What are the reasons software engineering projects fail?

Engineering projects fail primarily due to gap between capabilities and capacity mismatch. I also have experienced crack arising out of poor revision of schedule during requirement gathering phase

If the requirement is getting changed in the middle of development then target never meets. It is taking time for new development as well as modification of old development as well.

Lack of purpose and business objective. Excessive cognitive load and heroism. Build and Run without structure and process for business continuity. Technology coming first, while, technology should be for business. Low business conversion after a large effort of software development work.

The unrealistic expectations both from customer and software providers matters I feel. We should always target for a well understood, agreed by both parties, realistic goals to achieve. Also instead of trying to fry a big fish at once, target for smaller goals and would in better position to deliver more with better quality in a consistent manner.

Outro fator importante é que se houver uma pressão excessiva, por parte da liderança, com espectativas irrealistas, isso também pode contribuir significativamente para o fracasso dos projetos de engenharia de software. Caso os líderes imponham exigências impossíveis de serem cumpridas dentro dos limites de tempo e recursos disponíveis, isso pode acarretar a uma série de problemas, incluindo esgotamento da equipe, comprometimento da qualidade do trabalho e até mesmo desmotivação generalizada. Além disso, essa pressão pode resultar em cortes de etapas importantes do processo de desenvolvimento, como testes de qualidade, revisões de código e validações de requisitos, comprometendo assim a integridade e a confiabilidade do produto final.

Talking too little or talking too much. A team can be far too ready to just jump right into a project. This can be great for initial research and development, but it’s very easy to quickly get over your skis requirements wise. The team can keep developing, but tiny assumptions get made which lead to big effects that are hard to unwind down the road. On the flip side, a team can spend _forever_ talking though every single edge case and “what if.” Eventually leadership gets tired of nothing being delivered or a competitor beats you to market and all the conversation leads to is an undelivered but theoretically perfect project.

Aligning the stakeholders is one of the challenging and detrimental factors for the success of the projects. Some of the tips to mitigate this are to: - High level system design and documentation to get alignment from tech and non tech stakeholders - Sharing the necessary tech specs with all the use cases and edge cases with the tech counterparts prior to implementation - Sign offs from all the teams involved after implementation with integration testing

If you are building components to be used by another team, or they are building stuff for you, you need to have regular communication with them. This is likely best done through some kind of weekly in-person meeting to go over dependencies, known issues, and brainstorming for new features. Also, make sure you have a public chat channel to handled day-to-day issues like code reviews, feature questions, and bug reporting.

- The Silent Silos: Software development is a team sport, yet often teams find themselves working in silos, with communication lines like the spider's web. When developers and stakeholders don't speak the same language or, worse, barely speak at all, the project is set up for failure. Cultivating an environment where open, transparent communication is the norm can transform the trajectory of a project. Here are some tips and ideas: -Make the complex, simple! -Teach your non-tech coworkers some crucial tech terms. -DO NOT code during meetings! -Build Prototypes/Proof of Concepts. Master the art of communicating and remember you don’t become an effective communicator overnight. It all comes with Practice, Practice and Practice!

Communication breakdowns between team members, stakeholders, or departments can lead to misunderstandings, delays, and ultimately project failure.

Having a good tech debt is good problem to have. Being aware of our tech debts and working towards them makes success stories. Just keep accumulating tech debts means we are certainly on wrong path and something is not happening right. We should re-look into the way we are tackling the project as a whole and better revamp things early stage rather than failing miserably.

Technical debt can critically undermine software projects by compromising quality for short-term gains. It arises from rushed development, inadequate testing, ignoring best practices, and using outdated technologies, leading to bugs and maintenance challenges. Managing this debt is crucial; it involves quality assurance, consistent coding standards, regular refactoring, and a solid continuous integration and delivery framework. Acknowledging and addressing technical debt proactively is key to project success, preventing it from becoming a project's downfall. Striking the right balance between immediate progress and long-term health of the software ensures sustainable development and avoids failure.

Rushing through development without paying attention to code quality can accumulate technical debt, making it harder to maintain or expand the software in the future.

