Software development can be a lengthy and challenging process. Customers and developers perform many tasks related to practical arrangements, technical issues, and the human factor.
Any mobile, web, or other software development project always faces some risks. They can vary from project to project and should always be a concern to developers. We can generally divide all the risks into several main subgroups.
This article will focus on the essential custom software development risks that may arise in a project and how customers and developers can avoid or resolve them successfully.
Faulty Assessment
It is not always possible to implement the project within the time and with the budget stipulated at the beginning of the work. The reasons may be different, like misunderstanding between a customer and a development team, unexpected issues with some component implementation, and so on. The reasons like these may result in failing to meet deadlines and cause funding problems.
To minimize the risk, allow developers more time to study the project details and reduce risks in the early development stages, create an informative brief, and keep in mind the uncertainty factor.
Unplanned Alterations in the Development Process
Customers often initiate changes in the scope of work on the project, and that poses significant risks preventing developers from meeting the deadlines specified and overusing resources allocated.
It is possible to minimize this risk by resorting to short, easy-to-manage iterations while using Agile technology. It allows analyzing and resizing a project.
Poor Code Quality
Low-quality code is among the most common issues in software development. The problem becomes even more profound since customers often have trouble understanding the technical part to see it. Poor code negatively affects program execution speed, generates bugs, and causes many other problems.
The best way to avoid this problem is to hire a team of experienced developers. They will adhere to code quality standards and use the best software development practices while working on your project. Moreover, customers can hire a project manager or CTO who can verify code quality and control the development team.
Communication Issues
Quality communication may prove crucial in custom software development. Customers do not always get a chance to visit the development team’s office personally, especially if they interact remotely.
To avoid the risk of communication issues, it is worth participating in the project as much as possible, monitoring its progress, following sprint reviews, and trying to maintain quality feedback from developers in general.
Good two-way communication helps you make sure that the project is on the right track.
Insufficient Project Staff
Development team members may have their own reasons to leave the project. The fact results in work delays increasing the development time until the team finds and involves a new staff member.
How to minimize this risk:
- Document the entire development process;
- Maintain a sound staffing system within the team to quickly replace a teammate if necessary;
- The project manager should monitor their team workload to respond quickly to any changes.
Time to Summarize
To minimize software development risks:
- Develop detailed technical documentation together with your customer and technology expert;
- Choose a proper interaction model based on your customer’s financial capacity and tech lead’s advice;
- Follow previously developed documentation and avoid adding new requirements to the product during the development process.
Software development can be a lengthy and challenging process. Customers and developers perform many tasks related to practical arrangements, technical issues, and the human factor.
Any mobile, web, or other software development project always faces some risks. They can vary from project to project and should always be a concern to developers. We can generally divide all the risks into several main subgroups.
This article will focus on the essential custom software development risks that may arise in a project and how customers and developers can avoid or resolve them successfully.
Faulty Assessment
It is not always possible to implement the project within the time and with the budget stipulated at the beginning of the work. The reasons may be different, like misunderstanding between a customer and a development team, unexpected issues with some component implementation, and so on. The reasons like these may result in failing to meet deadlines and cause funding problems.
To minimize the risk, allow developers more time to study the project details and reduce risks in the early development stages, create an informative brief, and keep in mind the uncertainty factor.
Unplanned Alterations in the Development Process
Customers often initiate changes in the scope of work on the project, and that poses significant risks preventing developers from meeting the deadlines specified and overusing resources allocated.
It is possible to minimize this risk by resorting to short, easy-to-manage iterations while using Agile technology. It allows analyzing and resizing a project.
Poor Code Quality
Low-quality code is among the most common issues in software development. The problem becomes even more profound since customers often have trouble understanding the technical part to see it. Poor code negatively affects program execution speed, generates bugs, and causes many other problems.
The best way to avoid this problem is to hire a team of experienced developers. They will adhere to code quality standards and use the best software development practices while working on your project. Moreover, customers can hire a project manager or CTO who can verify code quality and control the development team.
Communication Issues
Quality communication may prove crucial in custom software development. Customers do not always get a chance to visit the development team’s office personally, especially if they interact remotely.
To avoid the risk of communication issues, it is worth participating in the project as much as possible, monitoring its progress, following sprint reviews, and trying to maintain quality feedback from developers in general.
Good two-way communication helps you make sure that the project is on the right track.
Insufficient Project Staff
Development team members may have their own reasons to leave the project. The fact results in work delays increasing the development time until the team finds and involves a new staff member.
How to minimize this risk:
- Document the entire development process;
- Maintain a sound staffing system within the team to quickly replace a teammate if necessary;
- The project manager should monitor their team workload to respond quickly to any changes.
Time to Summarize
To minimize software development risks:
- Develop detailed technical documentation together with your customer and technology expert;
- Choose a proper interaction model based on your customer’s financial capacity and tech lead’s advice;
- Follow previously developed documentation and avoid adding new requirements to the product during the development process.
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