This thesis investigates project risk management issues in smaller software teams. Certain gaps in the literature are identified. There is limited literature on what risk management techniques software practitioners use. The studies that are published tend to focus on large software teams. This thesis investigates what risks these smaller teams consider to be important. It also investigates what techniques are perceived to address these risks and how effective those techniques are considered to be. One of those risks is found to be of primary importance, yet this risk is not suggested by the project management literature. This thesis goes on to conduct a more in-depth exploration of that specific risk in the context of these smaller teams Interviews were selected as the most appropriate method to achieve the objectives of the thesis. Nineteen interviews in eight software organisations are conducted to collect data for this thesis. Three different perspectives on project risk were investigated. Those were the perspectives of the; service managers, project managers and developers. Hence a large store of rich information is collated. The results are analysed and a rich set of information is presented in this thesis. As a result of this research it is suggested that smaller software teams may find it useful to consider the 16 risks discussed in this research and how applicable those risks are to their individual organisation. Service managers may need to do more to raise the awareness of the importance of risks associated with ‘customer relationship issues’ within their own organisations. Three risks stood out as areas where future research might be most fruitful. They were; customer relationship issues, introduction of new technology and unrealistic schedules and budgets. Risks related to customer relationship issues were of particular significance and have tended to be over looked in the project management literature. It is submitted that research into standard project risk management approaches may need to be combined with business risk management approaches to gain a full understanding of the risks faced and addressed by these smaller teams.

Software industry is growing day by day and software is going more complex and diverse with increase in cost and rate of failure. This increase in size and complexity of software projects has negative impact on the software productivity, schedule and effort. Organizations are demanding high quality products to increase their productivity and profits. It is common that they are facing some serious problems even after spending a large sum of money. So, its alarming situation and the concerned parties should take effective steps to resolve software project failure problem. Above all this, we are facing a high rate of software failure putting software industry on stake. This study revolves around the core issue of finding the root causes of software project failure with respect to organizational factors. In this, I have tried to find the organizational factors contributing towards the failure of software projects. I have done this study with the help of literature review and questionnaire survey. There could be one or several factors responsible for the software projects failure, which are mentioned in chapter two. I have slightly touched the Information Technology for digging deep into the failure and for understanding this phenomenon. Software failure is the biggest challenge faced by IT as well as business people. There is strong need to find the root causes of software project failure and mitigate them. For controlling this failure problem management can perform its role and I have discussed the role of management in defining, measuring, controlling and implementation of software projects. A project is considered failure when it is not able to show the anticipated results and it is happened when team is not able to fulfill the requirements of the project e.g. overruns time, overruns resources, lack of conformance with initial requirements specifications. I have tried to find out the answers of my research questions through literature review and empirical study. Root causes of software project failure are presented and validated through literature review, data analysis, discussion, and findings. A comprehensive analysis of empirical data and discussion will give you the insight into the problem and my effort to sort out them in a precise way. For the purpose of knowing the solution of this study, I will refer you towards the conclusion and recommendation. The concerned or interested people can get benefit from this research study and definitely it will help them to avoid software project failure. The contribution of the research is twofold. First, it will be helpful for the software making professionals/companies and secondly, it will be helpful for decision makers/users (Organizations), when they are going to buy or implement a software project for enhancing their productivity. / This study revolves around the core issue of finding the root causes of software project failure with respect to organizational factors. In this study, I have tried to find the organizational factors contributing towards the failure of software projects. Study is comprises of literature review and questionnaire survey. There could be one or several factors responsible for the software projects failure. I have finalized some important causes of software failure on the basis of literature review and empirical study in chapter two. Further these finalized causes of software project failure are again validated with the help of questionnaire survey in chapter four. I have presented a comprehensive analysis of the gathered data from respondents. For avoiding any aspect of the analysis, I have further added a detailed discussion on data gathered through survey. I have slightly touched the Information Technology with respect to management’s role in software project development. Information Technology is playing a very vital role in today’s organizations for competing on world level. Software failure is the biggest challenge faced by IT as well as business people. In this way, software failure is very important issue for software