Quality & Risk Management

Are you sure this is going to work?

If you don’t have the time to do it right, when do you think you are going to get the time to do it over? “Good enough” never is! Do it right the first time!

Question How many of you have tasks in your project plan which allocate time, money, and/or other resources towards monitoring quality and rework? Quality doesn’t “just happen”!

What Went Wrong? In 1986, two hospital patients died after receiving fatal doses of radiation from a Therac 25 machine after a software problem caused the machine to ignore calibration data In one of the biggest software errors in banking history, Chemical Bank mistakenly deducted about $15 million from more than 100,000 customer accounts In August 2008, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse stated that more than 236 million data records of U.S. residents have been exposed due to security breaches since January 2005

What is the purpose of : Web research Unit testing Integration testing System testing User acceptance testing

System testing : tests the entire system as one entity Unit testing : tests each individual component (often a program) to ensure it is as defect-free as possible Integration testing : occurs between unit and system testing. Combine all of the units within a program and test them as a group System testing : tests the entire system as one entity User acceptance testing : is an independent test performed by end users prior to accepting the delivered system Who performs the test? - Developer - QA team / testers - End users

Testing Tasks in the Software Development Life Cycle

What is “Project Risk Management” and why do we do it What is “Project Risk Management” and why do we do it? When do we start to practice good project risk management? Web research Art and science of identifying, analyzing, and responding to risk throughout the life of a project and in the best interests of meeting project objectives Start with selecting the good projects, determining project scope, and developing realistic estimates

Questions Why do I have… Life insurance, I’m not planning on dying? Disability insurance, I’m not planning on becoming disabled? Auto insurance, I’m not planning on getting in an accident? Why do I pay all of this money every year when I probably won’t need it? What additional costs should I include in my project plans just in case?

Questions Web research What is the difference between “known risks” and “unknown risks”? Two identical projects : One being lead by a typical project manager - the other lead by an alpha project manager Which has a longer list of “known risks”? Why? Who is less likely to be surprised by a problem? ‘Known’ risks are somewhat predictable & proactively managed. ‘Known’ indicates those risk that can be identified, analyzed & planned in advance. Unknown risks are those unable to be anticipated and described. Unknown risks cannot be managed proactively. These risks that result from the uniqueness of the work and they are difficult or impossible to anticipate.

Web research What are “contingencies and fallback plans”? What are “contingency and management reserves”?

Contingency Reserves : Contingency Plan: predefined actions that the project team will take if an identified risk event occurs Fallback Plan: developed to deal with risks if the primary planned risk response is not effective , i.e. Plan B Contingency Reserves : 1.Used for known unknowns developed in risk plan 2.Usually managed and “owned” by the project manager 3.Derived via Quantitative analysis methods Management Reserves : 1.Used for unknown unknowns not identified in risk plan 2.Usually held “owned” by the sponsor, portfolio, company, etc. 3.Derived via Qualitative analysis methods

Class exercise: Web Research Where are most of the risks associated with IT projects (come up with top 5)?

My top 10 Project Mgmt. Risks: Scope is poorly defined Poor data requirements Scope creep or too many scope changes Poor leadership / communication Inadequate Skills for the project or insufficient staff Staff turn over No continuity (staff, leadership, project plan, etc.) Lack of stakeholder Engagement / support Change to business strategy Improper risk management

What should you do to address the most significant risks?

What is the “Risk Register” and what does it contain? Web Research It is a risk Log, a master document which is created during the early stages of your project. It is a tool that plays an important part in your Risk Management Plan, helping you to track issues and address problems as they arise.

Risk Register Contents An identification number for each risk event A description of each risk event The probability of the risk The impact of each risk occurring A risk score (probability multiplied by the impact) A rank for each risk event Risk responses to each risk (which strategy will you use?) The risk owner or person who will own or take responsibility for each risk The status of each risk

Risk Register Example Include the strategy type and the description

What is “Qualitative Risk Analysis”? Web Research What is “Qualitative Risk Analysis”? Qualitative risk analysis is a project management technique concerned with discovering the probability of a risk event occurring and the impact the risk will have if it does occur.

Probability/Impact Matrix

Chart Showing High, Medium, and Low-Risk Technologies

Top Ten Risk Item Tracking Qualitative risk analysis tool Maintain an awareness of risks throughout the life of a project Establish a periodic review of the top ten project risk items

What is “Quantitative Risk Analysis”? Web Research What is “Quantitative Risk Analysis”? Quantitative risk analysis assigns a projected value (usually this value is stated in terms of cost or time) to the risks that have already being ranked by the previous process 'perform qualitative risk analysis'.

Once you have identified your risks, what can you do about them? Web Research Risk avoidance – eliminate the cause of a risk. Forget the new hardware, we’ll use the old proven gear. Risk acceptance – “If it Happens, It Happens” for threats and opportunities Risk transfer – Assigning the Risk to Someone Else (subcontract, warranty or insurance) Risk mitigation – can’t eliminate the risk but can make it hurt less if it occurs : Reducing the Expected Value by reducing Probability or Impact (or both)

Monitoring and Controlling Risks Involves executing the risk management process to respond to risk events If you don’t add tasks to your WBS, it isn’t going to happen! Main outputs of risk monitoring and control are: Risk register updates/Top 10 updates Organizational process assets updates Updates to the project management plan and other project documents

Results of Good Project Risk Management Unlike crisis management, good project risk management often goes unnoticed Well-run projects appear to be almost effortless, but a lot of work goes into running a project well Project managers should strive to make their jobs look easy to reflect the results of well-run projects