CONCEPTS OF RISKS AND RISK MANAGEMENT

6.1 CONCEPTS OF RISKS AND RISK MANAGEMENT

Risks are those events or conditions that may occur, and whose occurrence, if it does take place, has a harmful or negative effect on a project. Risks should not be confused with events and conditions that require management intervention or action. A project manager must deal with and plan for those situations that are likely to occur but whose exact nature is not known beforehand; such situations, however, are not risks. For example, it is almost certain that defects will be found during software testing, so a reasonable project must plan to fix these defects when they are found. Similarly, it is almost certain that some change requests will come, so project management must be prepared for changes and plan accordingly to handle such normal events.

A risk, on the other hand, is a probabilistic event it may or may not occur. For this reason, we frequently have an optimistic tendency to simply not see risks or to wish that they will not occur. Social and organizational factors also may stigmatize risks and discourage clear identification of them.1 This kind of attitude gets the project in trouble if the risk events materialize, something that is likely to happen in a large project. Not surprisingly, then, risk management is considered first among the best practices for managing large software projects.2

Risk management aims to identify the risks and then take actions to minimize their effect on the project. Risk management is a relatively new area in software management. It first came to the forefront with Boehm's tutorial on risk management.3 Since then, several books have targeted risk management for software.4,5

Before we discuss risks in the software context, let's examine the concept a bit more with the aid of an example. Consider a computer show for which an important goal is to provide uninterrupted computer services. For this goal, one clear risk is electric power failure. The power may or may not fail. If it does fail, even for a second, the computer services will be affected substantially (the machines will have to reboot, data will be lost, and so on). If this case is unacceptable (that is, if the cost of the power failure is high), a universal power supply (UPS) can be deployed to minimize its consequences. If it is suspected that the power may go out for a long period, a backup generator may be set up to minimize the problem. With these risk management systems in place, if the power does go out, even for a long period, the show-related goal will not be compromised.

The first thing to note from this example is that risk management entails additional cost. Here, the cost for the UPS and the generator is extra because these components would not be needed if the risk of power failure did not exist (for example, if the electric supply company guaranteed continuous power). Hence, risk management can be considered cost-effective only if the cost of risk management is considerably less than the loss incurred if the risk materializes.5 (Actually, the cost of risk management should be less than the expected value of the loss, a concept defined shortly.) For example, if the loss due to power failure is low, the cost of a UPS is not justified a situation that prevails, for example, in homes.

Second, it is not easy to measure the value of risk management, particularly in hindsight. If the power fails for one-half hour during the show, the value provided by the UPS and generator might be calculated as the "savings" achieved by having the computers running while the power was out. Suppose, however, that the power supply does not fail even for a second and therefore the UPS and generator are not used. Does this mean that the expenditure on these components was a waste? No, because the power could have failed. If the risk does not materialize, the value of using risk management cannot be directly measured in terms of value or output produced. Because risk events likely occur infrequently, the chances are high that risk management systems will not be used during the project. It is this probabilistic nature of risks and the inability to always realize the direct value of risk mitigation efforts that make it difficult to manage risk.

From this example, it is clear that the first step in risk management is to identify the possible risks (power failure in this example) and to assess the consequences (loss of face or clients). Once you have done risk assessment, you can develop a risk management plan (for example, having a UPS). Overall, then, risk management has two key components: risk assessment and risk control. Each component involves different tasks, as shown in Figure 6.1.3

Figure 6.1. Risk management activities

graphics/06fig01.gif

The purpose of the risk assessment task is to identify the risks, analyze them, and then prioritize them. In prioritizing risks, you identify the risks that should be managed. In other words, prioritization determines where the extra effort of risk management should be spent to get the maximum benefit. For this effort, two factors are important. First is the chance of a risk occurring; a more likely risk is a natural candidate for risk management. Second is the effect of the risk; a risk whose impact is very high is also a likely candidate.

One way to prioritize risks, therefore, is to estimate the probability of its occurrence and its consequences when it does occur. The product of these values, the expected value of the loss for the risk, can be used for prioritization. This expected value is called risk exposure. If Prob(R) is the probability of a risk R occurring and if Loss(R) is the total loss incurred if the risk materializes, then risk exposure, RE, for the risk is given by the following equation3:

RE (R) = Prob(R) x Loss(R)

Once the risks have been prioritized, you must decide what to do about them. Which ones will be managed is a management decision. Perhaps only the top few need to be handled in a project.

One approach is to take preventive or avoidance actions so that the perceived risk ceases to be a risk. For example, if new hardware is a risk, it could be avoided by implementing the project with proven hardware. Such actions, however, are not always feasible for example, if working with new hardware is a requirement from the customer. In such situations, the risks to the project must be handled properly.

For each risk that will be handled, you must devise and then execute risk management plans. Because risk perception changes with time, you must also monitor both the risk and the execution of the plans to minimize its consequences. In a project, risk perceptions may evolve naturally, or the risk management plans put into action may reduce the risk. In either case, it is important to continually gauge the status of risks and their management plans.

Risk management can be integrated in the development process itself, as is done in the spiral model of software development.6 If you treat risk management as a separate process, you must understand its relationship with project execution, depicted in Figure 6.2. As shown in the figure, risk assessment and monitoring take information from project execution, along with other factors, to identify risks to be managed. The risk management activities, on the other hand, affect the project's process for minimizing the consequences of the risk.

Figure 6.2. Risk management and project execution

graphics/06fig02.gif

The remainder of this chapter describes how project managers at Infosys manage risks using simple, effective techniques. The activities for risk management are combined into two tasks: risk assessment and risk control. We discuss each separately.

 



Software Project Management in Practice
Linux Annoyances for Geeks: Getting the Most Flexible System in the World Just the Way You Want It
ISBN: 0596008015
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 83
Authors: Michael Jang

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