593-3_22
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-19592-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-19593-3
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)