Why Software Projects Go Bad
Reliable data from software companies about overall industry performance is not that easy to quantify, but recent surveys have concluded as many as 50 percent of companies surveyed reported being dissatisfied with overall software performance in terms of it having met original objectives. Of those same companies surveyed, as many as 70 percent reported at least one project failure for the latest twelve-month period.
The most consistent (common) complaints from companies about software projects going bad are:
- poor integration
- disappointing performance (including unmet design objectives)
- overly optimistic development- and completion-time estimates
- budget inflation
Here is a stripped-down and highly generalized summary of what you need to know about why software projects fail. The reasons are listed below in no specific order of importance, and by no means is the list meant to be exhaustive or all-inclusive. It’s a start.