💳 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝘁 💳 Short-term fixes can lead to long-term problems. 🔍 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 - Crucial for maintaining high standards and preventing debt accumulation. 🔄 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 - Keeps the codebase clean and adaptable, easing future enhancements. 🚀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 - Ensures ongoing evaluation and integration, minimizing potential debt. #TechDebt #SoftwareQuality #DevOps

- Technical Debt and Cutting Corners Under the pressure of deadlines and deliverables, teams may resort to quick fixes or suboptimal solutions, accumulating technical debt that jeopardizes the future development and maintenance of the codebase. Recognizing the long-term impact of these decisions is crucial. The engineering team and product need to create a plan to tackle technical debt, and set the priorities for the project. Prioritizing code quality, maintainability, and addressing technical debt proactively can safeguard the project's success in the long run. Again communication is the key and explaining the importance of why some of the tech debt needs to be prioritized lies in the hands of the engineers!

You and your team are not robots. You are human beings with real world issues inside and outside of the office. When you form your team, try your best to have a plan for shouldering the load across all members. Do not silo information so that you have a single point of failure. Design your processes so the entire team is at least somewhat aware of the major components. This makes it easier for the team to help out when someone is sick, goes on vacation, or even leaves the company. Also, make sure to celebrate your success. You should interact with your team in some fashion regularly outside of normal work. One team of mine set aside one hour each week to play board games. Attendance was optional, but people really enjoyed it.

- Hiring the right talent with critical problem solving skills , curiosity and eager to learn are crucial to any organisation. - Leaders who walk the talk play an important role in their teams success. Leaders should be able to roll their sleeves and contribute when required. - Frequent 1:1s with the team members and receive/provide constructive feedback is vital and essential for team and leaders to grow and simultaneously deliver projects successfully

Issues such as lack of skilled personnel, poor team dynamics, or resistance to change within the team can contribute to project failure.

🧑💻 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 🧑💻 People are at the core of project success or failure. 📚 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀 & 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 - Clarifies expectations and fosters accountability. 🎓 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 - Enhances skills and encourages continuous learning. 🤝 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 - Ensures leadership and collaboration drive projects forward. #TeamDynamics #Leadership #SoftwareEngineering

Ensuring end users, sponsors and engineers have expectations aligned with regular touch points, and delivering hands-on demos/showcases/UAT to solicit feedback with clear deadlines for feedback, results in trust and genuine collaboration within the project team. An effective forum for clear communication about business priorities and dev priorities does wonders for reducing project static and failure risk caused by mistrust. Projects which do fail, fail due to lack of user engagement resulting in absent or low quality feedback, in my experience, and often others fail due to project sponsors being kept at too much of a distance.

Unexpected events such as changes in market conditions, regulatory requirements, or technology disruptions can derail a software project.

External factors like market shifts, customer demands, user feedback, competition, and regulations greatly influence software engineering projects. Adapting to these requires agility, a focus on customer needs, prioritizing user experience, innovation, and compliance with legal standards. By embracing these strategies, projects can navigate the complexities of the external environment, staying relevant and competitive.

Changing market conditions or business priorities Regulatory or compliance issues Vendor or third-party dependencies Unforeseen technical challenges or limitations

Effective risk management involves identifying potential risks, analyzing their impact and likelihood, developing strategies to mitigate or avoid them, and continuously monitoring and reassessing throughout the project lifecycle to prevent derailment.

We like to send out a project governance report weekly with any new risks highlighted at the very top and an approach to address each risk listed. Red text at the top of an email sent to a project sponsor or product manager can move mountains sometimes.

Failure to identify and mitigate potential risks early Lack of contingency plans for critical issues Inadequate monitoring and reporting of project health Reluctance to escalate problems when they arise

Lack of user involvement throughout the development process Insufficient focus on non-functional requirements (e.g., performance, security) Failure to break large projects into manageable, deliverable increments Inadequate version control and configuration management practices

There can be various other reasons for software project failure, such as insufficient planning, scope creep, inadequate resources, or lack of user involvement. Each project is unique, so these factors may vary depending on the specific circumstances.

Failing to recognize a pivot: focused on building their initial vision that they miss opportunities to pivot. They might create a fantastic component, like a cutting-edge frontend framework or a robust database, but fail to see how it can solve a broader problem as a standalone product.

- Testing and Quality Assurance Quality assurance is the unsung hero of software development. Skimping on this critical phase is like building a house without inspecting the foundation. A bug-ridden, unstable product erodes user trust and satisfaction, no matter how innovative or feature-packed it may be. Rigorous testing, automated test suites, continuous integration, and a culture that values quality over speed are pillars of successful software projects.