Software Development Projects

Software Development Projects:
CIS590 – Directed Research Project
Carol A. Harstad
A Case Study of Failure and Success

Who am I?
Carol A. Harstad
Completing Master of Science in Information Systems
Software Engineering Management
18 years experience in Software Development

Chapters of the paper
Introduction
Literature Review
Knowledge Area’s of Software Engineering
Causes of Challenged and Failed Projects
Practices for Project Success
Tools & Models
Summary & Conclusion
Appendices: Requirements Document, Change Request Log, & Possible Threat List.

Context of the Problem?
Majority of Software Development Projects:
Longer to complete
Low quality
More expensive
Hard to maintain
Missing features
Unacceptable level of bugs
Other projects:
Abandon the project
Catastrophic disasters

Projects can end in 1 of 3 ways
Success
Challenged
Failure
On Time
Within Budget
High Quality
Over Budget
Extended Time
Less Features
Abandon

Standish Group – CHAOS Summary

What is the Research?
What can we do within the software development process to ensure a successful delivery of software projects and to avoid possible failure?
What are the knowledge areas of software engineering?
What are causes of failures in software development projects?
What methods can we implement to ensure successful completion of a software project?
What tools are available that will allow a project a better possibility of success?

Software Engineering
Knowledge Areas:
Requirements
Design
Construction
Testing
Maintenance
Processes and Product Quality
Not included:
Configuration Management
Engineering Management
Engineering Processes
Separately:
Engineering Tools

Why do projects fail?
Bad Project Planning
Vague Objectives
Inadequate/Incomplete Requirements
Inadequate Management in areas such as:
Risk
Scope
Quality
Inadequate Methodologies
Lack of Resources
Unrealistic Expectations
More

Software Engineering is like a puzzle

Attribute addition after project completion can affect:
Attribute
Database
User Documentation
Input Forms
System Documentation
Output Forms
System Interfaces
Control Algorithms
Data Conversions
Update Algorithms
System Testing Plans
Tests

Ariane 5 Rocket (Flight 501)
Most expensive bug in history
$1 Billion prototype
40 Seconds
Incorrect variable in the software
End result?
FAILURE!!!

FBI Virtual Case File
Announced the project in September 2000
Estimated $120,000,000 for software portion of project and 3 years to complete
April, 2005 – FBI Officially cancelled the project after spending $170,000,000
It’s incomplete!?!
It’s unusable!!!
How did that happen????
Both FBI and SAIC at fault.
Reasons for Failure
poorly defined and evolving requirements
contracting weaknesses
IT investment management weaknesses
lack of management continuity and oversight
unrealistic scheduling of tasks
lack of adequate project integration; and
inadequate resolution of issues

September 11, 2001
Although only a theory, some believe that if the FBI had an up to date, operational system in place at the time, the events of September 11, 2001 might have been avoided.

Another Project Failure
FAA – Advanced Automation System
13-year “train wreck”
$2.6 Billion disaster
$1 million/day, 2,000 IBM employees, hundreds of pages of documentation per line of code
Greatest debacle in the history of organized work (Rosenberg, 2008)

More Famous Failures
California Department of Motor Vehicles
American Airlines
Sydney Water Corp
Allstate
Westpac Banking Corporation
Canadian Gun Registry
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Recipe for Success
Stakeholder Management
Project Planning
Clear Objectives
Clear requirements and analysis
Risk Management
Scope Management
Project Management Methodology
Quality Management
Supplier Management
Resource Management
User Involvement
Executive Support
Realistic Expectations
Communication Management
Competent Staff
Iteration Deliveries

Tools for Success
Project Management Software
CASE Tools
Diagrams/Graphical Representations
Testing Tools

Conclusion
Trends and Definitions of success, challenges, and failures
Samples of catastrophic and costly failures
Reasons leading to failure
Recipe for Success
YAY!!!

Software Development Projects

by Carol Harstad on Sep 17, 2009

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