The study indicates that 25% of tech projects fail at the start; approx. 20% show no ROI at all and around 50% of them need a rework as soon as the project is completed.
While the tech development projects fail, interestingly the reasons for failures are non-technical. Reports say that 54% of these failures are errors in Strategy and planning rather than technical.
Here is a to-do list for successfully developing a Software tech product.
Always project more
When you are starting with a new tech product, the last thing you want is the projection to go wrong and for anything unplanned to happen. It is fine to keep buffers…loads of them. If your development time comes up to 6 months, plan for 7; if you need X developers plan for contingencies so that all possible delays are covered well.
Communication is the Key
Don’t assume and don’t let others to as well. With globally spread teams in today’s businesses being connected is essential and so is being heard.
Ensure you are connected to your team present in the same premise as well as with the ones who are supporting you remotely. Chats, video calls, bulletin boards and daily and weekly calls help here.
It is also important to communicate with your customers and partners, to always be there on their mind. Surveys, meet-ups, networking sessions, and partner training are an easy way to increase the level of communication.
Have Strict Milestones and RACI
For achieving overall objectives, setting milestones is important. Milestones need to be well thought of, and well-planned stages that need to be adhered to, to reach the final output. These milestones need to be sacrosanct. Each team member needs to know what their position in the team is; clearly define and communicate the responsibilities and accountability to avoid any confusion on their areas of responsibility.
Create a Checklist for Product Launch
Create checklists that help you get ready for the launch and avoid any last-minute rush or breakdowns. You don’t want to go unprepared in the market and the appended checklist is good to start with. Check if
• All the test cases are closed
• UAT has been successful
• The sales team is ready with the updated product knowledge
• You have a go-to-market plan in place
• Customer reps are trained
• The elevator pitch is ready
• The pricing is uniform at all buyer checkpoints
We recently developed a “GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL TECH PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT” (Link here) you may find this useful.
About the Author- Nitin Tappe
Nitin is postgraduate from IIT, Mumbai, India and in his 23 years of career, has played key roles in building a desktop as well as enterprise solutions right from ideation to launch, which have been adopted by many Fortune 500 companies.
As a Founder member of Pratiti Technologies, he enjoys applying his management learning for building new solutions to solve real-life business problems.
Pratiti Technologies does Outsourced Product development in IoT using AR, VR, Analytics and Cloud technologies. Pratiti has specialized teams (craftsmen) who practice DevOps supported by agile to ensure smooth tech journeys for start-ups and large enterprises
