Will This Project Be Successful?

I am sometimes asked what it is that makes developments successful, why do some work and some not, and more specifically, 'will this one work?' The answer that people are looking for is a particular language, or methodology, or technique, or technology. Of course, the answer has nothing to do with any of these things; it can be summed up in one of those clichés I have criticised earlier;

'Nothing breeds success like success!'

The biggest predictor to a successful project is that the project teams have previously been successful. Success gives confidence; it means that the team will have gone through a number of 'pain barriers' that could stop others. They will be willing to try new things; object orientation or client server, they will have some idea what to expect, they will know that some things will go wrong, that the specification will change, that the users will be difficult, that IT management will be unreasonable, etc., etc., etc.

'Nothing breeds failure like failure!'

......and what would be a predictor to failure? Well, if an IT department or a development team had a number of attempts at developing systems, but for whatever reasons had not completed any of them, then their chances of success will be lower. They will lack the necessary confidence and experience