development firms as well as buyer and user firms. There is strong need to find the root causes of software project failure and mitigate them. In currant age, the effective use of IT is a success factor for any organization. It is only possible if we link IT with organizational goals. Business and IT managers need to learn that how they can measure, manage and justify technology as a business matter. The example of ideal organization is that which gives value to the collaboration, openness, and communication. The insight gain through this research is the basis for describing the solution for software failure problem and it is presented in chapter six (Conclusion and Recommendations) briefly. The concerned parties will be able to get the benefits from this study to avoid the failure problem. The contribution of this research is twofold. First, it will be helpful for the software making professionals/companies and secondly, it will be helpful for decision makers/users (Organizations). Especially, when they are going to buy or implementing a software project for enhancing their productivity.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-04-24T14:13:59Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) An Approach to Innovative Software Project Management - Final.pdf: 4765797 bytes, checksum: 1279ab985bdeaf01b2453e5ba5ace612 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-24T14:13:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) An Approach to Innovative Software Project Management - Final.pdf: 4765797 bytes, checksum: 1279ab985bdeaf01b2453e5ba5ace612 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-05 / CNPQ / Innovation has been recognized as an essential condition for gaining competitive advantage, but also for survival in the software industry. The participation of everyone is essential both in idea generation and innovation implementation. Besides the innovation concern, project-oriented software factories are adopting models like CMMI and MPS.Br to achieve an advantage regarding quality. However, the engagement of everyone is sometimes overlooked, so that innovative ideas (incremental innovations) or opportunities for improvement are not perceived. The aim of this study is to build an approach to manage innovative software project (ISPM), guiding project managers and team members in managing innovation in project-oriented software factories. Thus, this approach can be a determining factor in fostering innovation and avoiding it to be stifled by stimulating engagement and participation. A mixed method was used to analyze the phenomenon of fostering innovation in project-oriented software factories, composed of a systematic literature review (SLR) and an action research (AR) in a real organization. The SRL analyzed 17 primary studies, from an initial set of 2,827 articles, where impact factors in ISPM were identified, resulting in the initial approach. The action research was conducted in a large international organization of software development, with units throughout Brazil. The final model of the ISPM approach confirmed the positive influence of engagement and participation of everyone on idea generation and innovative behavior project-oriented software factories. Demonstrating that it is possible to innovate in this context and keep following the procedures defined for the organization. In particular, the findings showed that the creation of a motivating and open environment for creativity made feasible the innovation development. The study results provided explanatory power to promote innovation, as well as showed the importance to study such phenomena in the software industry, specifically in project-oriented software factories. Moreover, the approach provided several strategies and recommendations for professionals to foster innovation and avoid it to be stifled. / Inovação tem sido reconhecida como uma condição essencial para se ganhar vantagem competitiva e sobreviver na indústria de software. A participação de todos é primordial, tanto na geração de ideias quanto na implementação da inovação. Além da preocupação em inovar, as fábricas de software orientadas a projetos vêm adotando modelos como CMMI e MPS.Br para conseguir um diferencial em termos de qualidade. Porém, o engajamento de todos por vezes é negligenciado, fazendo com que ideias inovadoras (inovações incrementais) ou oportunidades de melhoria não sejam percebidas. O objetivo deste estudo é construir uma abordagem para o gerenciamento de projetos inovadores de software (ISPM), orientando os gerentes de projeto e membros da equipe na gestão da inovação, em fábricas de software orientadas a projetos. Desta forma, esta abordagem pode ser um fator determinante para fomentar a inovação e evitar que ela seja sufocada, ao estimular o engajamento e participação de todos. Um método misto foi utilizado para analisar o fenômeno do fomento à inovação em fábricas de software orientadas a projetos, sendo composto por uma revisão sistemática da literatura (SLR) e uma pesquisa-ação (AR) em organização real. A SRL analisou 17 estudos primários, de um conjunto inicial de 2.827 artigos, onde foram identificados os fatores de impacto para o ISPM, resultando na elaboração de uma abordagem inicial. A pesquisa ação foi realizada em uma grande organização internacional de desenvolvimento de software, com unidades espalhadas pelo Brasil. O modelo final da abordagem para ISPM confirmou a influência positiva do engajamento e da participação de todos na geração de ideias e no comportamento inovador em fábricas de software orientadas a projetos. Demonstrando que é possível inovar neste contexto, sem abdicar de seguir os processos definidos para a organização. Em particular, os achados mostraram que a criação de um ambiente motivador e aberto à criatividade viabilizaram o fomento da inovação. O resultado do estudo proporcionou poder explanatório ao fomento da inovação, assim como mostrou a importância de se estudar o fenômeno na indústria de software, especificamente em fábricas de software orientadas a projetos. Além disso, a abordagem proporcionou diversas estratégias e recomendações aos profissionais da área para fomentar a inovação e evitar que ela seja sufocada.

