Software Project Risk Management

Question 1

Murphy’s Law

Answer 1

• If anything can go wrong it will.
• If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.
• If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
• If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.

Question 2

What is a risk?

Answer 2

All events or conditions that may occur in a (software) project and potentially ahve negative consequences on the project outcome.

Question 3

What is risk impact?

Answer 3

Potential loss associated with a risk.

Question 4

What is probability?

Answer 4

Probability that the event will occur.

Question 5

What is risk control?

Answer 5

Set of actions taken to reduce or eliminate the risk.

Question 6

What is a risk plan?

Answer 6

A list of all risks that threaten the project, along with a plan to mitigate some or all of those risks.

Question 7

What is a risk planning session?

Answer 7

The project manager selects team mambers to participate in a risk planning session:

• The team members brainstorm potential risks
• The probability and impact of each risk estimated
• Prioritization of the risks
• A risk plan is constructed

Question 8

Sample risks

Answer 8

• Staff turnover
• Management change
• hardware unavailability
• Reqruiement change
• Specificaiton delays
• Size underestimate
• CASE tool underperformance
• Technology change
• Project competition

Question 9

Types of Risks

Answer 9

• Technology
• People
• Organizational
• Tools
• Requirements
• Estimation

Question 10

Top 10 Risk Items and Recommended Actions

Answer 10

1. Personnel shortfalls: staffing with top talent; job matching; team building; morale buildig; cross-training; pre-scheduling key people
2. Unrealistic schedule and budgets: Detailed multiscource cost and schedule estimation; design to cost; incremental development; software reuse; requirements scrubbing
3. Developing the wrong software functions: Organizational analysis; mission analysis; operational concept formulation; user surveys; prototyping; early user’s manuals.
4. Developing the wrong user intergace: Prototyping; scenarios; task analysis.
5. Gold Plating: Requirements scrubbing; prototying; cost-benefit analysis; design to cost.
6. Continuing stream of requirements change: High change threshold; information hiding; incremental development (defer changes to later increments)
7. Shortfalls in externally performed tasks: Reference checking; pre-award audits; award-fee contracts; competitive design or prototyping; team building
8. Shortfalls in externally furnished components: Benchmarking; inspections; reference checking; compatibility analysis
9. Real-time performance shortfalls: Simulation; benchmarking; modelling; prototyping; instrumentation; tuning.
10. Straining computer science abilities: Technical analysis; cost-benefit analysis; prototyping; reference checking.