Critical success factors in software projects

Abstract. Since the publication of the agile manifesto twenty years ago, its influence on software projects has been steadily growing and organisations and managers now have another methodology to choose from in addition to waterfall. The question remains, however, whether software managers fully consider both methodologies and how easy it is for management to determine which methodology is the best fit for their project. This thesis will investigate the two main software development methodologies, waterfall and agile, and determine the critical success factors for each one using the research literature. Based on the critical success factors and an exploration of what makes each methodology powerful, selection criteria for choosing one or the other methodology will then be presented as a tool for helping management select the correct methodology. The research questions of this thesis are: RQ1: What are the core elements and key characteristics of agile and waterfall software development methodologies? RQ2: What are the critical success factors for agile and waterfall software development methodologies? RQ3: Which criteria to use when selecting agile or waterfall? A meta-analysis of critical success factors is carried out across ten research papers, which are systematic literature reviews and in total comprise 298 articles and 550 surveys. Based on their output, the critical success factors are ranked in importance and are used to build some selection criteria to help management determine when a project would benefit more from using one software methodology over the other. The thesis will provide a detailed definition and core characteristics of agile and waterfall which will be used as a foundation for linking the methodology theory to the critical success factors and selection criteria. The overall aim of this thesis is to discover if agile is always the correct methodology for software development, and if not, to help managers determine when agile should be used. Management will be able to select the correct methodology based on the characteristics of their project and map those to the critical success factors in this thesis. The important findings of the thesis are that it is rare for a project to be agile or waterfall and therefore selecting the correct methodology is not so black and white. The ideal methodology is one that is customised for the unique project. Factors that are especially important to consider are customer participation, team competency, top management support and specification changes. The results of this thesis can be used by project managers to increase the success of their projects by changing or modifying their methodology or by changing certain key factors in their project, e.g., increasing customer participation during the development life-cycle

From critical success factors to critical success processes

After myriad studies into the main causes of project failure, almost every project manager can list the main factors that distinguish between project failure and project success. These factors are usually called Critical Success Factors (CSF). However, despite the fact that CSF are well-known, the rate of failed projects still remains very high. This may be due to the fact that current CSF are too general and do not contain specific enough know-how to better support project managers decision-making. This paper analyses the impact of 16 specific planning processes on project success and identifies Critical Success Processes (CSP) to which project success is most vulnerable. Results are based on a field study that involved 282 project managers. It was found that the most critical planning processes, which have the greatest impact on project success, are "definition of activities to be performed in the project", "schedule development", "organizational planning", "staff acquisition", "communications planning" and "developing a project plan". It was also found that project managers usually do not divide their time effectively among the different processes, following their influence on project success

Critical Success Factors for IT Projects in the Telecom Sector

This research is undertaken to address the critical issue of the high failure rate in IT Projects. The study is focused on the IT Projects in the Telecom Sector. The main reasons for the failure of the IT Projects are studied and then the corresponding success factors analyzed. After in depth study and analysis certain Critical Success Factors for the success of IT Projects in the Telecom Sector are proposed. A theoretical framework model has been developed to test the effect of the various variables on the successful completion of IT Projects in the Telecom Industry. The results and findings from the research will greatly benefit the Telecom industry in successfully completing their IT Projects and deploying their IT infrastructure. Keywords: Project Scope (PS), Top Management Support (TMS), Skilled & Competent Project Team (SCPT), Project Manager’s Leadership Qualities (PMLQ) and Information Technology Project Success (ITPS)

Managing E-Government Projects: A Comparative Case Study of Two Inter- Organizational E-Service Development Initiatives

E-government initiatives have large potentials in developing better services for citizens and a potential to transform government structures. However e-government initiatives face a number of challenges of complexity and risk - it is not an easy matter to realize its potentials. A key research issue for the e-government field, as well as the information systems field in general, is to understand why some projects progress to success while others end in failure. The main objective in this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the progress and the success vs. failure in e-government development based on case studies of two inter-organizational e-service projects. The analysis in the paper is made from a) an e-government systems development life cycle perspective and b) a challenge and success factors perspective. The main result in this paper is that crucial success factors of an inter-organizational e-government project include project manager skills and position in the agency organization as well as when and how systems maintenance issues are introduced in the project. Criticism is presented concerning the life cycle model used in the analysis regarding this last matter.

PERFORMANCE UNDER REQUIREMENTS UNCERTAINTY: A PERSONALITY PERSPECTIVE

Software project failure is rampant and is far reaching in its economic consequences. Prior studies have found that the contextual factors (requirements uncertainty, for example) are a major source of failure in software development. From prior research, it is known that personality traits have an impact on an individual’s performance. The present research studies, how the personality trait of the software developer moderates the relationship between requirements uncertainty and performance of the software developer. The knowledge of this dynamics will help in better staffing of IT teams and more importantly in improving the success rate of software projects

An IT Project Management Methodology Generator Based on an Agile Project Management Process Framework

Information Technology Project Management and Software Project Management in particular depends heavily on the project’s type and constraints. Quality, financial, technical, schedule, complexity and other constraints affect significantly the management process. Over the last two decades project management methodologies have been developed to support the project management effort. Many methodologies cover generic approaches emphasizing on the planning or estimation activities, others on tracking, others on quality and others on very specific management practices that could support the delivery of very specific projects. This paper introduces an adjustable (agile) project management framework for managing information technology projects of any type. The framework divides the management activities into systems engineering management and systems acquisitions management phases and operates as a methodology generator feed by the project constraints. The project management methodology that derives is a combination of management and engineering phases based on the needs and constraints of each project per case

Understanding the Meaning of “Project Success”

Fortune 500 organizations are executing their tasks using projects. Project management is the area of concentration across the world. Different stakeholders have a different perspective about project success. The meaning of project success had been explained in this article. In addition, the Project Critical Success Factors (CSFs) were mentioned. The research of Standish Group on project success and project success metrics was presented. Earlier research on the meaning of project success and project critical success factors was highlighted. The works of Jeffery K. Pinto and Dennis P. Slevin, David and Adam, DeLone and McLean, and The Standish Group Research were discussed in this article. The methodology included secondary research based on literature view of prominent empirical studies and the literature reviews by making note of findings and observations from those studies. The initial literature collected led to further search of articles based on their references. The research findings indicate that the top of the most success factors for many projects include project objective, top management commitment, competent project team, and user involvement