The Economist on software development.
the problem:
30% of all software projects are cancelled, nearly half come in over budget, 60% are considered failures by the organisations that initiated them, and nine out of ten come in late
the solution:
better software tools and processes
The three big industry trends—lifecycle management, testing and open source—come together in a movement known as “agile” programming. This approach to software development was codified in a meeting in February 2001 in Utah when a group of programmers declared its allegiance to doing things quickly, using common sense and simplicity.
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The main principle of agile programming is that developers must talk to each other often, and that they must talk to the business people setting requirements equally often.