Follow The Sun Software Development: New Perspectives, Conceptual Foundation, and Exploratory Field Study

Follow The Sun (FTS) is a special case of global software development. FTS means that software work is handed off every day from one development site to the next -- many time zones away. The main benefit is reduction in development duration. Surprisingly, unlike the broader trend of offshore outsourcing, FTS is practiced rarely and misunderstood often.In this article we present a foundation for understanding FTS including a definition, a description of its place in the life cycle, and choice of methodologies. We also present the outcomes of a first quasi-experiment designed to test FTS and measure the speed of software work. This quasi-experiment is part of our comprehensive research to explore FTS and its implications.