Software Projects Secrets: Why Projects Fail

Software Project Secrets: Why Software Projects Fail offers a new path to success in the software industry. This book reaches out to managers, developers, and customers who use industry-standard methodologies, but whose projects still struggle to succeed.

Author George Stepanek analyzes the project management methodology itself, a critical factor that has thus far been overlooked. He explains why it creates problems for software development projects and begins by describing 12 ways in which software projects are different from other kinds of projects. He also analyzes the project management body of knowledge to discover 10 hidden assumptions that are invalid in the context of software projects.

Table of Contents

Part I: WHY SOFTWARE PROJECTS FAIL
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Why Software Is Different
Chapter 3: Project Management Assumptions
Chapter 4: Case Study: The Billing System Project

Part II: AND HOW TO MAKE THEM SUCCEED
Chapter 5: The New Agile Methodologies
Chapter 6: Budgeting Agile Projects
Chapter 7: Case Study: The Billing System Revisited
Chapter 8: Afterword