Companies have invested large amounts of money on information systems development. Unfortunately, not all information systems developments are successful. Software project failure is frequent and lamentable. Surveys and statistical analysis results underscore the severity and scope of software project failure. Limited research relates software structure to information systems failures. Systematic study of failure provides insights into the causes of IS failure. More importantly, it contributes to better monitoring and control of projects and enhancing the likelihood of the success of management information systems. The underlining theories and literature that contribute to the construction of theoretical framework come from general systems theory, complexity theory, and failure studies. One hundred COBOL programs from a single company are used in the analysis. The program log clearly documents the date, time, and the reasons for changes to the programs. In this study the relationships among the variables of business requirements change, software complexity, program size and the error rate in each phase of software development life cycle are tested. Interpretations of the hypotheses testing are provided as well. The data shows that analysis error and design error occur more often than programming error. Measurement criteria need to be developed at each stage of the software development cycle, especially in the early stage. The quality and reliability of software can be improved continuously. The findings from this study suggest that it is imperative to develop an adaptive system that can cope with the changes to the business environment. Further, management needs to focus on processes that improve the quality of the system design stage.

Visando lidar com as crescentes complexidades dos sistemas de software e aumentar a maturidade do processo de desenvolvimento através da minimização dos riscos e incertezas, a disciplina de Gestão de Riscos tem se apresentado como tema crescente na indústria e na academia de software. Um gerenciamento de riscos adequado pode implicar em melhoria do produto e no aumento da produtividade do processo de desenvolvimento de software. O presente trabalho apresenta uma especialização do processo de Gestão de Riscos para projetos de software. Esta especialização consiste em uma estratégia preventiva da Gestão de Riscos que permite transformar riscos e incertezas de projetos de software em requisitos de Arquitetura de software, de forma que a Arquitetura final obtida não seja impactada pelas eventuais ocorrências desses riscos, garantindo assim qualidade do produto e produtividade do processo. Após a conceituação teórica sobre riscos, incertezas e Arquitetura de software e a descrição da estratégia para mapeamento das categorias de riscos e incertezas em requisitos de Arquitetura, o trabalho apresenta a aplicação da estratégia proposta a alguns projetos de software reais, destacando os pontos positivos da abordagem. Conclusivamente, são discutidas as vantagens e os pontos críticos para a aplicação da estratégia proposta em projetos do dia-a-dia das organizações. / In order to handle the growing complexities of software systems and increase the maturity of the development process through the minimization of risks and uncertainties, the Risk Management has been presented as an important subject in the software industry and academy. An adequate risk management can result in product quality improvement as well as increase the productivity of the software development process. This dissertation presents a specialization of Risk Management process for software projects. This specialization consists of a preventive strategy of Risk Management, which makes possible turning risks and uncertainties of software projects into requirements of software Architecture in a way that the final obtained Architecture is not impacted by eventual occurrences of these risks, therefore assuring the product quality and the process productivity. After the theoretical conceptualization of risks, uncertainties and software Architecture, and the description of the strategy for mapping risk and uncertainties categories in Architecture requirements, the dissertation presents the application of the proposed strategy to some software projects, emphasizing the positive points of the approach. Conclusively, the advantages and critical points for the application of the proposed strategy in regular projects are discussed.

