Successful software projects are no accident

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

Best-in-class government IT projects share common traits that agencies can use to ensure success.

Enough already with Healthcare.gov and its embattled IT cousins; let’s talk about government software projects that actually worked. Specifically, what do successful projects have in common, and how might forward-looking agencies replicate those conditions for success?

It’s a difficult question to answer, but if we use the Quantitative Software Management Inc. (QSM) database, which holds carefully vetted information on over 10,000 completed software projects, including thousands of government projects, we can uncover common traits that can predict success for government IT projects.

Defining success

Because “successful” and “embattled” are relative terms, we’ll use the designation “best-in-class” – for projects that performed at least one standard deviation better than average in time-to-market, effort (or cost) expended and quality – and “worst-in-class” for the exact opposite.

To put this in perspective, using a sample of over 500 business IT systems, best-in-class projects were (on average) 3.5 times faster to market than worst-in-class projects, and required 8.1 times less effort.  When narrowing the sample to government-only business systems, the best-in-class projects were, on average, 3 times faster to market than what was typical for the IT industry, and required 6 times less effort. Meanwhile, the worst-in-class projects, on average, took twice as long to complete and required 5 times more effort than the typical industry standard.

In software development, effort and time-to-market often work against each other. (When schedules are compressed, we typically pay a premium in effort.) Hence, projects with outstanding marks in both effort and time-to-market are quite rare and indicative of uncommon success. So given that background, what are the most common success factors for a best in class project?

Observation #1: Smaller is faster

The first and most prominent commonality among our best-in-class projects was a relatively modest team size. Contrary to the widely held belief that one can expedite a project by adding people to it, precisely the opposite is true. Larger teams often take longer to develop the same functionality as smaller teams.

Statistically speaking, the most efficient project teams rarely exceed 7-10 people (except on some of the largest, most complex systems greater than 200,000 lines of code). This represents an 18-39% reduction from industry averages. Furthermore, teams falling within this “optimal” size range completed projects with 28-69% greater productivity than larger teams with comparable tasks.

Based on this data, it stands to reason that government agencies should keep their IT project teams as small as possible – both for reasons of efficiency and for the added flexibility to take on new projects and reduce backlog.

Observation #2: Requirements required

The second commonality pertains to the allocation of time and effort. Statistically, we found that best-in-class projects invested a much greater proportion of total effort in pre-coding activities – requirements analysis, architecture, and high-level design – than worst-in-class projects (28.0% vs. 7.6% of the total effort). 

These findings were even more pronounced for government projects (36.3% vs. 4.4% of the total).

This data appears to support a “pay up-front or pay later with interest” concept, whereby best-in-class projects invest time and effort up-front through analysis in order to bypass greater time and effort expenditures later through maintenance and repair.

It’s important to note that QSM’s data set included both agile and non-agile projects.  Regardless of whether or not the project is following an agile approach, sufficient requirements analysis, architecture and high-level design work needs to be done to ensure the backlog of required functionality has been clearly identified, sized and prioritized prior to construction. Otherwise, there will be extensive rework that can quickly turn an otherwise “best-in-class” project into a “worst-in-class” project.

For government agencies, the lesson would seem to be one of patience and wise investment. More often than not, the QSM data shows that management decisions to overstaff or to begin coding prematurely in an attempt to achieve an aggressive schedule backfire and ultimately produce inferior results at greater cost in the same or longer time frames. 

The case for quantitative data

Of course, individual projects will vary, and factors like team size and percentage of effort spent in analysis cannot guarantee the success of any single initiative. But the principle of using past software project data to predict future project outcomes is crucial to modern government.

And considering government’s propensity for outsourcing, the ability to perform feasibility estimates (based on past project data) holds greater value for contracting officers who use those estimates to spot unrealistic bids up-front and, on occasion, to defend the procurement process from unhappy vendor protests.

These analyses are typically called Independent Government Cost Estimates, and they’re critical weapons in the war against project inefficiency.

But if the data tells us anything, it’s that estimation shouldn’t stop when development starts. Project managers should be continuously tracking, reforecasting and reassessing their project decisions based on shifting requirements and budgets.

Perhaps, in addition to small team size and robust analysis, we should add a third common trait among best-in-class projects: active, dedicated project managers.

After all, what use is data without the right people to interpret it? 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.