Bachelor's Thesis Sophie Schüle

Nowadays, companies are shaped by digitalization and the resulting need for new software. To gain a competitive advantage, companies are applying agile methods because they help to enhance productivity and deliver better software quality. Whilst agile approaches work well on their own, it is challenging to integrate them into large enterprise structures, which are characterized by rigid rules and company-specific processes. The IT compliance process for instance requires documentation, which is not necessarily included within agile methods. Even though this problem reflects an important challenge in the successful agile adaptation for many companies, it is not researched and discussed in literature enough. The literature review conducted in this thesis revealed that although a large amount of research on agile methods itself is available, very little is published regarding the documentation process, which is an integral part of IT compliance. The small amount of research found on this topic does not provide enough detail to guide agile teams through this process. Similar findings were obtained from literature regarding large-scale agile frameworks. Based on the gaps identified within the literature, this thesis analyzes how agile development and the adherence to IT compliance requirements can be aligned in large enterprises. The goal of this thesis is to develop a solution model supporting agile teams. This solution model on the one hand fulfills the essential organizational requirements and on the other hand ensures that the software project can be conducted successfully. Following an action research approach, this model is not only theoretically developed but also applied in the context of the automotive industry, showcasing its practical application. Twelve different main challenges were identified by conducting seven interviews and gathering data from different large-scale agile teams. A goal of the solution model is to resolve the twelve challenges identified. Thus, the solution model lists the most important IT compliance documents and provides guidance on when those documents should be created and adjusted during an agile software development process. By providing orientation throughout the IT compliance process, the developed solution model also helps to reduce the effort and time required for handling the IT compliance requirements. The solution model proposes an approach aligning both sides by incorporating both agile methods as well as organizational demands. Additionally, potential improvements to the solution model and other methods balancing agile development and IT compliance as well as areas for further research are identified in this thesis.