Key Success Factors in Software Development Projects

Software development projects are complex. Coupled with technical factors, anomalies that are environment-contingent often influence such projects. Human capital, being a vital resource for project delivery, undoubtedly plays a critical role in software development projects but studies that ascertain the extent to which technicalities and conventional factors, like human resource, influence development are limited. This is in light of the recent emergence of development methodological frameworks that act as nomenclatures, which aim to eliminate development ambiguities. After the emergence of such a centralized approach to software development management, process iteration practices, such as Agile, which downplay the formality of central methods approach have complicated the processes and this has resulted in an ideological stand-off between the management and the development ‘classes’ of a standard software development project. While a standard model helps benchmark and standardize process tasks for predictable outcomes, it may equally be lengthy and slow in a development environment that is often highly dynamic and rapid. Likewise, without rapidity, software projects risk potential project losses. To understand this process, a study involving 56 professional software development professionals was conducted in August 2011. It was ascertained that complexities and the primary indicators of project success forms can differ based on the respondent’s project role; likewise, the study also confirmed the factors that influence software project success.