Adoption and Adaptation of CI/CD Practices in Very Small Software Development Entities: A Systematic Literature Review

TL;DR

This systematic literature review investigates the adoption of CI/CD practices in Very Small Entities (VSEs) within software development. Using a Kitchenham–Charters compliant methodology, the authors analyzed 13 identified studies (with 12 contributing detailed evidence) to map commonly used practices, limitations, and adaptation strategies for small teams. The findings indicate Jenkins and Docker as prevalent tooling, with micro-pipelines and microservices emerging as effective strategies, and suggest lightweight standards such as ISO 29110 to guide adoption. The work provides practical guidance for VSEs to improve software quality and delivery speed under resource constraints, highlighting the importance of tool simplification, process reduction, and standards-aligned frameworks to enable scalable DevOps in small organizations.

Abstract

This study presents a systematic literature review on the adoption of Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) practices in Very Small Entities (VSEs) in software development. The research analyzes 13 selected studies to identify common CI/CD practices, characterize the specific limitations of VSEs, and explore strategies for adapting these practices to small-scale environments. The findings reveal that VSEs face significant challenges in implementing CI/CD due to resource constraints and complex tool ecosystems. However, the adoption of accessible tools like Jenkins and Docker, coupled with micro-pipeline practices and simplified frameworks such as ISO 29110, can effectively address these challenges. The study highlights the growing trend of microservices architecture adoption and the importance of tailoring CI/CD processes to VSE-specific needs. This research contributes to the understanding of how small software entities can leverage CI/CD practices to enhance their competitiveness and software quality, despite limited resources.

Figures (7)

• Figure 1: PRISMA flow diagram of the study selection process
• Figure 2: Distribution of publication types in the reviewed articles.
• Figure 3: Distribution of study types in the reviewed articles.
• Figure 4: Most commonly used CI/CD practices in VSEs.
• Figure 5: Number of Studies by Focus