Software development projects are plagued with risk and impending failure. According to The Standish Group’s 2006 CHAOS Report, only about one-third (35 percent) of the researched software development projects undertaken in the previous two years were considered “successful”—that is, they met all requirements and were completed on time and within budget. Almost half (46 percent) were reported to be “challenged,” meaning that they were completed and operational, but were delivered late, went over budget, or did not support all of the features originally required. And 19 percent were considered outright failures or cancelled prior to completion. According to the same report, 41 cents of every dollar spent on software development was considered wasted.
Anyone involved with software development projects knows why bringing them to successful completion can be so difficult to achieve. This article lists some of the best practices for successfully completing software projects: http://www.executivebrief.com/article/is-software-development-risk-costing-you-money/