Zen and the Art of Microservices

In the nineties I had my first Project Management related training, where I was introduced to the Standish Group‘s Chaos Study. This study collected, through question forms, information on IT related projects and their success. The study asked for projects to be classified as “Failed”, “Challenged”, or “Successful”, and asked respondents what factors influenced this outcome. The score for successful projects in 2004 was abysmal: only 29%, with 53% “Challenged”. (Over budget, late, or incomplete) For the training, this study was used to emphasize (among other things) the need for good project management, by referring to the list of factors influencing the result.

At that time I had already seen several project become challenged due to bad (“less then good”?) project management. However, if you read recent articles referring to the Chaos study, you’ll find that many are questioning the project success classification. They challenge the study’s findings by asking if a project’s success was measured correctly. As an all-round software guy, I know that project success is hard to grasp, but I still thought the study’s results very useful due to that list of factors. In my eyes, that was the most significant finding, not the bare success scores. Then again, I accepted the premise that a lot of projects don’t qualify as the success they’re presented as. Some people just seem to prefer denial.

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