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Dr. Sandra Walsh introduces ‘The OpenXP Solution’
New book discusses how novel solution bridges gap between business, technology domains

DUNDALK, Ireland – Author and business technology innovator Dr. Sandra Walsh observed that there is a communication gap between business and technology domains. To address this concern, she develops “The OpenXP Solution” (published by Xlibris UK). This smart, practical approach paves the way for gradual change in organisation culture by underpinning collaborative stakeholder interaction with effective communication on agile software projects.

“The OpenXP Solution” offers a unique and lightweight evolutionary approach to the purposeful elimination of waste in the communication process during requirements elicitation on projects. This is achieved by linking software development with effective stakeholder interaction. This is the first framework to take advantage of the benefits of engaging potentially large groups of multiple diverse stakeholders by embracing existing business concerns as opportunities for change, and positively nurturing the early identification and resolution of potential conflict. This contribution is among the first to attempt to detect, nurture and channel unpredictability during elicitation surrounding the set of human related factors that affect the communication of requirements between stakeholders on software projects.

OpenXP is relevant to software practitioners including business analysts who need to define a complex business problem that must involve the expertise of a diverse set of stakeholders where the potential for conflict exists and quick decisions are required. However, OpenXP is not for every development effort – instead it is designed to tackle complex business problems, serious technical issues and pertinent unknowns on projects. It is specifically recommended when these conditions emerge 1) at the start of projects in ill-defined business situations; 2) during the testing phase (including identifying and resolving persistent defects); and 3) when it is necessary to determine the full impact of integrating a change to be made to an existing system.

Explaining in detail the integrative scope of this innovative solution, the book seeks to reconcile both ends of the business-technology rift and provide a better avenue to support consistently changing priorities, increased team productivity and improved project visibility for a smoother business flow between diverse cross-functional roles.

Sandra Walsh was awarded a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Computing in Internet Technologies in 2008. Since then, she has pursued a career in research and has had a number of academic research papers accepted for publication at peer-reviewed conferences and journals around the world. As an internationally published author in the field of software engineering, Sandra developed a novel evolutionary framework to coordinate effective interactions between interdisciplinary stakeholders on complex agile software projects. This work was recently accepted as a valuable contribution to the software engineering body of knowledge, and she is credited with a PhD in Computer Science, awarded from Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) in Ireland.

Sandra has dedicated a number of years to examining the root cause of requirements engineering (RE) challenges reported across academic research and industrial practice. More specifically, she has focused on examining the set of human-related factors that affect the communication of requirements in RE, primarily with a view to recreating the conditions under which requirements are successfully communicated on software projects in practice. This valuable experience motivated her to develop a unique perspective on the concept of generating lean value stream interactions between multiple diverse stakeholder groups involved on software projects. Sandra’s synthesis of expertise also comprises a wealth of in-depth knowledge in agile software development methods, with a strong focus on effectively extending the customer role and specialist proficiency in adapting the values, principles, and practices of these methods.

Primarily, her most recent work has concentrated on developing OpenXP, an evolutionary approach to agile RE, which presents an entirely unique combination of three existing methods 1) Open Space Technology (OST), 2) Scenario-Based Development, and 3) eXtreme Programming (XP). The OpenXP solution is the first of its kind to offer direct hands-on support to agile practitioners in formulating a communication-centric approach, to achieving effective and efficient interactions, for collaborative requirements engineering in agile software development.