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Handover Problem - Agile Development to Plan-Based Evolution

publish date: 2026/06/23 19:39:18.401899 UTC

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What problem can occur when a development team has used an agile approach, but the team responsible for evolution prefers a plan-based approach?

The evolution team will automatically inherit all the same skills as the original agile developers

The system will stop functioning immediately upon handover

Plan-based teams cannot legally take over software built using agile methods

The evolution team may expect detailed documentation that was rarely produced during agile development, and there may be no definitive requirements statement to modify

Correct Answer

The evolution team may expect detailed documentation that was rarely produced during agile development, and there may be no definitive requirements statement to modify

Explanation

A plan-based evolution team typically expects detailed documentation to support its work, but agile development processes rarely produce this. There may be no definitive statement of system requirements that can be modified, creating a significant handover problem.

Reference

Software Engineering, Ian Sommerville, 10th edition

Quizzes you can take where this question appears

Agile Methods in Software Evolution