Agile Development as Service Ecosystems

Complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory has long been accepted as a firm theoretical basis for agile development methods. However, on the background of an emerging shift from a product, goods-dominant to a service-dominant logic (SDL) in business and society and the current comprehensive digitalization and digital transformation efforts, there is a need for further theoretical grounding of agile development. This paper presents SDL and the concept of service ecosystem as a promising complementary theoretical basis for broadening the understanding of agile development in the digital age. Based on an analysis of in-depth interviews with experienced agile practitioners and their current involvement in large agile projects, we investigate the question how agile development can be understood as a service ecosystem, and how such a perspective impacts more general on the scholarly understanding and practice of information systems development (ISD).