Why Software Projects Fail, part 3

Reason Number 3: Most organizations do not have the skills to properly scope an application project.

I won’t single out the entities that I’ve seen declare the “scope” of a project in a series of vaguely worded requirements – inevitably subject to endless veto as developers trot out one pony after another. Projects go wildly over budget and years past deadline. Everyone ends up hating everyone. And all the money spent is simply wasted.

A properly scoped project discusses data requirements in advance, including user interfaces and permissions. The project will also demand a data manager, someone who can keep users from deciding to split the number from the street in address columns, six months into creating user interfaces. Someone who works hard to pin down what data will be collected, then works hard to keep people from capriciously changing that specification.

That’s what change orders are for. That’s why they cost a lost. That’s why they always should.

Enough for now; I look forward to discussing over-complexification and following fads in upcoming parts.