In these articles, we will outline some of the problems facing large software development projects. In part one, we will identify several reasons for project failure that we have witnessed. In part two, we will provide practical solutions to these and related problems. The names have been changed to protect the guilty. Before a development project can be defined, basic answers must be sought and acquired to determine whether work should even proceed, and the nature of the work.
Developers make assumptions about the problem scope and definition from day one.
Those assumptions can affect the project and your reputation for a long time. You can either define the assumptions up front or live with what the developers give you. In too many cases, the problem scope is never defined. One organization uses different names for the same documents and activities. Homonyms, synonyms, and acronyms abound, and confusion reigns.