Project Risk Management
Project risk manifests as anything that can have adverse consequences to the scheduling, cost, scope or quality of the product. Sometimes you never know where your project might be bitten and how severely- and when a project suffers setbacks, it's often too late to roll out a risk plan. To be successful, risk management must be a planned, continuous and proactive activity involving prevention, abatement and contingency planning. Through Risk management we can provide a more robust toolset for project decision making. Whether it's foundation building or strengthening of an already existing risk management process, risk management should be carried out on all critical software projects.
Identification of Software Risk
The most readily apparent risk in software development is technical risk- particularity when involved in the creation of new products and processes. But identification of relevant risk factors is often shrouded and masked by incomplete communication styles and/or inviolate personal or cultural boundaries. Hidden Risk factors also involve the projects personnel. Behavioral reengineering isn't necessary as long as the task of locating and addressing the risks is carried out in a thorough, insightful and sensitive manner. Even a project that's overburdened with ambition and hubris can increase it's chance of success by breaking down and locating the root causes of risk.
Risk Analysis
Risk can be stated as the probability of occurrence multiplied by the damage that can be inflicted. Using this simple equation allows prioritization of risks and aids a speedy analysis. Time to analyze is usually finite so not all risks can get complete analysis'. We focus on collecting the Data that can be turned to information which is usable for decision making.
Planning for Success
Implementing mitigation, prevention and abatement procedures and
laying out decision points in anticipation of the expected risk actions
is the basis of the risk planning stage. A road map with risk solutions
stated will be formed in complement the project plan. Full contingency
plans are only developed for those risks that spell project
doom and, except for the disaster recovery plans, these usually involve
some type of parallel development.
Monitor and Control
Risk factors and effects can constantly shift and re-prioritize during project execution so risk status and the actions taken will be continually monitored. Strategically placing decision points around risk nodes and closely monitoring the top-%20 of risks reduces the drain and expense of constant monitoring. If pre-planned risk actions indicate an inability to contain project/plan deviation, the cycle of risk identification-analysis-planning-tracking and controlling will be repeated until the project can be brought back on track.