Are software projects evaluated using software teams’ success criteria? A systematic literature review

Abstract

As diverse as software project stakeholders are, so are their project needs and interests. Furthermore, the criteria to measure project success are based on the stakeholder groups’ various needs. It is on the basis of these diverse measurement criteria that project success has become an elusive moving target. Despite this, the measurement and achievement of project success remains a critical milestone in project management for the satisfaction of stakeholders, including software project teams (SPTs). Several research studies have reported project success or failure from various stakeholders’ perspective. However, recent studies have projected SPTs as the most neglected key stakeholder group by software project managers and researchers in the project management field. Given this backdrop, conducting a systematic literature review (SLR) research study to determine if there are empirical studies that have evaluated software project success from SPTs’ perspective would be of interest to many in the field. According to the study's authors there is no study that has been conducted to determine this. The study found one (1) paper, which evaluated a project based on the SPTs’ success criteria, thus showing a research gap and indicating the neglect of this group of stakeholders when it comes to establishing whether software projects meet their needs or not. This study recommends that empirical studies be conducted to close this research gap.