But reality (especially the proven statistics) tells a very different story. It's not uncommon for projects to fail. Even if the budget and schedule are met, one must ask "did the project deliver the results and quality we expected?"
Statistics
According to the Standish Group in 1995, only 16% of software projects were successful, 53% challenged (that is cost overruns, budget overruns or content deficiencies) and 31% cancelled.
Furthermore, they say the average software project runs 222% late, 189% over budget and delivers only 61% of the specified functions. Evidence suggests little has changed since then.
Let’s put some dollar signs on that…
- Research from Oxford University cited in Computer Weekly magazine suggests that “One in six IT projects run out of control with average cost overruns of 200%”.
- Another study from the European Services Strategy Unit looked at 105 public sector IT projects and found that together they cost £9 billion more than expected (at today’s exchange rate, that’s over $14,000,000,000).
Failure has become the IT industry norm. So what can we do about it?
A good starting point is creating a system document explaining the requirements. There's an old saying, "never assume anything", and this is especially true for software projects.
Unclear objectives & timeframes, Changing requirements & specifications, Lack of ‘user’ input & involvement, non required functionality, poor processes, lost development time, missed project deadlines, poor quality– the list of causes can go on and on.
So, clearly defining system & functional requirements is wise and an essential investment for any software project.
Sources :
- projectsmart.co.uk
- timeequalsmoney.net.au
