Success Factors of Radical Breakthgrough ICT Projects – Comparison of Hardware and Software Cases

Abstract

Because technology pushed product development projects are risky and failure rates are high, the success factors are valuable knowledge for the management of development-intensive firms. This paper provides a comparison of success factor weighting between hardware and software product development projects in the ICT industry improving existing success factor research. We analyze qualitatively interview data from nine intentionally selected start-up firms and identify which success factors were clearly supported by HW and SW firms, and in which area different types of firms could benchmark each other. The practical aim of this paper is that it helps management to recognize the real actions needed to reduce product development risks in HW and SW projects.