The Myth of the Best Practices Silver Bullet

Abstract : For many years, there has been much work attempting to identify a set of best practices that software-intensive projects could apply to aid in the acquisition, production, or upgrade of software. Spurred on by the 1987 and 2001 Defense Science Board findings, efforts conducted by the Software Engineering Institute and the Software Program Managers Network have identified and documented specific practices that have had apparent success in lowering project risk, improving cost and schedule performance, and enhancing user satisfaction. Since Section 804 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 was enacted on December 2, 2002, and became law, there has been much activity in this area, particularly in the Department of Defense and its various services. This article explores some of these efforts, looks at the practices that have resulted, and attempts to examine certain key relationships that must be considered when applying them to projects.