The identification and classification of impediments in software flow

Software impediments are anything that obstructs the smooth flow of work through a system or interferes with the system achieving its goals. However, it is unclear how impediments in software practices are identified, measured and managed across multiple practices and projects in teams that are often globally distributed, yet continues to consume vast amounts of organisational resources. Managers face growing pressure to introduce techniques to improve software productivity and reduce impediments with little guidance from best practice. As a first step to address this challenge, this article carries out a structured review on how impediments to software flow are identified and classified across the literature. The article describes the problem associated with managing software productivity and impediments. The article also presents the development of software flow impediments taxonomy and its contribution to the Information Systems literature. We adopt Design Science to guide our research efforts on the development of a taxonomy for impediments in software flow. From both a theoretical and practitioner perspective, this research provides a necessary foundation to support understanding regarding the nature and components of software impediments that are necessary for effective decision-making and management of modern software practices.