@book{BCS2004,
  editor    = {{BCS}},
  title     = {{The Challenges of Complex IT Projects}},
  year      = 2004,
  month     = 4,
  publisher = {The Royal Academy of Engineering},
  address   = {London},
  note      = {BCS -- The British Computer Society},
  url={http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/complexity.pdf},
  urldate={2015-02-07},
  annote    = {,,The levels of professionalism observed in software
              engineering are generally lower than those in other
              branches of engineering [...]"
              pp 4

              pp 10
              "We know why projects fail, we know how to prevent their failure -- so why do they still fail?"
              (Cobb's Paradox9)
              9 Unfinished Voyages, a follow up to the CHAOS Report,
              The Standish Group, 1996

              pp 13
              Lack of constraints
              "Software provides `limitless scope' for functionality, without the inconvenient constraints of the
              laws of physics... There is nothing you can't do with software" (A. Bodnar)
              IT projects are not subject to the laws of physics and the associated constraints in the
              same way as, for example, civil engineering projects. This can produce a perception
              that anything and everything is possible with IT. Of course, this is not the case --
              software is governed by real constraints, but these tend to be multidimensional and
              abstract in nature, and therefore difficult to understand and communicate. However,
              both customers and suppliers are susceptible to forgetting or simply not understanding
              the limitations of IT, resulting in unrealistic expectations and over-ambitious projects.
              Indeed, software engineers are sometimes guilty of taking on degrees of novelty and
              risk far in excess of the levels typically accepted by other engineers. This is due, at
              least in part, to the impression that software is largely free of constraints and its
              potential is therefore unlimited.

              pp 16
              "In every piece of real world software, there are embedded an unbounded number of assumptions.
              Most of the assumptions are not decisions that you have taken, but things that you have not
              thought about"
              Software Uncertainty, Manny Lehman, Proc. Soft-Ware, 1st Int. Conf. on Computing in an Imperfect World,
              Interactive Science and Tech. Conf. Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 8-10 April 2002

              pp 17
              Software engineering also differs from the other branches of engineering in having no
              tradition of professional accreditation. Chartered Engineer status is available for
              software engineers but there has been little enthusiasm for gaining accreditation
              amongst the IT community. Furthermore, unlike other engineers, software engineers
              enter the profession through a variety of routes, including those where no formal
              education in software engineering, IT or computer science has been undertaken. The

              pp19
              It is commonly argued that, unlike other engineering projects, each IT project is unique.},
  isbn      = {1-903496-15-2},
}

