New challenges for the collaboration in Web-based information systems development

Web technology is going through major changes, both with respect to types of systems based on Web technology, organization of the development work, required approaches and competencies, etc. We must rethink development methodologies, the ways of organizing the development work, and the tools to support the development. This requires a deeper and coherent understanding of the nature of Web development both in respect of the involved processes and the tools. We present findings from a field study undertaken in a Web development department. We found that Web applications development of today is characterized by the involvement of many expertise groups having problems finding a common ground for their collaboration. We find that these expertise groups have two main challenges: lack of a common approach or methodology and insufficient interoperability, between the techniques and tools used in the development process. We suggest new methodologies, techniques and tools should be redesigned and adjusted to support the collaboration between the different groups involved in Web application development.