Improving Contextual Skills in Global Software Engineering: A Corporate Training Experience

Abstract

Global software engineering is a reality in today's software development industry. With the fast development of this area, it is also necessary to better prepare software development professionals to develop software when located in distributed settings. In this paper, we present an experience of corporate training initiatives related to distributed development in a multinational company with global operations. We have interviewed and collected qualitative data from 39 employees aiming at the identification of challenges and the improvement of their distributed development skills. The results show an interesting profile indicating the existence of a distance between technical and non-technical knowledge, mainly in the beginning of a globally distributed operation. Based on these profiles, we present recommendations to reduce the distance and to manage risks associated with the lack of skill in this scenario.