- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: APRESS ACADEMIC (1 Sep 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1590595505
- ISBN-13: 978-1590595503
- Product Dimensions: 24.3 x 16.1 x 1.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 789,022 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Software Project Secrets
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Product Description
Product Description
Software Project Secrets: Why Software Projects Fail offers a new path to success in the software industry. This book reaches out to managers, developers, and customers who use industry-standard methodologies, but whose projects still struggle to succeed.
Author George Stepanek analyzes the project management methodology itself, a critical factor that has thus far been overlooked. He explains why it creates problems for software development projects and begins by describing 12 ways in which software projects are different from other kinds of projects. He also analyzes the project management body of knowledge to discover 10 hidden assumptions that are invalid in the context of software projects.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Why Software Is Different
- Project Management Assumptions
- Case Study: The Billing System Project
- The New Agile Methodologies
- Budgeting Agile Projects
- Case Study: The Billing System Revisited
- Afterword
Inside This Book
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book does what it claims - it analyses how approaches to project management affect the success of a software development project. It looks at the reasons why software projects are different from building a road (as an example of a non-software project) and how conventional approaches to project management fail to recognise these critical differences. It uses the PMBOK for reference, but the points it makes could be applied equally well to other methods (such as Prince2). It then looks at agile development methods and how these can help to overcome the problems identified.
It does these things reasonably well; it brings together material that is available elsewhere into a structured and readable book. The made-up case study is quite engaging and demonstrates the issues. However, the treatment of the subject never gets beyond a fairly basic level, and there is no attempt to recognise let alone address contradictory approaches both within the agile arena and the book itself. For example, it recommends that software developers are involved in analysis/design and testing in addition to development, but later recommends that for highest productivity people's skills are matched to activities (and developers rarely make the most effective testers). Similarly, it recommends co-location of the team to minimise communication overheads, but does not mention the opposite effect that frequent interruptions has on productivity.
This book promises a lot but ultimately fails to deliver anything more than an introduction to the subject. And for 130 pages of main text (excluding index, glossary etc.) it is expensive. If a readable but simplified introduction to agile software development project management is what you are after, the book is worth considering. If price is of no concern to you, give it an extra star.
It does these things reasonably well; it brings together material that is available elsewhere into a structured and readable book. The made-up case study is quite engaging and demonstrates the issues. However, the treatment of the subject never gets beyond a fairly basic level, and there is no attempt to recognise let alone address contradictory approaches both within the agile arena and the book itself. For example, it recommends that software developers are involved in analysis/design and testing in addition to development, but later recommends that for highest productivity people's skills are matched to activities (and developers rarely make the most effective testers). Similarly, it recommends co-location of the team to minimise communication overheads, but does not mention the opposite effect that frequent interruptions has on productivity.
This book promises a lot but ultimately fails to deliver anything more than an introduction to the subject. And for 130 pages of main text (excluding index, glossary etc.) it is expensive. If a readable but simplified introduction to agile software development project management is what you are after, the book is worth considering. If price is of no concern to you, give it an extra star.
Format:Hardcover
My very first impression when I opened the book wasn't very good. It's hard to say why but I felt like I was holding yet another book about project management written only because it's a popular subject. Later however, when I started looking deeper and deeper I found that I was very wrong. I would even risk a statement that this book is better than most. The first part treats about why projects fail. It describes in a very condensed form what most of us have known already.
The second part is focused on how to prevent projects failures and, as you could expect, is very much about agile methodologies. You can find key techniques from agile methodologies and a case study that shows how they can be applied to a project. There is also one more peril which is the chapter about agile budgeting, a quite unusual thing. The book is light and thin but seems to have more content than some 500 pages monsters.
The second part is focused on how to prevent projects failures and, as you could expect, is very much about agile methodologies. You can find key techniques from agile methodologies and a case study that shows how they can be applied to a project. There is also one more peril which is the chapter about agile budgeting, a quite unusual thing. The book is light and thin but seems to have more content than some 500 pages monsters.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Fix What's Broken in Your Software Development Project!
10 Jan 2006
Format:Hardcover
I work for a software company as a Senior Technical Writer, so when I reviewed this book, I expected it to hit close to home. It did.
In the second of two software development firms I have worked with, I realized that the issues which George Stepanek brings out in his book were the same challenges for each company. All parties involved had their own agendas but none of them followed the same methodologies for getting things done, or they found their methodologies did not exact work with Software Development projects.
This is especially true when it comes between the Software Developers and the Project Managers. The Project Managers tend to see only their schedules and not the challenges of the Developers, such as time, code requirements and adequate staffing. I think sometimes the Developers live, eat and sleep at the office to try to get the software to GA (General Availability).
At the end of a development project, many times you look back and try to figure out what went wrong, or what steps to avoid for next time. I think it is wonderful that Stepanek details the key factors which cause a project to fail. Many Project Managers look at the specifics of a software development project only to find they can't quite figure out the difference between this type of project and the others. Fortunately, for the reader the author identifies twelve facts that make software development so different from other projects. With these facts, clearly in hand, Project Managers and Developers can come closer together to make the project a success. Unique to this book as well, Stepanek also identifies ten wrong assumptions (in his analysis of the "Project Management Body of Knowledge") that are made by managers and how to avoid them.
Stepanek also takes a look at three modern project management methods. This is a topic that many books on Software Development and Project Management fail to address. He details what parts of each methodology works to solve some of the issues of software development projects. Almost more importantly, Stepanek identifies the areas in which these tried-and-true methodologies fail to solve the unique problems of software development projects.
Going one step further, the author discusses seven different techniques that can be used by Project Managers to ensure that the projects come in on time and on budget. This should be music to Project Managers' ears!
