Shared Tools in Software Organizations: An Empirical Investigation

Abstract

In the present research, tools and toolchains were investigated through the perspective of being shared within software organizations. Particularly, we conducted a literature review which was combined with a case study, that took place in two software organizations, in Gothenburg, Sweden. The different implications of shared tools and toolchains were studied and especially, their benefits, challenges and suggested characteristics. The important role of interoperability was verified, as did the suitability of a generic software assessment method, to be applied on shared tools. The paper suggests that further work can be conducted on the subject, in order to refine the assessment method and investigate shared tools in ecosystems with external actors.