A study about the use of software project management systems in the gaming industry : approach from a Maltese perspective

Abstract

Purpose: Businesses are being equipped with lots of tools to enhance their processes, one of which includes project management systems. This dissertation evaluates the use of this technology in the context of the Maltese gaming industry and establishes several factors that were prevalent amongst the target population. Design: Eighteen in-depth interviews with participants working in the gaming industry, including project managers and team leaders, were asked a set of questions about the role of project management systems in their company and the significance of supporting tools and technologies apparent to the project environment. This accomplished the research objectives of the study. Findings: The main findings portray that project management systems are crucial to the handling, tracking, and controlling of the project environment. As the most prevalent project management system in the market, the Jira project management system was found to be the most professional and comprehensive system which accommodates for all project instances. Despite this, the participants expressed a common tendency in sustaining their project environment capabilities with a secondary tool to be able to cater for the complex, multi-project environment. Moreover, the Scrum methodology proved to be the favourite option in the software development lifecycle portfolio; however, the nascent Hybrid methodology is gaining more popularity amongst the software development community. The latter is the by-product to the fast-paced project setting and the increasing demand for the multi-project environment. Conclusion: Hence, the climax of this dissertation suggests that primarily, project-driven companies should seek a comprehensive project management system, such as Jira, and secondarily, opt for Hybrid methodologies. Value: This dissertation contributes to the knowledge foundation of project management systems and its implication in the Maltese gaming industry. It also serves as a reliable information facility to those companies who seek advice on their project management environment and want to employ best practices directly from the industry. Lastly; researchers, practitioners and writers can gain knowledge from this study to suffice their prospective studies.