 Managing your project risks
A five slides presentation from the
Team at Portfolio Software

 Managing your project risks
Funds are finite, mitigate wisely
1. Passive mitigation is free, active mitigation
costs money choose wisely
2. Decide what truly is important to your
company, don’t spend money if it is not
3. If you have something business critical, it is
critical that you protect it
4. If there is nothing you can do (afford) to
mitigate a risk then don’t spend too much
time trying
5. Edge your bets if possible, a little thought
can be re-used both in and across projects

 Managing your project risks
The Business benefits can change
quickly, reassess regularly
1. Determining business benefits is not a one-
off activity, it should be a regular
assessment
2. If business benefit changes, your project
may be doomed. If so, stop it quickly
3. ROI is difficult to assess, be objective. It
can both protect and doom your project
4. A completed project with no business
benefit is money, time and resource all
wasted
5. When thinking project
dependencies, include ROI/Business benefit
as standard

 Managing your project risks
External Suppliers can reduce and
increase risk, choose the right one
1. A good supplier will know many of the
risks, check that they do
2. A good supplier will have mitigated much of
the risk, ask how they do it
3. Mitigating against your bad supplier is
difficult (especially within a project)
4. A good supplier will warn you of problems
early, a bad one will hide them
5. If you are not prepared, you are a risk to
your supplier. It works both ways

 Managing your project risks
Reduce the risk
1. Having an expert is fantastic, but only one
? – think broken leg, now what?
2. Risks can cascade, lots of small risks can
create a cascade to disaster. Mitigate to
stop a cascade
3. Spread team knowledge, your resource is
much more difficult to replace than a hard
drive
4. Hard drives are cheap, duplicate data
5. Prepare a contingency plan, don’t wait
until your product has failed in the live
environment

 Managing your project risks
Re-assess regularly, it’s not a
duty, it is a necessity
1. Risk changes – it does not remain static
so re-assess regularly
2. Put somebody in charge of each
risks, ownership is key
3. Make risks visible, encourage people to
view them
4. Your team can be innovative, let them
mitigate (you would be surprised !)
5. Never hide your risks, if you have a new
one broadcast it

Portfolio Software was formed in 2002
We deliver great software solutions - you won't get what you
expect from Portfolio Software. You'll get more.
We take a different approach to software development, blending the strengths of
best practices and methodologies - not just limiting our options to one. Our long-
range vision focuses on your immediate needs first, developing a solution and a
roadmap for future expansion.
We work successfully with distributed teams - we recognise that
the world is flat
We are well versed with delivering solutions with teams distributed across 5
continents. We recognise the need, mitigate the risks and embrace the complexity.
We use industry standard processes - successful Delivery of Your
Solution is our Prime Directive
Whether Agile or Waterfall, we pick the best method and process for the delivery of
your solution. We manage the full lifecycle and have an open and transparent
working policy which means we keep you with us every step of the way.
Contact us:
Tel: +44(0)845 644 7855
Email: info@portfoliosoftware.co.uk