Although software development is a type of engineering, there is an apparent disparity between the rates of engineering projects that fail and software engineering projects that fail. Statistically speaking major engineering projects have a failure rate of between 10% and 30% based on personal experience as a retired US Army civil engineer. This is in stark contrast to software engineering, where three years ago the failure rate for software development hovered between 60% and 80% and today is not much better. This paper will address why projects fail or the root cause of that failure. Next we'll look at the twelve warning signs that identify problems in a project. Finally, we'll look at best practices for preventing software engineering project failure. Keywords: software failures, technology project management, failure prevention in software development. As a U.S. Army civil engineer with over 20 years of project management experience and as a construction operations sergeant, I oversaw Task Force Eagle in Bosnia, where 150 personnel constructed 5 projects totaling of over $150 million and transitioning from that engineering career to project server administrator and project manager for Microsoft, deploying enterprise project management software for them globally, qualifies me to write this document from first-hand experience, but I have also researched and also provided documentation to support these opinions. Having an insider's perspective on this topic I love called project management has shown me several civil engineering projects that have failed due to serious mistakes. Statistically the failure of a major civil engineering project is between 10 and 30% and although I have...... half of the paper ......project-failure-4681213.htmlJohn, JJ (unknown) . Tips for avoiding business software failures. Retrieved September 7, 2011, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Tips-for-Avoiding-Enterprise-Software-Failures&id=6238662Krigsman, M. (2008, December 11). Study: 68% of IT projects fail | ZDNet. Retrieved September 7, 2011, from http://www.zdnet.com/blog/projectfailures/study-68-percent-of-it-projects-fail/1175Krigsman, M. (2010, August 20). Twelve warning signs of IT project failure | ZDNet. Retrieved September 7, 2011, from http://www.zdnet.com/blog/projectfailures/twelve-early-warning-signs-of-it-project-failure/10561Mun, Y. K. (2011, February 11). Software development project management: introduction | Suite101.com. Retrieved September 7, 2011, from http://yuen-kit-mun.suite101.com/software-development-project-management-introduction-a346155/print