SOFTWARE ENGINEERING AND SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Critical Analysis of

The Reasons for

Failure of a Software Project

Submitted By-

Praveen Sidola

1021026

LOS

Provide a critical analysis of the reasons for failure of a software project

Project is a combination of Human & non Human resource put together into a temporary

organization to achieve a specific purpose (Kerzne, Cleland, 1985)1

Before jumping into the failure analysis it is necessary to recognize the meaning of success,

in the book “Successful Project management” (Young, 2010)2 which defines success as-

“Success is one of those words that conjure up a picture we paint in our mind”. This can vary

from stakeholder to stakeholder.

In the heading “Why project go out of control” (Barry M. Staw & Jerry Ross, 2005)3 in HBR

There are four elements which come in observation

• The Project Itself

• Managers Motivation

• Social Pressure

• Organizational Push & pull

This covers all “internal & external, human & non human, intangible & tangible aspects of

failure.

In the “Why good project fail Any way” (Ashkenas, Nadim F. Matta & Ronald N., 2005)4 in

HBR, it is clearly identified by the author that there is a paradigm shift from traditional

approach to project management team which is highly applicable to the S/W project .

So the selection of the right team for the S/W project becomes a critical factor which leads to

the performance of the project & the end result.

The valuation of project is done on the basis of three factors “Cost, Time & Performance” but

software project can be evaluated on “Cost, Schedule, Resource, Technology & Scope”,

breach of any one parameter can have a negative impact on the project performance.

1Kerzne, Cleland. (1985). A Project Management Dictionary of Terms.

2 Young, T. L. (2010). What Is Sucess. Sucessful Project Management , 5 to 12.

3 Barry M. Staw & Jerry Ross. (2005). Knowing When to Pull The Plug. harvard Business review on Managing

Project .

4 Ashkenas, Nadim F. Matta & Ronald N. (2005). Why good project fail Any way. Harvard Business Review , 1 to

18.

There are eight critical elements identified by OGC UK (OGC, 2005)5

1. Lack of clear links between the project and the organisation's key strategic priorities,

including agreed measures of success.

2. Lack of clear senior management and Ministerial ownership and leadership.

3. Lack of effective engagement with stakeholders.

4. Lack of skills and proven approach to project management and risk management.

5. Too little attention to breaking development and implementation into manageable steps.

6. Evaluation of proposals driven by initial price rather than long-term value for money

(especially securing delivery of business benefits).

7. Lack of understanding of, and contact with the supply industry at senior levels in the

organisation.

8. Lack of effective project team integration between clients, the supplier team and the supply

chain.

Lack of clear links between the project and the organisation's key strategic priorities,

including agreed measures of success

The main priority should be that the project is correlation with the operational and strategic

activities of the organization. The Critical Success Factors should be clearly defined and be

decided in agreement with the key stakeholders. The planning stage of the project is very

essential which requires clear definition of the development as well as the execution stage.

Careful monitoring of each step is necessary, which includes analysing lead times and delays.

The factors such as time, cost and quality need to be analyzed and planned as per the

organization’s goals.

Lack of clear senior management and Ministerial ownership and leadership

The interdependencies among the various projects must be crystal clear, along with their

benefits. The corporate governance structure should be properly organized in order to align

the project with the strategic objectives. Proper commitment is needed from the senior

management in terms of time and resources for the successful completion of the project. The

successful delivery of the commitments requires checking of the delivery implications. The

project should get the necessary approval from the authority in charge. The In-Charge should

also have the ability to see that the commitment towards the deliverables is met. a track

record of the delivery is required to ensure monitoring of the entire process. The engagement

from the side of the stakeholders is also necessary in the success of the project. The effective

involvement of the stakeholders in the entire process is essential in terms of their views and

understanding of the process. Sufficient care towards integrating the project objectives

towards the organizational culture is also required.

5 OGC. (2005). Common Causes of Project Failure. Office of Government Commerce .

Lack of skills and proven approach to project management and risk management

A skilled and experienced project team should be formed with clearly defined roles and

responsibilities. The tasks to be completed should be clear in the team by the authority. The

team should be provided with required resources both financial and non financial required to

manage the risk inbuilt in the project. A clear system should be in place to monitor and

control the expenditure on the project. The objectives of the project as and when realized

should be monitored. The progress report should be timely communicated to the senior

management.

Too little attention to breaking development and implementation into manageable steps

The success of the project requires giving sufficient time to plan for the project and also

dividing the entire process into various stages of implementation. The time span for each

stage should be defined and these time barriers should be monitored and adhered to. At each

stage it is necessary to have review points to monitor the progress made and rectify the

mistakes done.

Evaluation of proposals driven by initial price rather than long-term value for money

(especially securing delivery of business benefits).

The financial evaluation of the project should be based on the whole life value for money and

should include maintenance and service cost. An approach should be designed to balance the

financial factors against the quality of the work done.

Lack of understanding of, and contact with the supply industry at senior levels in the

organisation.

A clear understanding among the service providers and the other stakeholders is very

necessary to avoid any wrong assumptions. The terms relating to the delivery of the

objectives should be clear. The competitive interest in the project should also be checked.

The supply side risks should be identified by the senior management. The strategy should be

designed keeping in mind the entire industry and not on a piecemeal basis. All the parties

must be clear about their roles and responsibilities, desired outcomes and other key terms and

deadlines. This all must be decided keeping in mind the dynamics of the industry.

How to deal with the failure

In the book “Project Management for IT related Project “ (Roger Ireland, Brain West,

Norman Smith & David I. Shepherd, 2007)6 the steps involve in project development are

following

• Initiation

• Feasibility Study

• Project Set-up

• Requirement analysis & Specification

• Design

• Construction

• Acceptance Testing

• Implementation

• Maintenance

So with the help of systematic approach the probability of failure can reduce to a significant

level, there should be a proper defined “Key ownership” which can help a lot.

“Failure Mode Effect Analysis” is another effective tool for identifying & mitigating the

failure risk.

6 Roger Ireland, Brain West, Norman Smith & David I. Shepherd. (2007). System Developement Life Cycle. (B.

Hughes, Ed.) Project Management for IT related Project .

Bibliography

Ashkenas, Nadim F. Matta & Ronald N. (2005). Why good project fail Any way. Harvard Business

Review , 1 to 18.

Barry M. Staw & Jerry Ross. (2005). Knowing When to Pull The Plug. harvard Business review on

Managing Project .

Kerzne, Cleland. (1985). A Project Management Dictionary of Terms.

OGC. (2005). Common Causes of Project Failure. Office of Government Commerce .

Roger Ireland, Brain West, Norman Smith & David I. Shepherd. (2007). System Developement Life

Cycle. (B. Hughes, Ed.) Project Management for IT related Project .

Young, T. L. (2010). What Is Sucess. Sucessful Project Management , 5 to 12.