The Problem
“We are on year 7 of a 2-year project, with still no end in sight!!” – A CTO whose organization will likely end up spending at least $35-50M on a custom software project that they thought would only cost them $8M. We know, 5 years past schedule and $30M+ over budget sounds extreme, but this happens far more frequently than one would think and could happen to you too if it hasn’t already.
In a recent Lighthouse survey with CEOs, CTOs, CIOs, and VPs of Sales, 92% said their number one software objective is delivering on-time; doing so while also staying on-budget and on-quality is easier said than done though. A study published in the Harvard Business Review, which analyzed 1,471 IT projects, found that one in six projects ran over-budget by 200% and past-schedule by almost 70% (read that again). Since I’m sure you have already started the mental math, I’ll pause here to let you finish calculating what 200% of your current project’s budget is: [Insert dramatic pause].
Software is often an organization’s largest asset, and you can’t afford to leave it up to chance (not to mention your job and/or company as a whole). So, the question remains: how do you avoid being the one in six?
The Solution
Step one is assessing where you are today, so you can begin to predict how much time, money, and effort it will take to get to where you’re going. Whether you are at the very beginning of your custom software development journey, or lost somewhere in the middle, gaining visibility of where you are, how you got there, and where you are going is crucial to on-time software delivery. Once you gain clear visibility, you will then have the awareness and control needed to course-correct if (more realistically, when) your project starts to veer off course. The third and final step is making this process repeatable so you can consistently deliver your custom software projects on-time, on-budget, and on-quality.
Take the first step and assess where you are today by completing our FREE 10-minute On-Time Software Development Self-Assessment. If you are unsure how to answer some of the questions, don’t worry – the purpose of this self-assessment is to shine a light on your organization’s blind spots, so you can then identify the areas where you should focus your efforts to gain better visibility and control. Upon completion, you will receive a FREE report with your results and recommendations within minutes.
The Results
How can gaining visibility and control of your custom software project actually help your organization? When a UK retailer was launching an ecommerce platform and their project had stalled because their offshore developer was late and over-budget, Lighthouse found 963 unknown defects (293 of which were critical) to save them $2.2M in unplanned rework and pull their schedule in by a year. Similarly, when an international pharmaceutical company was tired of their software projects overrunning cost and schedule, Lighthouse implemented user story inspections, code analysis and the True North Testing Methodology™ to save them $1.2M in the first 6 months.
It only takes one bad release or missed deadline to disrupt business projections, cripple productivity across your company or cause irreparable damage to your brand. If your software projects are consistently late and overbudget, there is no time or money left to waste—ask us about our On-Time Software Development service today. No matter the size and scale of your initiative, Lighthouse is here to get you back on course. We are experts in improving software team performance and assuring your business has the visibility and control needed to deliver your custom software on-time, on-budget, and on-quality.
If you’d like to learn more, schedule a chat and let’s explore the possibilities together. If you’re not ready to chat just yet, complete our FREE On-Time Software Development Self-Assessment now to get started.
Sarah Roberts
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Marketing Specialist
