Towards automation for rework reduction in software development: An approach

Rework in software development significantly impacts project costs and efficiency, often consuming a substantial portion of a project team’s time. Rework may arise due to various factors such as poor planning or incomplete requirements, with the cost of resolving these issues escalating the longer they remain undetected. Information technologies (ITs), known for their strict logic-based operations, offer promising solutions for automating rework detection and prevention at various stages of the software development cycle. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview that assists software development organizations in identifying and mitigating rework in their operations. We present a four-step, tiered approach, developed through a literature review, for mapping rework root causes, early indicators of rework, operational mitigation strategies, and potential automation solutions. The approach is assessed via a survey of IT experts and an application to a Dutch IT company. The results indicate that the proposed approach could potentially reduce rework by approximately 14.8% and aid organizations in identifying and prioritizing an effective automation solution. Consequently, this approach may help businesses shorten the development cycle and promote efficient resource utilization.