One thing I do like is the illustration of a point or an example. Stepanek includes a case study at the end of the book which shows what challenges can appear and how to cope with them successfully.
This book should be required reading and a great supplement for the Project Managers, Product Managers, Software Developers and even customer who have been trained to use the methodologies commonly used in the industry, but still have project that fail or are difficult to manage to completion.
In the second of two software development firms I have worked with, I realized that the issues which George Stepanek brings out in his book were the same challenges for each company. All parties involved had their own agendas but none of them followed the same methodologies for getting things done, or they found their methodologies did not exact work with Software Development projects.
This is especially true when it comes between the Software Developers and the Project Managers. The Project Managers tend to see only their schedules and not the challenges of the Developers, such as time, code requirements and adequate staffing. I think sometimes the Developers live, eat and sleep at the office to try to get the software to GA (General Availability).
At the end of a development project, many times you look back and try to figure out what went wrong, or what steps to avoid for next time. I think it is wonderful that Stepanek details the key factors which cause a project to fail. Many Project Managers look at the specifics of a software development project only to find they can't quite figure out the difference between this type of project and the others. Fortunately, for the reader the author identifies twelve facts that make software development so different from other projects. With these facts, clearly in hand, Project Managers and Developers can come closer together to make the project a success. Unique to this book as well, Stepanek also identifies ten wrong assumptions (in his analysis of the "Project Management Body of Knowledge") that are made by managers and how to avoid them.
Stepanek also takes a look at three modern project management methods. This is a topic that many books on Software Development and Project Management fail to address. He details what parts of each methodology works to solve some of the issues of software development projects. Almost more importantly, Stepanek identifies the areas in which these tried-and-true methodologies fail to solve the unique problems of software development projects.
Going one step further, the author discusses seven different techniques that can be used by Project Managers to ensure that the projects come in on time and on budget. This should be music to Project Managers' ears!
One thing I do like is the illustration of a point or an example. Stepanek includes a case study at the end of the book which shows what challenges can appear and how to cope with them successfully.
This book should be required reading and a great supplement for the Project Managers, Product Managers, Software Developers and even customer who have been trained to use the methodologies commonly used in the industry, but still have project that fail or are difficult to manage to completion.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Good and easy read
3 Jan 2007
Format:Hardcover
The book compares software project management from a number of "agile development" perspectives to the PMI model for project management. The book illustrates assumption made in the PMI methodology, and provides a counter point or rebuttal to those assumptions. Thus the book suggests the PMI model is not entirely applicable for software project management. While this book challenges some of the PMI methods, it provides alternative approaches to achieving project success. I liked the book, and appreciated the examples, even when I did not fully agree with some of the assertions.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Software Project Secrets: Why Software Projects Fail
28 April 2008
Format:Hardcover
When I first read this book about two years ago, I wasn't that impressed. I thought author George Stepanek spent too much time explaining things that seemed obvious, and was indecisive in the recommendations he made. Having a few more years experience under my belt, I have a better sense for author was getting at and more of an appreciation for the book.
The first section of the book runs down 12 challenges of software development that make it unique from a project management perspective. This section is mostly valuable for novices, but objective enough to be worth reading for veterans as well. The author makes a particulary good point in that software development is research and that you're inevitably doing something new each time. However I find the real value in this section is that it allows the reader to objectively judge the processes introduced later in the book.
The approaches that Stepanek advocates are all clearly in the Agile realm. The three methodologies discussed are Crystal, Rational Unified Process, and Extreme Programming. This is probably the only book I've ever read on software development process that doesn't advocate one methodology over another. Stepanek recognizes that different approaches apply to different situations, and this is one of the book's biggest strengths. If you're unfamiliar with any of these three approaches, this is a good book to start with.
Stepanek brings things together with a pair of case studies, which he uses to contrast the traditional waterfall approach to the more modern Agile methodologies. The Agile case study is of more interest; Stepanek blends techniques from different methodologies and shows how they can be used in conjunction to solve different problems. The case study is somewhat limited in scope, but it provides concrete examples of using the techniques described earlier in the book. By blending techniques from different methodologies, the author avoids a "one size fits all" recommendation, which I've found other books prone to.
The one thing to be aware of when reading this book is that its content is better suited to developing internal applications rather than external production applications. The thinking is more geared toward an environment where budget and schedule are more important than things like user experience and performance. If you're contributing to an internal software project in any role, I'd recommend giving this book a read.
The first section of the book runs down 12 challenges of software development that make it unique from a project management perspective. This section is mostly valuable for novices, but objective enough to be worth reading for veterans as well. The author makes a particulary good point in that software development is research and that you're inevitably doing something new each time. However I find the real value in this section is that it allows the reader to objectively judge the processes introduced later in the book.
The approaches that Stepanek advocates are all clearly in the Agile realm. The three methodologies discussed are Crystal, Rational Unified Process, and Extreme Programming. This is probably the only book I've ever read on software development process that doesn't advocate one methodology over another. Stepanek recognizes that different approaches apply to different situations, and this is one of the book's biggest strengths. If you're unfamiliar with any of these three approaches, this is a good book to start with.
Stepanek brings things together with a pair of case studies, which he uses to contrast the traditional waterfall approach to the more modern Agile methodologies. The Agile case study is of more interest; Stepanek blends techniques from different methodologies and shows how they can be used in conjunction to solve different problems. The case study is somewhat limited in scope, but it provides concrete examples of using the techniques described earlier in the book. By blending techniques from different methodologies, the author avoids a "one size fits all" recommendation, which I've found other books prone to.
The one thing to be aware of when reading this book is that its content is better suited to developing internal applications rather than external production applications. The thinking is more geared toward an environment where budget and schedule are more important than things like user experience and performance. If you're contributing to an internal software project in any role, I'd recommend giving this book a read.
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