What is a critical success factor?

Critical success factors are those few things that must go well to ensure success for a manager or an organization, and, therefore, they represent those managerial or enterprise area, that must be given special and continual attention to bring about high performance. CSFs include issues vital to an organization's current operating activities and to its future success.

Critical success factors are those vital activities/items/processes/milestones that must go well to ensure success for a project/organization. They must be given special and continual attention to bring about high performance.

Critical success factor is that activity the success or failure of which has an effect on the degree of success of that activity.