Frequent Software Development Failures Must be Solved at the Organizational Level
An organization might be tempted looks for simpler solutions rather than following the previously described guidelines. That institution understandably believes its issues are localized to its IT department or teams. Those problems manifest themselves in flailing software development projects, making technical, staffing, or process changes a seemingly straightforward choice. Yet, that company’s sputtering endeavors are the downstream effects of a larger headache. That difficulty is organizational in nature, not localized. To fix such an issue, a business must examine its processes at an institutional level.
For example, projects with due dates are frequently late. Those schedules could be set by promises made by sales people or commitments entered into by middle managers. Those people did not select those timelines, due to any time sensitivity. Rather, they chose them for their own purposes. The affected endeavors might not even be able to meet them. They failed, due to choices outside the purview of IT. An organization who wants to reduce the frequency of missed due dates needs to examine the entire process of how those schedules are set.
Many other such examples exist. An institution’s deep-seated problems are likely organizational in nature. A company must do a system-wide examination to find them, and it should not stop at the boundaries of IT.
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Endnotes
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