How to identify and manage risks in software development projects?

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Thescalers
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Joined: Thu 24 Sep 2020 10:42 am

Here are four common risks in software development projects and a few tips for identifying and managing them.

1. Tight Schedules

Often, project managers have to deliver the project earlier than anticipated. There are many reasons for this — lack of resources, poor planning, or even technical glitches.

The simplest way to deal with this hurdle is to 'crash the schedule', which means tagging more team members to the critical paths of the project.

However, finding the right engineers can be a challenge. This is where some companies either outsource their software development to external vendors for the duration of the project or go offshore and building their own development team.

Another strategy that can be implemented is fast-tracking, where two teams can parallelly work on requirement analysis and development simultaneously.

2. Budget Changes

Budget changes are a common occurrence in software development projects, especially when there is a scope creep. Sometimes, engineers may simply fail to understand the specific requirements of the project and add extra functionalities that increase the price of the project.

To avoid this, double-check that your team is aware of the exact requirements of the project. Take a step back and analyse which changes will lead to a better outcome, and which ones won’t. The key is to stay as close to the fundamental goals and objectives of the project, without compromising on output quality.

3. Technical Difficulties2

Data security, information privacy, software integration, and compliance are technical areas where you are likely to run into problems.

In such scenarios, risk management plays a crucial role. You must identify the technical risks in software development projects, their impact, and the best way to mitigate them. The goal is to reduce the risks to the point where the cost of mitigation outweighs the potential benefit.

4. Poor Management

This may be a no-brainer but is unfortunately overlooked in many projects.

The right project manager will be able to efficiently plan devise strategies that ensure that the project's risks are minimised. Also, by practicing effective communication with the teams and building a strong organisational framework, the percentage of projects that fail can be significantly reduced.
kelliemorgan
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Joined: Wed 26 May 2021 1:30 pm

Can I ask about risk management please:

What is the difference between management of detailed risks on a RAID log and wider, high level risks that have been identified as project long risks which are managed via a project risk register? Is it correct to use a RAID log for short term risks, moving on to issues or closed alongside a wider risk register for the overall project or should these be managed one way?
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