What Makes Software Projects Succeed?

What Makes Software Projects Succeed?

What Makes Software Projects Succeed?

According to the Standish Group research report, over 50% of all software projects will fail. Of all software projects, 31.1% will be canceled before they even get started and only 16.2% will completed on time and on budget. These are dismal numbers but if we are truly honest with each other, we know they are true. We all probably know some of the root causes of software projects failing. Some of these reasons are:

Lack of User Inputs, Incomplete Requirements, Changing Requirements, Lack of Executive Support, Technology Incompetence, Lack of Resources, Unrealistic Expectations, Unclear Objectives, Unrealistic Time Frames and New Technology.

If you look close at all these reasons, you will notice a common theme. You can see common words being used like "lack", "incomplete", and "unrealistic". These are words that describe situations where people like project managers and software developers are not engaged in truly helping their clients. The reason why one surveys and collects user inputs or requirements, assigns enough resources, and has proper time frames set is so in the end, they can deliver a high quality software application...a product to be proud of. If the software application that is to be built is looked upon only as a commodity...a line on a balance sheet and nothing more, then where is the emotional investment in making it right?

It has been my experience that what makes software projects succeed, is love, excitement and passion. When everyone involved in the project is on the same page, excited and is bought in to the idea of knocking the socks of the end user... then and only then will the project have a better chance of going right. Software developers have to feel they are valued...that their ideas are valued. End users need to feel that their wants and needs are understood and project managers have to feel that all their hard work will be appreciated. I think when this happens, the people involved in the project will follow the standard software development life cycle processes with passion, because they know in the end they are producing something of value...something they could be proud of. They will be producing a software application and/ or system that will help others.

All this being said, developers have to understand the business of the user and their problem domain. You have to know what the user needs of your applications and/or systems. You have to understand their business. How else can you "feel their pain". You can break up bigger tasks into smaller ones or you can use all the domain specific languages you want to capture user requirements, but if you don't understand the users pain or understand their business problem, the likelihood of the project being successful diminishes.

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