A study of practices for domain and architecture knowledge management in a Scandinavian software company

Abstract

Knowledge management has become increasingly popular in the software industry. Knowledge is one of the software companies main asset, and large amounts of resources are being used to manage and re-use this knowledge. Management of architectural knowledge is also important, especially when dealing with software development. This is because a team with good architectural understanding will have a good chance at efficiently creating re-usable assets. In this thesis I will describe how a Scandinavian software company deals with knowledge management. I have also analyzed the management of architectural knowledge. These subjects have been viewed from both the managers and employees point of view, and I have compared the intentions of the managers, with how the employees actually perform. The research question: "How is domain- and architecture-knowledge managed in a Scandinavian software company?" is answered by describing and analyzing the data gathered by interviews in such a company. The thesis is concluded by summaries of the discussion and the analysis that has been done. My findings in the researched areas suggest that knowledge management practices are important but that they often are underestimated. The company wherein I have conducted my research does have a QA team and a re-use culture, this culture is described, however this thesis also points out areas in which the company can improve. The case-study is based upon qualitative analysis of the results from eight interviews conducted among managers and developers in the company. In the thesis I discuss the findings and report upon issues such as company culture, routines and goals in the areas of knowledge management. My findings have been generalized, and hopefully other companies can make use of them to improve their own knowledge management processes and goals.