A Needle in a Haystack

Considering the high failure rate of information technology (IT) projects over the last 40 years, project managers should use all the tools at their disposal in order to make their project a success; however, more than half of all project managers fail to use a powerful tool that is readily available – a development methodology. A development methodology provides structure to a project, which facilitates communication, establishes expectations, enhances quality and promotes consistency. One potential reason project managers do not employ a development methodology is that selecting the correct methodology from among the hundreds available can be an overwhelming task. For this reason, understanding the decision-making process, and identifying those factors that influence it, is a worthwhile endeavor. While empirical research in this area is lacking, a review of the extant literature reveals several factors that are important when choosing a development methodology. In this chapter, many of these factors are identified, a model for categorizing them is proposed, and a model for selecting a methodology is presented.