Engineering the Success of Software Development

S oftware is constantly evolv ing, and its effect on business operations and daily life continues to grow. It’s hard to imagine a day without using your cell phone, browsing the Internet, sending an email, watching TV, or using other IT products and services. Today, most human activities and organizational businesses depend heavily on software. Unfortunately, software failures happen across many industries— banking, retailing, marketing, the airline industry, and others. Software project failure rates are considerably higher than failure rates for other types of engineering projects.1 A recent study of 5,400 large-scale IT projects (those with initial budgets of more than US$15 million) revealed per sistent IT project development problems,2 with 17 percent of the projects going so badly that they threatened the company’s existence. The study also revealed that 45 percent of the projects were over budget, 7 percent weren’t on schedule, and 56 percent delivered less value than expected. Additionally, in November 2012, the US Air Force decided to scrap a major enterprise resource planning software project, called the Expeditionary Combat Support System, after it racked up $1 billion in expenses but failed to yield “any significant military capability.”3 These are disheartening statistics for organizations that invest a great deal of time, money, and staff energy into IT projects. Why are software failure rates so high and the impact so large? What are the main reasons for software failure?