A simple Google search on reasons for software development projects to fail, as any other regular search would do, returns hundreds of results consisting of many articles, case studies, reports, news and more. While the wording differs from one source to another, it is possible to observe several “Top Reasons” leading to failure of software development projects.

While nobody cares that much about how the engine works while purchasing a car, when it is the frightening subject of “Software Development” under discussion, the first thing to worry Clients turns out to be technical issues, such as programming language, technology, platforms and so forth. Most of the time, this leads to needless efforts on Client’s side to dive deep into those details and getting lost. After all, for being sure about the quality of the code, while there’s not much can be done other than choosing a good partner for software development, there are many other things to be done by the participation of Client to ensure the code is developed within time and budget.

Following are on top of the list of reasons why software development projects fail:

• No clearly defined scope or requirements at the beginning of the project
• Changing requirements and specifications
• Lack of stakeholder and management involvement
• Unrealistic expectations
• Lack of resources

Details of each reason being potential subjects for separate discussions, the bigger picture is the following: The most important success factor in software development projects is communication. There’s no other way for a software development project to be successful unless there’s a clear communication channel ensuring mutual understanding on the issues listed above. (of course other than the issue with availability of competent resources, which is the top-reason of failure not connected to communication)