Procurando obter ganhos sustentáveis de produtividade e qualidade no desenvolvimento de software, diversos modelos, formas de organização do trabalho e abordagens inovadoras foram desenvolvidos para auxiliar os gerentes de projeto. O presente trabalho propõe um modelo de gerenciamento de projetos, baseado nas metodologias ágeis de desenvolvimento de software (Extreme Programming e o Scrum), e nos princípios e valores do pensamento enxuto, originado na manufatura automobilística japonesa. Após a proposição do modelo, ele é aplicado em um estudo de caso, avaliando os resultados obtidos na combinação entre as metodologias ágeis e nos princípios e valores da produção enxuta. Em seguida, este modelo é analisado qualitativamente com o intuito de determinar suas vantagens de utilização e seu escopo de aplicação. Para tanto, recorreu-se a uma avaliação do modelo proposto e o tradicional modelo cascata, ainda amplamente adotado no setor de software, e mapeando como este modelo contorna os problemas apontados na literatura, advindos da utilização do modelo cascata. / Looking for sustainable gains in productivity and quality in the development of software, several models, forms of work organization and innovative approaches were developed to support software development managers. The present work proposes a model of project management, based on agile software development methodologies (Extreme Programming and Scrum) and on lean principles and values borrowed from the Japanese automobile manufacturing. After describing the proposed model, it is applied in a case study, describing the results of combining the agile software development methodologies with the lean production principles and values. After this, the model is qualitatively analyzed to determine its advantages and its scope of application. For this, the proposed model is evaluated with the traditional waterfall model - until now widely adopted in the software industry - and mapping how it addresses problems, cited in the literature, derived from the use of the waterfall model.

Procurando obter ganhos sustentáveis de produtividade e qualidade no desenvolvimento de software, diversos modelos, formas de organização do trabalho e abordagens inovadoras foram desenvolvidos para auxiliar os gerentes de projeto. O presente trabalho propõe um modelo de gerenciamento de projetos, baseado nas metodologias ágeis de desenvolvimento de software (Extreme Programming e o Scrum), e nos princípios e valores do pensamento enxuto, originado na manufatura automobilística japonesa. Após a proposição do modelo, ele é aplicado em um estudo de caso, avaliando os resultados obtidos na combinação entre as metodologias ágeis e nos princípios e valores da produção enxuta. Em seguida, este modelo é analisado qualitativamente com o intuito de determinar suas vantagens de utilização e seu escopo de aplicação. Para tanto, recorreu-se a uma avaliação do modelo proposto e o tradicional modelo cascata, ainda amplamente adotado no setor de software, e mapeando como este modelo contorna os problemas apontados na literatura, advindos da utilização do modelo cascata. / Looking for sustainable gains in productivity and quality in the development of software, several models, forms of work organization and innovative approaches were developed to support software development managers. The present work proposes a model of project management, based on agile software development methodologies (Extreme Programming and Scrum) and on lean principles and values borrowed from the Japanese automobile manufacturing. After describing the proposed model, it is applied in a case study, describing the results of combining the agile software development methodologies with the lean production principles and values. After this, the model is qualitatively analyzed to determine its advantages and its scope of application. For this, the proposed model is evaluated with the traditional waterfall model - until now widely adopted in the software industry - and mapping how it addresses problems, cited in the literature, derived from the use of the waterfall model.

