T. K. Kravchenko, Dr. Sci. (Econ.), Professor, Department of Business Informatics, e-mail: tkravchenko@hse.ru,
S. N. Bruskin, Cand. Sci. (Econ.), Associate Professor, Department of Business Informatics, e-mail: sbruskin@hse.ru, D. V. Isaev, Cand. Sci. (Econ.), Associate Professor, Department of Financial Management, e-mail: disaev@hse.ru,
E. V. Kuznetsova, Cand. Sci. (Econ.), Associate Professor, Department of Business Informatics, e-mail: ev.kuznetsova@hse.ru, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, 101000, Russian Federation

Prioritization of IT Product Backlog Items Using Decision Support Systems

The article focuses on the application of decision support systems for prioritization of product backlog items in IT projects implemented using the Scrum methodology. The study identified the features of prioritization of different types of the product backlog items — user stories, epics and themes. It is justified that high-level product backlog items (epics and themes) require comprehensive prioritization, due to the following reasons. First, high-level product backlog items are particularly important because they determine the planning and implementation of detailed user stories within individual sprints. Second, any high-level item can be considered in terms of different criteria. Third, the implementation of epics and themes takes longer time compared to the implementation of user stories, so it is necessary to take into account possible future states of the project's environment. Fourth, prioritizing epics and themes requires increased objectivity and validity, so group decision making with participation of several experts seems reasonable. Taking into consideration the aforementioned features the conclusion regarding limitations of existing methods of prioritization is made. It is argued that prioritization of high-level product backlog items (epics and themes) may be performed using multi-criteria decision making methods with availability of several problem situations (possible future states of the environment), as well as involvement of several experts. The idea of applying decision support methods and systems is illustrated on the appropriate example. It is also argued that increased consumption of time and resources related with setting and solving decision support tasks may be considered as acceptable for high-level product backlog items.
Keywords: Scrum, IT project, product backlog item, epic, theme, prioritization, expert-based approach, criterion, risk, uncertainty, decision support system

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