Success Factors of IT Projects: Undergraduate Students Perspective

Abstract

Information Technology (IT) related projects are born and die but their underlying reasons remain. The success rates of IT projects are still low. A number of studies have been carried out to understand the key success factors and hindrances of IT related projects but most of them are focused to the software industry and only a few focused to the IT related undergraduate students projects. Thus, the objective of this research was to reveal the underlying reasons of making success in IT projects from the undergraduate students perspective. To attain this objective, an empirical study was carried out in an engineering institution in Bangladesh. The study was replicated with the 95 undergraduate students major in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) program. The study data was collected using the questionnaire approach and analysis using the content analysis and the affinity diagram. The study revealed a total of ten success factors for the successful completion of IT-related students’ projects. The outcomes will help all parties (teachers, students and administration) of an academic institution to improve the awareness and to diagnose problems at the beginning of pursuing any IT related projects, which in turn will contribute to improve the overall success of IT-related students’ projects. The paper also explored the possible implications of the revealed factors for teachers, students, administrators and policy makers in an academic institution.