[jdlshore]

And the link to the 2004 "study" is actually a news report about the Standish Group's CHAOS report, which itself is actually a very loose survey from a company that has an interest in exaggerating the state of the "software crisis." Look at the frikkin report title: it's the 90's version of linkbait.

Furthermore, the CHAOS report defines "success" as "shipped on time and on budget" without regard to profitability or anything else people here on HN know is involved in real success.

As a result, when the CHAOS report says 51% of [surveyed participants self-report that] projects "fail[ed] in a critical aspect," what they really mean is that 51% of projects didn't ship exactly on time and on budget. If a project shipped a month late and made $10 million, it's still considered unsuccessful.

Horse pucky.