7 Key Reasons Why Web Projects Don’t Get Completed

Introduction

There are a huge amount of frameworks and methodologies that are used in the software development process, including Agile, Scrum, Kanban, and other approaches. While each of them has its own advantages, the only thing that can really make your product a success is competent execution. 

In this article, we will dive deep into risk management in software development and discuss the most common risks and the ways to avoid them. 

Success criteria

Let’s start, however, with traits that make the product a success:

• launched on time
• within the limits of a budget
• little to no bugs and crashes
• functions as intended
• popular among end-users
• solves specific business goals
• meets the stakeholders’ requirements
• delivers tangible business value

The reality is, that not all of those criteria are usually met, and you need to be prepared for the scenario when something goes wrong. Hopefully, this article will help. 

What can go wrong during the custom software development process and what you can do about it

Risk 1: Low expertise of contractors

Finding a development partner can be confusing because everybody promises a full development cycle and turnkey services.

For example, having decided to digitize part of the business, the company turns to a web studio (aka digital agency/web integrator). The service takes place in the format of one window, where they are asked to fill out a brief, and then, based on it, they come up with technical requirements. If the system is complex and requires experienced programmers, then the development is given to outsourcing production.

The subcontractor is required to perform work on poorly created technical requirements. If the product lives up to the release, it often turns out that it does not solve the company’s problems, and no one wants to use it.

This is a market problem – the contractor inadequately assesses its own strengths, makes the wrong decisions, and, as a result, does not help in any way.

How to avoid it

First, you need to find trusted partners with good reviews and proven experience with successfully completed projects, preferably in your industry. After that, communication is key. Make sure that your development partner is ready to make business trips and open to communicating with stakeholders, end users, and developers that are involved in the process. 

While creating technical specifications and requirements, the experts must not only describe the elements of the interface but also understand the complex integrations and algorithms that are hidden behind visual elements.

Risk 2: Exceeding the budget before the release of the product

The software development services market is dominated by fixed budgets and postpaid. Therefore, accounts and sales departments try to agree on an estimate and conclude an agreement as soon as possible. If the web studio incorrectly compiled the design, carried out an incomplete assessment, and attracted a subcontractor for development, then production hell can happen.

The volume of work will increase, and the general contractor will begin to protect its interests and push performance to meet the budget. This process harms the performance of both the client and the contractor. 

These political wars are hidden from the client. The client has no idea how many links are in the chain, and how the development process goes – the partners of the web studio signed an NDA. As a result, the developer sacrifices the quality of the product to avoid ending up with a financial loss, and the web studio only thinks about how to sign the acts and get paid as soon as possible. Nobody cares about the quality level of the product.

How to avoid it

When coming up with estimates, web studios are limited only to the general stages of work: analytics, design, layout, and programming. While a competent performer will add to the estimate of all the functional elements of the system being developed.

It is impossible to estimate the amount of work on the digital transformation of a business based on a five-minute conversation. Therefore, the work with the estimates requires several stages, and without analytics, it will not be possible to get the final cost of design and development.

Risk 3: Changes in the project during the development

The development of an integrated information system, on average, takes at least a year. During this time, anything can happen.

It may happen that in the middle of the journey the client changes the way the business is done, or better technologies are introduced, or maybe something just changed in the world.

For example, the IT vendor is developing a courier delivery system, but the market changed due to the political situation. Significant aggregators reduced the commissions, and the product no longer solves the previously set goals. In such a scenario, it is absolutely normal if the customer starts changing tasks without waiting for the development to be completed.

How to avoid it

If the customer proposes to change something, then firstly you should figure out the reasons, and start an open conversation in order to understand the details.

Only after that, evaluate these changes, and try to foresee the associated risks, including budget overruns. Then find the best approach to implement these changes and propose it to the client. 

Risk 4: Loss of interest from the owner

When something changes in the world, the customer can get carried away with another line of business, and forget about the current project. The loss of interest leads to the fact that the performer is either asked to completely stop the work or, worse, to leave it in limbo. Waiting for a decision leads to team downtime and overhead expenses.

But more often interest disappears when there are serious changes in the organizational structure on the side of the customer, and people change on the project. As a rule, these people are not aware of the full context, and therefore do not see the value in the development. 

How to avoid it

To keep the owner interested, the vendor should show intermediate results. Large systems usually consist of a set of services, so as a result of each iteration of development, the fully completed functionality of a single service that can already be used should be demonstrated. So the client sees that the product solves the business problems.

Risk 5: The client does not have enough time for participation

Employees on the client side do not provide the necessary information, and the manager responds with significant delays, slowing down the entire process. At the same time, the solution is being actively developed, interest has not been lost, and the deadlines are still on.

Unfortunately, this happens often. In this case, an inexperienced developer will begin to take offense, lower priorities for tasks, and eventually switch the entire team to another project. The logic of the developer is clear here, no one wants downtime due to unreasonably long approvals. This leads to damaged relationships and not finishing the project.

How to avoid it

It will be a good idea to set responsible persons on the clients side and make an agreement on the degree of their involvement throughout an entire development process. 

Risk 6: Unnecessary adjustments and improvements

The client is not always competent enough to assess the degree of readiness of the software, and this is fine. It is much worse when the developer does not understand whether the solution is ready. The launch is often delayed due to unreasonable edits.

This situation happens due to the fact that edits are proposed by those who are not responsible for the final result, unqualified people who have an incomplete context. 

An inexperienced contractor will either endlessly question these changes in order not to make them at his own expense, or vice versa, take into account absolutely all the comments. 

How to avoid it

If comments come from a person who is not responsible, then it is better to record them and discuss with those who are directly responsible. Before making any changes, it is important to understand how these changes will influence the overall goals, deadlines and the budget. 

Risk 7: Infrastructure not ready for launch

The fact that the infrastructure is not ready on the client side, legal nuances are not formalized, and there are no partnership agreements can also delay or stop the launch from happening. 

For example, a system is designed to run on SSD drives, but the current infrastructure uses an HDD, or a business is launching a new line that has not yet received approval from a government agency.

The vendor in this situation sometimes continues to work, ignoring the problems. Because it is comfortable not to go beyond his area of ​​responsibility. Formally, the vendor does the right thing, the problem is on the client’s side. But what is the use of a product that will be impossible to launch?

How to avoid it

Communication is once again is the solution here. It is important to talk openly about all possible blockers for the release on both sides. 

Conclusion

All risks are connected in one way or another. A specific problem not fixed in time can cause a snowball effect. But as experience shows, there are three universal ways to prevent and minimize the consequences of risks:

• Avoiding potential risks
• Having an action plan to fix the consequences if something happens
• Willingness to change the development course and search for alternative solutions