Visando lidar com as crescentes complexidades dos sistemas de software e aumentar a maturidade do processo de desenvolvimento através da minimização dos riscos e incertezas, a disciplina de Gestão de Riscos tem se apresentado como tema crescente na indústria e na academia de software. Um gerenciamento de riscos adequado pode implicar em melhoria do produto e no aumento da produtividade do processo de desenvolvimento de software. O presente trabalho apresenta uma especialização do processo de Gestão de Riscos para projetos de software. Esta especialização consiste em uma estratégia preventiva da Gestão de Riscos que permite transformar riscos e incertezas de projetos de software em requisitos de Arquitetura de software, de forma que a Arquitetura final obtida não seja impactada pelas eventuais ocorrências desses riscos, garantindo assim qualidade do produto e produtividade do processo. Após a conceituação teórica sobre riscos, incertezas e Arquitetura de software e a descrição da estratégia para mapeamento das categorias de riscos e incertezas em requisitos de Arquitetura, o trabalho apresenta a aplicação da estratégia proposta a alguns projetos de software reais, destacando os pontos positivos da abordagem. Conclusivamente, são discutidas as vantagens e os pontos críticos para a aplicação da estratégia proposta em projetos do dia-a-dia das organizações. / In order to handle the growing complexities of software systems and increase the maturity of the development process through the minimization of risks and uncertainties, the Risk Management has been presented as an important subject in the software industry and academy. An adequate risk management can result in product quality improvement as well as increase the productivity of the software development process. This dissertation presents a specialization of Risk Management process for software projects. This specialization consists of a preventive strategy of Risk Management, which makes possible turning risks and uncertainties of software projects into requirements of software Architecture in a way that the final obtained Architecture is not impacted by eventual occurrences of these risks, therefore assuring the product quality and the process productivity. After the theoretical conceptualization of risks, uncertainties and software Architecture, and the description of the strategy for mapping risk and uncertainties categories in Architecture requirements, the dissertation presents the application of the proposed strategy to some software projects, emphasizing the positive points of the approach. Conclusively, the advantages and critical points for the application of the proposed strategy in regular projects are discussed.

The monitoring of project-oriented business processes is difficult because their state is fragmented and represented by the progress of different documents and artifacts being worked on. This observation holds in particular for software development projects in which various developers work on different parts of the software concurrently. Prior contributions in this area have proposed a plethora of techniques to analyze and visualize the current state of the software artifact as a product. It is surprising that these techniques are missing to provide insights into what types of work are conducted at different stages of the project and how they are dependent upon another. In this paper, we address this research gap and present a technique for mining the software process including dependencies between artifacts. Our evaluation of various open-source projects demonstrates the applicability of our technique.

<p>Software projects are known for their failure rate, where many are being delivered late, over budget or being canceled while in development. The reason to it is changing requirements and intangibility of the software. Being so abstract it is difficult to imaging all the aspects of the software at the requirements stage. Also technology is playing a major role since processing power, storage space, and data transfer speeds are improving from year to year.</p><p>Agile methodologies are addressing projects with unclear requirements making process of implementing new specifications along the project much easier and less costly. However the success rate of the software projects did not improve much since the introduction of Agile methodologies. This thesis is looking at what type of projects fit different methodologies and what are factors which practitioners should take into account when selecting methodology for a particular project,</p><p>The thesis opens up with introduction which sets the research question and provides a brief background to the research topic. In subsequent chapter literature review is conducted to find out what does literature and other researchers have said on the same topic. Third chapter discusses underlying research philosophy and discusses the data collection tools. Next chapter discusses the findings of the research. Interviews has been conducted with project management professionals from Sweden, US, UK and Canada. It was identified through the analysis of patters that Agile methodologies are not well suited for projects involving databases, embedded development and computationally complex projects. Through the analysis of the questionnaire several project characteristics were identified which suit Agile methodologies better than traditional ones: unclear requirements, high risk of failure etc… In the last chapter the thesis concludes the findings and its theoretical and practical implications.</p>