Software Runaways: Lessons Learned from Massive Software Project Failures - Softcover

Glass, Robert L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 013673443X ISBN 13: 9780136734437

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 1997

Synopsis

A case study book dealing with software failed projects, e.g. The Denver Airport problem. It categorizes these projects into the following areas: 1)Project objectives were not fully specified. 2)Projects were poorly planned. 3)Enabling project technology was not fully understood. 4)Absence of management methodology. 5)Insufficient expertise. 6)Lack of understanding of the risks involved. These cases will show how failure might have been avoided, how they might have been completed, on time and within budget. This book should be seen as a companion volume to Yourdon's DEATH MARCH book and Jones ASSESSMENT & CONTROL OF SOFTWARE PROJECTS, both of which will be extensively referenced in the book.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

67344-2

What you can learn from 16 colossal software disasters.

If failure teaches more than success, imagine how much you can learn from the most catastrophic software development failures of all time. In Software Runaways, software failure expert Robert Glass shows exactly what went wrong in 16 colossal software disasters -- and how to keep it from happening to you.

Glass goes behind the scenes of those awful projects you've seen on the nightly news -- the Denver Airport baggage system, the IRS modernization --and a host of less well-publicized failures that are equally instructive. Along the way, he identifies six characteristics of projects likely to fail -- and some of them will surprise you.

Software Runaways brings a software engineer's perspective to projects like:

• American Airlines' failed reservation system, Confirm
• The 4GL disaster at the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles
• The NCR inventory system that nearly destroyed its customers
• The next-generation FAA Air Traffic Control System that collapsed

Glass presents specific lessons to be learned from each failure, and shows how to "sniff out" runaway projects early enough to take action. He also considers the typical responses to potential runaways, including risk management and issue management, demonstrating their strengths and weaknesses.

Whether you're an IT executive, project manager or developer, Software Runaways helps you learn from someone else's mistakes -- and that's a whole lot less painful than making them yourself!

About the Author:

ROBERT L. GLASS is an author and consulting on software quality issues who has written more than 10 books on the topic. He owns his own company, Computing Trends, and writes a column on Software Engineering for ACM Communications Magazine.

About this edition

• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 013673443X
• ISBN 13: 9780136734437
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 280