Introduction
Project management is all about delivering quality solutions and adhering to the milestones. It also involves making every effort to stay within the budget. This is easier said than done. Software projects are notorious for exceeding their initial budgets and timelines, which is also referred to as budget overruns.
What are the leading causes of these budget overruns, and how can they be avoided? It is important to understand the main reasons to be able to take preventive measures. Businesses can take advantage of an outsourcing software development company to avoid this. This article provides vital insight into the main reasons.
What are the true reasons for Budget Overruns?
Scope Creep:
When project requirements exceed beyond its original goals, it is known as Scope Creep. This happens due to unclear specifications or changing needs of the project.
But, implementing the requirements thoroughly can help minimize the challenge.
Lack of Planning:
Starting a project without proper planning can cause the cost to rise. This can lead to unforeseen issues like budget overruns.
The barrier of lack of planning can be solved by preparing a detailed budget plan.
Flaws in Proejct Estimates
Inaccurate estimations can cause the time & cost of the project. This can happen due to uncertainties & unclear assumptions.
It is advisable to use proper project management tools to rectify the error by streamlining project estimations.
Resource Allocation:
The misallocation or insufficient allocation is a concern faced by many software development companies. Skill shortages present in the software development team can impact the budget of the project.
To cope with this concern, it is advisable to hire the right mix of skills & resources beforehand to avoid any uncertainties.
Poor Risk Management:
When hiring an outsourcing software company, the hiring company often overlooks the potential project risks involved. Lack of preparation can lead the organization to face the challenge of budget overruns.
To mitigate this risk, it is advisable to create a detailed risk management strategy to meet the uncertain causes.
Understanding the comlexity
The bigger the project is, the more complex it becomes. This increased complexity will result in budget overrun.
To tackle the challenge it is advisable to run a thorough complexity analysis during planning.
Data Migration
While outsourcing software development services, companies often overlook the efforts needed for data migration. This will increase the project duration and cost.
To rectify this challenge the companies should allocate sufficient resources for data migration tasks.
Communication Gaps:
Communication barriers are one of the biggest concerns in any project management. Misunderstanding caused due to miscommunication can result in delays and increase project costs.
Building clear communication channels can help companies streamline the communication flow.
Insufficient Testing:
If the company does not properly sufficient testing, it might result in an increased number of bugs & errors. This uncertainty might cause the company to hire extra resources to fix the bugs, which will lead to budget overrun.
To minimize this risk, the company should thoroughly run testing phases while integrating it with the project.
Project Design Issues
Design flaws prevail during the later stages of the development process. This led the team to revisit the initial stages to run a redesigning process, hence increasing the costs.
In order, to reduce the unnecessary increase in cost it is advisable to review the design process early on.
Project Performance:
In this issue, the company finds a cost overrun caused due to the issues found in project completion. It is advisable to include all the performance criteria early on in the project specifications to avoid cost overruns.
Ineffective Proejct Management:
Poor project management can lead to occurrences of unrealistic expectations. Hiring skilled project managers & establishing clear project management protocols can minimize the issue.
Project Metrics Tracking:
Metrics can help the organization gain early indication about the health of the project. However, an inefficiency in tracking can cause faulty decision-making due to a lack of sufficient data.
Tracking & reviewing the data regularly can help in minimizing the excessive costs.
