Most software projects fail fully or partial failures because a small estimate of projects meet all their requirements. These requirements can be the cost, schedule, quality, or requirements objectives. Agreeing to many studies, failure rate of software projects is between 50% - 80%. This essay is a compilation of failure causes of software amelioration projects; this essay summarises several areas that play a vital role in software task failure.
So, what of course is the imagine for software task failure? The sad fact is that software projects fail because we do not identify that good engineering system should be applied to software projects just as they are to building office buildings. We try to defend ourselves by saying that software building is "different".
One of the most serious complaints against software failure is the inability
to evaluation with appropriate accuracy the cost, resources, and schedule principal
for a software project. Accepted evaluation methods have always produced
positive results which contribute to the too well-known cost infested and
schedule slippage.
Over the last 20 years many cost and schedule evaluation techniques have been
used with mixed sensation due to restrictions of the evaluation models. A major
part of the estimations failure can be due to a lack of understanding of the
software amelioration process and the follow of that recipe used in the task
plan, schedule and cost estimates.
Failure Case Studies
Below are few of the case studies thought about which will be analysed to fetch
the main reasons of failure of the software system.
Northumbria University developed accounting software to conduct its day to day
business. The task could not come up with the desired results and failed to
meet the deadlines. Te investigations showed that the basic task supervision
procedures were not followed. This case study is referenced in this essay at
different points where necessary. [1]
Thai subsidiary (Smtl) of a Hong Kong-based multinational firm (Smhk)
engaged in the manufacturing of electronic equipment. They implemented an
integrated software package; which was a failure at the several factors. These
factors were mostly supervision related. Such as a poor fit between the firm
process assumptions inscribed in the software and the firm processes in Smtl,
poor leadership at distinct levels, cultural differences, organizational
environment, and poor human reserved supply management.
St John's Hospital is a District normal Hospital provides medical and
nursing services, which includes both normal surgery and medicine.All these
services are supported by diagnostic imaging, laboratory, ambulance, pharmacy
and therapy services, which are all on site. As the major hospital in a tourist
area, it deals with many visitors in the holiday season, generating a large
amount of non-booked admissions work.
Software supervision & Leadership
It has been shown repeatedly, that sufficient leadership is principal for successful It implementation (Klenke, 1994). A leader must also have cultural sensitivity, communication skills, creativity, ability to delegate, and the ability to invent and preserve human resources (Luthans, 1994). The software manager at (Smhk) was a western, where as the lower managers were Eastern. So there was a cultural clash going on always. Jack (Manager) always try to introduce creative thoughts. And most of the time the lower supervision could not do them. Hence there was a clash going on all the time.
Employees also felt that supervision hardly ever "listened" to their concerns
or attempted to address them. Consequently, many employees were eager to leave
the company, and did so as soon as they found alternate opportunities in other
companies.
Project Planning & Scheduling
Project planning means creating work breakdown, and then allocate responsibilities to the developers over time. task planning consists of building of assorted tasks, timelines and principal pathways together with Gantt charts and Pert charts and distinct written plans for assorted situations.
It is quite usual in software amelioration process to work backward from the
project end date which results in complete software task failure. It is
impossible that a task can be completed efficiently from the planning stage
to the implementation stage.
Allocation of roles and responsibilities has to be clearly defined, and it
becomes crucial while hiring the stall from outside. University's higher
management failed to apply the basic task supervision rules which laid to the
project failure.
Proper scheduling is also required before the start of the project. It
includes the time scheduling, teams scheduling. task managers don't know what
they have to plan and schedule. They just only tell the programmer what to do
and the programmers can come up with a allowable solution.
The amelioration was moved to a new office and the office was not fully
equipped with the allowable infrastructure. As time is also a big factor in success
or failure of a project. So it delayed the amelioration process and contributed
towards the task failure. Infrastructure was not fully scheduled and
management team didn't know where and how the task amelioration will be
started.
The top private of a winning software amelioration task is to control the
quality up and lower the risk. Contingency plan is also the part of planning. In
case things went wrong then this plan can be followed to lower the influence of the
failure of project. Same was the case with university's accounting software. The
management team had no such a contingency plan nor did they value the risk
involved in the amelioration of the new system. So it caused more trouble without
the backup system or backup plan.
The supervision just try to follow the methodologies like Sdlc or Rad, but don't know which methodology to use and at which time should apply the right technique.
Cost evaluation
Cost evaluation is in general complicated the cost of exertion to yield the software project. But it's not minute to the exertion only. It also includes the hardware and software cost, training the employees and customer, travelling to the customer, networking and communication costs. Cost evaluation should be done as a part of the software process model.
Cost evaluation needs to be done well before the start of the task
development. Failure of the budgeting for the cost of the task results in
complete disaster. As stated above the infrastructure cost, amelioration tools
cost and hardware cost also needs to be estimated first.