{"_id":"8EKHqFpqZJycdjAmv","bibbaseid":"bcs-thechallengesofcomplexitprojects-2004","downloads":0,"creationDate":"2017-12-10T11:20:54.889Z","title":"The Challenges of Complex IT Projects","author_short":null,"year":2004,"bibtype":"book","biburl":"http://ddi.uni-wuppertal.de/forschung/Komplett.bib","bibdata":{"bibtype":"book","type":"book","editor":[{"firstnames":[],"propositions":[],"lastnames":["BCS"],"suffixes":[]}],"title":"The Challenges of Complex IT Projects","year":"2004","month":"4","publisher":"The Royal Academy of Engineering","address":"London","note":"BCS -- The British Computer Society","url":"http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/complexity.pdf","urldate":"2015-02-07","annote":",,The levels of professionalism observed in software engineering are generally lower than those in other branches of engineering [...]\" pp 4 pp 10 \"We know why projects fail, we know how to prevent their failure -- so why do they still fail?\" (Cobb's Paradox9) 9 Unfinished Voyages, a follow up to the CHAOS Report, The Standish Group, 1996 pp 13 Lack of constraints \"Software provides `limitless scope' for functionality, without the inconvenient constraints of the laws of physics... There is nothing you can't do with software\" (A. Bodnar) IT projects are not subject to the laws of physics and the associated constraints in the same way as, for example, civil engineering projects. This can produce a perception that anything and everything is possible with IT. Of course, this is not the case -- software is governed by real constraints, but these tend to be multidimensional and abstract in nature, and therefore difficult to understand and communicate. However, both customers and suppliers are susceptible to forgetting or simply not understanding the limitations of IT, resulting in unrealistic expectations and over-ambitious projects. Indeed, software engineers are sometimes guilty of taking on degrees of novelty and risk far in excess of the levels typically accepted by other engineers. This is due, at least in part, to the impression that software is largely free of constraints and its potential is therefore unlimited. pp 16 \"In every piece of real world software, there are embedded an unbounded number of assumptions. Most of the assumptions are not decisions that you have taken, but things that you have not thought about\" Software Uncertainty, Manny Lehman, Proc. Soft-Ware, 1st Int. Conf. on Computing in an Imperfect World, Interactive Science and Tech. Conf. Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 8-10 April 2002 pp 17 Software engineering also differs from the other branches of engineering in having no tradition of professional accreditation. Chartered Engineer status is available for software engineers but there has been little enthusiasm for gaining accreditation amongst the IT community. Furthermore, unlike other engineers, software engineers enter the profession through a variety of routes, including those where no formal education in software engineering, IT or computer science has been undertaken. The pp19 It is commonly argued that, unlike other engineering projects, each IT project is unique.","isbn":"1-903496-15-2","bibtex":"@book{BCS2004,\n editor = {{BCS}},\n title = {{The Challenges of Complex IT Projects}},\n year = 2004,\n month = 4,\n publisher = {The Royal Academy of Engineering},\n address = {London},\n note = {BCS -- The British Computer Society},\n url={http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/complexity.pdf},\n urldate={2015-02-07},\n annote = {,,The levels of professionalism observed in software\n engineering are generally lower than those in other\n branches of engineering [...]\"\n pp 4\n\n pp 10\n \"We know why projects fail, we know how to prevent their failure -- so why do they still fail?\"\n (Cobb's Paradox9)\n 9 Unfinished Voyages, a follow up to the CHAOS Report,\n The Standish Group, 1996\n\n pp 13\n Lack of constraints\n \"Software provides `limitless scope' for functionality, without the inconvenient constraints of the\n laws of physics... There is nothing you can't do with software\" (A. Bodnar)\n IT projects are not subject to the laws of physics and the associated constraints in the\n same way as, for example, civil engineering projects. This can produce a perception\n that anything and everything is possible with IT. Of course, this is not the case --\n software is governed by real constraints, but these tend to be multidimensional and\n abstract in nature, and therefore difficult to understand and communicate. However,\n both customers and suppliers are susceptible to forgetting or simply not understanding\n the limitations of IT, resulting in unrealistic expectations and over-ambitious projects.\n Indeed, software engineers are sometimes guilty of taking on degrees of novelty and\n risk far in excess of the levels typically accepted by other engineers. This is due, at\n least in part, to the impression that software is largely free of constraints and its\n potential is therefore unlimited.\n\n pp 16\n \"In every piece of real world software, there are embedded an unbounded number of assumptions.\n Most of the assumptions are not decisions that you have taken, but things that you have not\n thought about\"\n Software Uncertainty, Manny Lehman, Proc. Soft-Ware, 1st Int. Conf. on Computing in an Imperfect World,\n Interactive Science and Tech. Conf. Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 8-10 April 2002\n\n pp 17\n Software engineering also differs from the other branches of engineering in having no\n tradition of professional accreditation. Chartered Engineer status is available for\n software engineers but there has been little enthusiasm for gaining accreditation\n amongst the IT community. Furthermore, unlike other engineers, software engineers\n enter the profession through a variety of routes, including those where no formal\n education in software engineering, IT or computer science has been undertaken. The\n\n pp19\n It is commonly argued that, unlike other engineering projects, each IT project is unique.},\n isbn = {1-903496-15-2},\n}\n\n\n","editor_short":["BCS"],"key":"BCS2004","id":"BCS2004","bibbaseid":"bcs-thechallengesofcomplexitprojects-2004","role":"editor","urls":{"Paper":"http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/complexity.pdf"},"downloads":0,"html":""},"search_terms":["challenges","complex","projects"],"keywords":[],"authorIDs":[],"dataSources":["6BepyHGwnjChmJuia"]}