1. Software development project success
factors
Supervised by Prof. Jarmo J. Ahonenand Dr. Paula
Savolainen
Project Title Kytkin project
M. Sc. Jaana Nevalainen
Research question
Supplier project managers evaluate the starting project and project
situation before the project starts. If they think the project will be
successful, what are the factors which their evaluations are based
on?
Research aim and focus
• Want to discover what factors are missing and should get project
managers attention before project start.
 Develop a success factor list for supplier project managers to help
them to recognize failing and successful projects beforehand and
thus ensure better conditions for successful projects
 The focus is on projects which are conducted by supplier firms i.e.
the main business of supplier firms is to provide software for their
customers. The perspective is supplier’s and focused on
assessment that happens just before project start i.e. during the
project start-up phase.
Customer-supplier framework
Why
 Not many studies which focus on preceding phases of projects
although a software development project may be doomed to fail
already before the project has properly started
 Different project types are not identified and kept separate.
Success criteria and success factors e.g. for in-house projects and
projects conducted by suppliers to external customers (outsourced
projects) seem intuitively different
 Success factor lists are based on data collected from
heterogeneous respondents and using questionnaires
Project success criteria and factor
1. Success criteria: The dependent variables by which we will judge
the successful outcome of the project.
2. Success factors: The independent variables which will influence
the successful achievement of the success criteria.
[Turner, J.R.: The handbook of project-based management. 3rd edition.The McGraw-
Hill Companies, USA (1999), p 47]
What does this mean?: If the success criterion is that the project has
to be finished on time, the success factor should assist in
achieving the criterion. In this case, the project success factor can
be that a timetable has been planned and it is realistic.
Project success
 The project success depend on whether the project fulfilling
expectations of them who were involved in the project
 Project success criteria should be defined, agreed, and
communicated before project start
References
• Ahonen, J.J., Savolainen, P.: Software engineering projects may fail before they are started: Post-
mortem analysis of five cancelled projects. The Journal of Systems and Software. 83, 2175–2187
(2010)
• Halman, J.I.M., Burger., B.T.N.:Evaluating effectivenes of project start-ups: an exploratory study.
International Journal of Project Management. 20, 81–89 (2002)
• Pinto, J.K., Prescott, J.E.: Variations in Critical Success Factors Over the Stages in the Project Life
Cycle. Journal of Management. 14, 5–18 (1988)
• Savolainen, P., Ahonen, J.J., Richardson, I.: Software development project success and failure from
the supplier’s perspective: A systematic literature review. 30, 458–469 (2012)
• Pinto, J.K., Mantel, S.J., Jr. .: The Causes of Project Failure. IEEE Transactions on Engineering
management. 37, 269–276 (1990)
• De Wit, A.: Measurement of project success.International journal of project management. 6, 164–
170 (1988)
Methodology
 Qualitative reseach
 Semi-structured interview
Future work:
Systematic literature review (2013)
• Analyse from each factor by whose perspective, what kind of
project and project phase which factor is concern
• Create Software development success factor list before project
start
An interview for the project managers (2014-2015)
 Define what companies would be potential in our interviews
(autumn 2014)
 Define the project types and Find companies and projects for the
interview
 Interview project managers in a project start-up phase (fall 2014)
 Analyze interviews and compare factors what were discovered in
the literature and what project managers answered ( 2015)
Wrap up the results (2016)
Project
start-up Software engineering project
Customer
Supplier
Acquisition
Sales
Outcome of the project
Order from
the customer Project start
Business strategy, Business situation, Resources
Need
Project end
Closure
Savolainen, P.: Why Do Software Development Projects Fail? Emphasising the Supplier’s Perspective
and the Project Start-Up. Dissertations in the Faculty of Information of Technology, University of
Jyväskylä, 2011