Forensic Analysis of Failing Software Projects: Issues and Challenges

Software project failure has directly and indirectly cost trillions of dollars over the past fifty years. The reasons for failure are many. Recently, we began investigating methods for software project forensic analysis in order to develop principles and practices that would enable better understanding why, when, where, how, and what causes software project failure. This paper examines some of the issues and challenges in performing forensic analysis of failing or failed software projects. We propose an initial model based on this review to critically evaluate potential causes and assess the potential for failure