Stopping the Software Train Wreck

By Renee Oricchio

There's no mystery why software projects fail. Just ask the players involved.  Typical complaints from the software development team usually go something like this: "No one asked me how long it would take. They told me." In the meantime, management's usual mantra is "every IT project takes too long." In addition to battles over time, there are just as often battles over shifting budgets and shifting priorities mid-project.

"It's so classic, it's a clich‚. And that leaves IT managers caught between the two camps: management and the software developers," says Peter Sterpe, a senior analyst from Forrester Research, who believes most rollouts that fail are doomed from the beginning.

Here are some of the typical missteps that can hobble a project from day one:

• Locking in the budget too soon "It usually begins in the fall with a plan sketched out on a cocktail napkin for next year's project that includes cost," says Sterpe. From there, that cost estimate tends to get set in stone before the project even launches. Preliminary budgets are just that -- preliminary -- and are often obsolete before the first piece of code is written.
• Skipping research and going straight to development  Once a project gets the green light, both management and developers have a tendency to rush through the planning phase already feeling the pressure to make their deadlines. There's also a perception that the project isn't under way until the team actually begins to write code. "All of that preventative, upfront work doesn't feel productive. But that's the kind of stuff that will save you time and money in the end and maybe make the difference between success or failure," says Jennifer Greene, author of the book Applied Software Management.
• Not winning over the end users Certainly the user community should be involved in the planning stage to help identify key functionalities and features that are needed. Additionally, those same users need to be convinced of the value of the project. If employees believe the new application will streamline them right out of a job, it's unlikely that they will be much help in its success.
• Unclear objectives Nothing slows down or kills a project faster than changing the software requirements midstream. "You have to know what you're going to build before you build it," says Greene.
• Distrust between management and developers Bosses and programmers tend to submit their budgets from a defensive posture with programmers inflating numbers in anticipation of cuts, while bosses trim back figures assuming they've been padded. That circular dance often breeds resentment and dysfunction.

Embracing change
While industry watchers like Sterpe believe projects are usually derailed in the planning stage, the lack of agility to adapt to changing needs during the rollout is the other area that gives CIOs the most headaches.

"One point of view says requirements need to be decided up front," says Sterpe. "For that mindset, change is a negative. Another mindset is an acceptance that change is going to happen, so you need to be change-friendly." 

Allowing for change means planning for change, such as leaving room to re-evaluate the scope of the project, adjusting timelines and budgets, or accommodating any additional testing needed.

"If you don't control your changes, your project is going to sink," says Greene.

Hedging bets for success
Software projects, like all IT projects, historically have an abysmal failure rate. According to the Standish Group's latest Chaos Report, a closely watched industry survey of success and failure rates, failure rates in IT across the board are about 65%. In other words, roughly two out of three projects fail.

The tide, however, may finally be turning. As IT departments are becoming more business-centric, so too is their approach to software project management. Here are a few of the trends making the difference:

• Building a business case, before building the software What will be the value of the application to the business itself? Will it help the bottom line? Will it streamline the efficiency of the business or make it more competitive? Is the cost worth the benefits?
• Becoming more metrics-minded The days of measuring success in terms of making deadlines and staying within budget could be coming to an end. IT departments that are evolving into business technology departments are determining success in terms of how an application is benefiting the business in measurable ways like increasing revenue, streamlining distribution, saving money through new efficiencies or even creating or accessing new markets.
• Sharing leadership with a Project Management Officer (PMO) The PMO is more disciplined when it comes to sticking to business objectives and prioritizing accordingly. "I believe the advent of the PMO is changing software project management. The PMO increases business rigor in the process," says Sterpe.
• Get it done faster The time needed to build and deploy a new application can widely vary depending on the scope of the project. However, the average time line usually runs between one to two years for a major rollout. Nowadays, more CIOs are pushing their teams to keep it under a year from start to finish. This means less time for business needs to change and a greater chance of launching something that will meet its original mandate.

The best laid plans and the most flexible development teams and managers still hit snags along the way. At some point, failure can mean pressing on instead of cutting the company's losses and abandoning the project. Recognizing this point often still eludes even the most business-savvy CIO.

"What they need to do is match that rigor in the planning stage in-flight to determine if the costs of project completion still make sense given the initial business case," says Sterpe.

Sometimes retreat is the better part of valor.

Renee Oricchio is a freelance writer in Norwalk, Conn. For the past 20 years, she has been writing and producing news segments about technology and business for CNN, MSNBC, Ziff-Davis, CNET and a variety of Silicon Valley-based local news outlets.