Actual vs. perceived effect of software engineering practices in the Italian industry

A commonly cited limitation of software engineering research consists in its detachment from the industrial practice. Several studies have analyzed a number of practices and identified their benefits and drawbacks but little is known about their dissemination in the industry. For a set of 18 practices commonly studied in the literature, this paper investigated diffusion, effect on the success, and perceived usefulness in 62 actual industrial projects from 28 Italian IT companies. In particular we proposed a classification of these perceptions and we were able to classify 14 practices. We found statistical evidence that 7 factors have an actual effect (positive for 6 of them, negative for one). Moreover 77% (10 out of 13) of the known good practices (e.g., importance of good project schedule or complete requirements’ list) are perceived consistently by the industry. For a few other practices (having a champion's support, using metrics, reducing quality) we noticed a lack of awareness in the industry. Starting from these observations we propose guidelines for industrial practice and suggestions for academic research.