Most software projects fail completely or partial failures because a small number of projects meet all their requirements. These requirements consist of cost, schedule, quality, or objectives. The failure rate of software projects are between 40% - 70%. There are several areas or causes because of which software project failure occurs:
The first and foremost serious cause for software failure is the inability to estimate with accuracy the cost, resources and schedule which are necessary for software projects.
For previous years cost and schedule estimation techniques are been used with mixed feeling because of restrictions of the assessment models. This failure on estimations can be due to lack of software development process understanding and the effect of that particular method used in the concern project plan, schedule and cost estimates.
There are several reasons because of which N number of tools can return to wrong estimate. The first reason can be:
The choice of the right tool of estimation. If the tool is incapable of handling the input then this can come up with the wrong estimate and hence software project failure.
The cost estimation tool should be customizable according to the need of the organization so that it can be customized according to the need of the organization and the past project data.
The cost estimation tool which is been selected should be easy to use and learn which means it should include help and user interface facilities. It should require less training and well defined input. The estimation should be accurate i.e., it should be capable of analyzing the various parameters and come up with accurate cost estimates.
Talking about the other factors risk management is also an important factor for software project failure if it is not managed effectively and timely. The necessary steps should be taken in the present itself to deal with any uncertain situation in the future. Risk management means dealing with a concern before it becomes a crisis.
The first one is risk identification; in this the project manager has to identify the areas of risk and how it can effect the development of the project. Risk can be of technical nature or non technical. Project managers needs to be aware of both the risks.
The next is the risk analysis which is the process of examining the project results and applying the techniques to lower the risk. After the completion of the risk analysis the first identified risks are categorized. At this point the risks are classified as the positive and negative risk.
Then after comes the risk prioritization, this step is to first focus on the most severe risk. These risk factors can worked from time to time so that the final project out come is free of risk. Most of the project management team lacks in risk prioritization which often results in the form of crisis. And lastly comes the risk control which is a pure intuitive process and depends on the experience of project management team.
