Winning with Software: An Executive Strategy

2Why Projects Fail

Although there are many ways to define project failure, the Standish Group reports that over 50% of software projects are either canceled or over 100% late [1]. These projects could almost certainly be classed as failures, at least in business terms. Managers are often surprised to learn that software projects rarely fail for technical reasons; invariably, the problem is poor management. Technical problems often exist, but they are rarely decisive. The ways to mismanage software projects are many, but proper management requires only two things: a dedication to quality and motivated engineers who do disciplined software work. In software, managers generally concentrate on getting the work done and pay little or no attention ...