Same thing happened to university's accounting system development. They
purchased the new system well with out any serious evaluation of the cost and
the earnings sources.
Below are the reasons why wrong cost evaluation is done.
Inappropriate evaluation methodology
Another imagine would be the use of an inappropriate cost evaluation methodology. Not a singular methodology is great than other. Every methodology has its own strong and weak points which should be considered. Dr. Barry Boehm's book Software Engineering Economics lists seven evaluation methodologies. One or more of these methodologies can be used to evaluation the cost of a project
"Good suggestion is that more than one software cost evaluation methodology
should be used for correct estimation".
Cost evaluation tools
There are many drawbacks in by hand cost estimation. This technique is roughly obsolete now. These days successful cost evaluation includes the use of appropriate industrial software cost estimating tool.
Good software estimating tools do not always warrant dependable software
estimates. Wrong input of the software size will follow in wrong estimate.
Estimation software also needs to be customised for the specific need of
organization. These customisations require the data from the past projects as
input for the tool to estimate.
There are estimate of reasons these tools can return the wrong estimate.
Choosing the right evaluation tool
Choice of a right evaluation tool is principal for the right estimation. The tool is not capable of handling the input and thus it can come up with the wrong evaluation and hence cause the software task to fail.
Ease of customisation
As mentioned above the premium tool must be customisable Agreeing to the organisation needs, so that the society can customise it Agreeing to the needs and past task data.
Easy to use and learn
The cost evaluation tool should be easy to use and learn. It must consist of help and examples, easy and straight transmit user interface. It must require less training to learn the system and inputs should be well defined.
Accurate evaluation
The evaluation tool must have the ability to analyse all the parameters and come up with the correct evaluation for the cost.
Risk supervision
Risk supervision is an important factor towards software task failure if it's not managed timely and effectively. As nothing can be expected that what will happen in hereafter so we have to take the principal steps in the present to take any uncertain situation in the future. Risk supervision means dealing with a concern before it becomes a crisis.
Risk Identification
According to the Universal risk task there are two types of conditions which can be a symbol of as risk.
- If-Then Statements
- "If technology is not available, Then we will not meet the requirement"
- "If we cannot hire enough excellent software engineers, Then we cannot meet the planned amelioration schedule
- Condition-Consequence Statements
- Given the "condition", there is a likelihood that the "consequence" will occur
- "Given that this specific test fails (the Condition), the Consequence is that the planned schedule will slip"
Project managers have to identify the areas where the risk can be and how it
can influence the amelioration of the project. Risk can be of technical nature or
non technical. task managers needs to be aware of both the risks. Most of the
projects managers are not good in either of the side. A good manager with
programming skills can be good in identifying the technical risk but not in non
technical risk.
Risk determination
After the risk is identified there is a need to make the categories of that risk. Risk determination is the process of examining the task results and deliverables after the risk determination and applying the technique to lower the risk. After risk determination is complete, the allowable risk determination plan needs to be made to cope with any uncertain situation. First identified risks are categorized and make the hierarchy of those risks. At this point the risk is classified as the unavoidable or negative risks.
Risk Prioritization
After the risk is analyzed, the next step is to priorities the risk. At first focus on the most sever risk first; and les sever later. These risk factors can worked from time to time so that the final task out come is free of risk. So most of the time task supervision team fails to identify the sever risk and work on the less sever risk. This often results in the form of a crisis.
Risk Avoidance
Dealing with the risk is an art. Some times the supervision takes the projects with out identifying the allowable risk complicated in the project. So an experienced manager will take the task after allowable risk determination and avoid any risk complicated in the project.
Risk control
Managing the risk to achieve the desired results and deliverables is done through controlling the risk at its best. This is a pure intuitive process and depends on the contact of the task supervision team, or risk already managed in past projects which were done by the same organization.
Conclusion
This essay has presented three basic factors which can cause the software amelioration task to fail. Planning & Scheduling, cost evaluation and risk management. All of these factors are to be thought about at the supervision level and then transferred to the lower management.
Planning & Scheduling comes at first, good planning and scheduling makes the
strong foundation for the software project. task planning consists of
construction of assorted tasks, timelines and principal pathways together with Gantt
charts and Pert charts and distinct written plans for assorted situations. If
these factors are not taken into part then the software may encounter problems
during the amelioration and the final goods will be a failure.
Cost evaluation depends on the budget of the project, customer type and the
size and exertion to be put in the project. Cost estimations are done many times
during the life cycle of a project. It affects the task in many ways, wrong
estimation complete failure, influence the good-will of the organisation if the
costs are not covered, stake holders are affected and waste of resources.
Managing the risk is a practical arrival for decreasing the ambiguity and
possible loss connected with a software amelioration project. Possible measures
can be thought about as opportunity-focused (positive risk) if their consequences
are favourable, or as threat-focused (negative risk) if their consequences are
unfavourable.
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