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

Context: The success of agile methods in small projects has inspired companies to apply them in larger projects and organizations. Although extensive research has been done, there is no comprehensive overview of research in large-scale agile development. Objective: This study analyzes existing research on large-scale agile development, provides an overview of the state-of-the-art, and identifies areas for future research. Method: A systematic mapping study was conducted, covering 136 publications from 2007 to 2019. Results: Our findings show that (i) the extant literature currently reports more than 150 companies applying agile methods at large-scale, (ii) both industry and academia show a growing interest in the topic, (iii) the research in this field can be divided into ten research streams, (iv) the topic is still maturing and offers promising avenues for future research. Conclusion: This mapping study provides the first systematic exploration of the state-of-the-art on large-scale agile development. It offers researchers and practitioners a reflection of the past thirteen years of research on the large-scale application of agile methods. Although the topic is very promising and maturing, it is still in its infancy. Thus it gives a plethora of new opportunities for researchers to investigate companies applying agile methods at scale.