Project failures

It never ceases to amaze me why people worry so much about the "HOWS" before they really understand the "WHATS." Most errors found in any application usually come from a misunderstanding of what the client really needs. Not what they want. Lack of communication from the beginning will lead many projects down the wrong path, and the problems are not uncovered until too late in the project to fix, or worse yet, some vital applications are left out because "we ran out of time."

Lack of communication, lack of involvement, lack of feedback, lack of understand from the very beginning will lead to a project's failure. The process of designing and developing testable business requirements from the start are essential to any projects success. However, we often spend very little time at the beginning, and tend to try to fix the preventable problems at the end. And of course it is always easy to blame somebody else for the misunderstanding.

Clients don't always speak the language of programmers, and therefore programmers do not always understand what the client meant to say. Clearer communication up front will help resolve many of the problems that currently plague most projects.

Requirements gathering is a process, and as such can be integrated into many types of projects. New development, patches, enhancements all need to follow the same processes.

Contact us at jyorknh@cjsysnh.com and look at some of our suggestions.