Project management practices: Success versus failure

Often, software managers have to monitor and manage many projects concurrently. Unfortunately, some projects were completed successfully but some were not completed on time, over budget or being cancelled. Some of the reasons of this project failure are: lack of user involvement, lack of planning, incomplete requirements, lack of resources, incorrect cost estimation, etc. There are many project planning and scheduling techniques to manage and help to ensure project success. Some of these techniques, however, may not be suitable for specific types of projects and thus, cause projects to fail. This paper discusses the issues involved in project success and failure, and presents the results of seven projects undertaken by the undergraduate students taking the course project management.