CSC 480 Software Engineering Lecture 5 September 3, 2004

Topics PSP2 Project Risk Management PSP3 Project Assignment

Risk Management A risk is a probability that some adverse circumstance will occur.  Project risks affect schedule or resources  Product risks affect the quality or performance of the software being developed  Business risks affect the organisation developing or procuring the software

Software Risks

Risk Management Process

The Four Risk Activities Identification Mindset: try to continually identify risks Retirement planning Prioritization Retirement or mitigation

Risk Identification Technology risks People risks Organisational risks Requirements risks Estimation risks

Risks and Risk Types

Risk Analysis Assess probability and seriousness of each risk Probability may be very low, low, moderate, high or very high Risk effects might be catastrophic, serious, tolerable or insignificant

Risk Analysis

Risk Planning Consider each risk and develop a strategy to manage that risk Avoidance strategies  Reduce the probability that the risk will arise Minimisation strategies  Reduce the impact of the risk on the project Contingency plans

Project finish Risk Management Mindset Project start IdentificationRetirement 2. “Java skills not high enough.” 1. “May not be possible to superimpose images adequately.” 1. Retirement by conquest: Demonstrate image super- imposition Risk 1 Risk 2 Risk 1 Project finish Risk 2 2. Retirement by avoidance: Use C++ Project start

Risk Management Strategies

Risk Monitoring Assess each identified risks regularly to decide whether or not it is becoming less or more probable Also assess whether the effects of the risk have changed Each key risk should be discussed at management progress meetings

Risk Factors

Risk Sources Ordered by Importance Lack of top management commitment Failure to gain user commitment Misunderstanding of requirements Inadequate user involvement Failure to manage end-user expectations Changing scope and/or objectives

Likelihood = least likely Impact = least impact Retire- ment cost = lowest retirement cost Priority computation Resulting priority Lowest number handled first The highest priority risk 10 (most likely) 10 (most impact) 1 (lowest retiremen t cost) (11-10) *(11-10) *1 1 The lowest priority risk 1 (least likely) 1 (least impact) 10 (highest retiremen t cost) (11-1) *(11-1) * Compute Risk Priorities