The abandonment of software projects, including information systems (IS) projects under development, has not gained enough attention in either software/IS practice or research to have any significant impact, yet it is an important aspect of the general problem of software failures or runaways. In contrast, there have been several studies by researches, particularly in IS, dealing with IS "failure" from either the usage or operations viewpoint after a system has been implemented (Lucas 1975; Ives, Hamilton, and Davis 1980; Lyytinen 1987; Lyytinen and Hirschheim 1987; Kumar 1990). For example, in a major work on IS problems and solutions, Lyytinen (1987, 8) has characterized IS "failure" as "multidimensional" with "several subcomponents: technical, behavioral, political, etc." He attributes this to the fact that "IS development is fraught with recurrent problems caused by poor, undisciplined and incomplete development practices." We in the software industry are therefore faced with a genuine need to understand the nature of the problems associated with software development and to devise effective methods for tackling them in order to minimize the risk of project failure. Past studies have confirmed that IS project abandonment is indeed "a complex, multidimensional issue that defies simple explanations" (Ewusi-Mensah and Przasnyski 1991, 83; also see Ewusi-Mensah and Przasnyski 1994). This chapter summarizes the main issues involved in software project failures, providing recommendations on how to minimize project cancellations and deal with the aftermath of project cancellation decisions.
chapter 8 is intended to assist organizations in making this aspect of software development part of standard organizational practices.
As more and more organizations adopt this method of introspection and individuals move from one organization to another, carrying the message of the benefits of this strategy for learning from organizational software failures, I anticipate a wider benefit to the software industry as a whole. Still, my hope is that as more and more organizations learn from their past mistakes, the incidence of failed projects will diminish over time, even as organizations attempt more complex and challenging projects. Nonetheless, software development as a creative intellectual endeavor will always entail the prospect of failure, including abandonment, as one of its inherent possibilities. Thus the suggestions for dealing with the incidence of abandonment in organizations are offered in the hope that they will provide some constructive ways of managing rather than eliminating the problem.
Chapter 9 offered some strategic guidelines for software development that are intended to maximize the chances for successful project outcomes. The chapter discussed some of the critical issues in software development that project leaders and project team members must pay special attention to in order to maximize chances for project success. We referred, for example, to issues dealing with project requirements, support of senior management, the use of auditors to monitor progress and spot potential problems, and the use of consultants whenever appropriate to make up for any expertise or skills lacking on the part of the project team. The chapter stressed how important it is for the project leader to strive to maintain the correct balance among the elements comprising the project triangle. Thus the impact of a change in the project features, for example, can be analyzed in terms of its possible repercussions for the remaining two elements—resources and schedule—and corrective action can be taken to keep the elements in balance.