Category: failure

A Product Is Successful Until It Fails

April 10, 2008 by JurgenAppelo

When is a software product successful?

We all know industry reports (particularly the infamous CHAOS report of the Standish Group) are always saying that only a small number of software products are “successful”. But what does that mean? People have been struggling to find a proper definition for years and they are still not in agreement. One traditional view has it that a product is successful when it is delivered on time, within budget, and according to specifications. Others say that a product is successful when it matches a customer’s expectations, paying back its investment in the form of business value created, as laid down in a properly defined business case. Another view, often advocated by agile experts, is that a product is successful when the stakeholders are happy, whatever this may signify at the time of delivery. But I think they are all wrong.