Lessons (re)Learnt
I love reading lessons learnt. But sometimes I wonder if the lesson learnt is the right one.
In a 2015 review, the US DoD found that 85% of software intensive projects finished over time or budget; 50% of projects doubled original cost estimates; projects slipped an average of 36 months; and 33% of projects were cancelled. Is this a scathing indictment of the DoD assurance process, or is there a statistic that hides a bigger picture?
A McKinsey Oxford study found that in the broader industry, 66% of software intensive projects ran over budget as compared with 43% of non-software projects. If you look deeper you find that software intensive projects only had an average benefits shortfall of 17% compared with 113% benefit shortfall for non-software. Suddenly software projects seem to hold lessons for all industries to learn.
What does this mean for project management and system assurance? It is my opinion that we need to be far more adaptive with our Testing and Evaluation strategy, especially for developmental components of projects. The US DoD has developed Adaptive Acquisition Framework Pathways for guidance of Cyber projects which is part of their Cybersecurity Test and Evaluation Guidebook. I think it is a very good starting point for developing broad T&E strategy.
