Towards the development of a cloud‐based communication technologies assessment tool

PurposeIn distributed adaptive development environments (DADE), a primary concern is that of human communication and knowledge sharing among developers. Developers' task performance will be enhanced when their task needs are aligned with the communication media or technology capabilities of the development environment. What are actual communication needs of developers; and how do we enable developers to self‐assess and select appropriate communication technology for their tasks in the DADE. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and present research based on the developers' needs for communication technologies in the context of DADE.Design/methodology/approachThe authors applied an exploratory qualitative research method to investigate, analyze and integrate survey information sourced from 40 developers, to identify their communication technology needs and, based on this information, the authors then set up a practical tool – communication technologies assessment tool (CTAT) to assist developers in the self‐assessment and selection of appropriate communication technologies for their DADE; and also to share this assessment knowledge with other developers or teams located in various DADEs.FindingsThe results of this research suggest that an effective CTAT should be an integral part of the DADE; and a DADE should have a “single source of information” in order to avoid possible communication inconsistencies and ambiguities.Originality/valueThe study results and the resultant CTAT may help developers to make informed choices about the assessment and selection of appropriate communication tools but it may also help communication tools and technology service providers to develop and improve their communication tools based on the identified developers' communication needs.