Software Engineering

Risk Management

Understanding Risks

Risks involve: Uncertainty – there are no 100% probable risks Loss – if the risk becomes a reality, unwanted consequences

will occur

Risk Categories: Project risks – threaten the project plan (mostly happen

because of the large product size) Technical risks – threaten the quality and timeliness of the

project to be produced Business risks – threaten the viability of the software

Reactive Vs. Proactive Risk Management

In reactive risk management the project team reacts to risks when they occur. Fix on failure and crisis management actions are taken.

In proactive risk management a formal risk analysis is performed and the organization corrects the root causes of risks.

Examples of Risks

Attributes that affect risk

and are due to Product Size: estimated size of the product in LOC or FP number of users of the product number of projected changes

or due to Business Impact: visibility of this product by senior management reasonableness of delivery deadline

or due to the Customer: Does the customer have a solid idea of requirements? Has the customer agreed to spend time with you?

or due to Process Maturity: Have you established a common process framework? Is it followed by project teams?

or due to Technology: Is the technology new to your organization? Is a specialized user interface required?

Building a Risk Table

RiskRisk ProbabilityProbability ImpactImpact RMMMRMMM

RiskRiskMitigationMitigationMonitoringMonitoring

& & ManagementManagement

These courseware materials are used in conjunction with Software Engineering: A Practitioner’s Approach, 5/e and are provided with permission by R.S. Pressman & Associates, Inc., copyright © 1996, 2001

Building the Risk Table

Estimate the probability of occurrence Estimate the impact on the project on a scale

of 1 to 5, where 1 = low impact on project success 5 = catastrophic impact on project success

sort the table by probability and impact

RISK

Risk Management Paradigm

controlcontrol

identifyidentify

analyzeanalyze

planplan

tracktrack

These courseware materials are used in conjunction with Software Engineering: A Practitioner’s Approach, 5/e and are provided with permission by R.S. Pressman & Associates, Inc., copyright © 1996, 2001