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160 PART TWO MANAGING SOFTWARE PROJECTS

FIGURE 6.5
Risk information sheet
Risk
information
Risk ID: P02-4-32 Date: 5/9/02 Prob: 80% Impact: high
sheet [WIL97]
Description:
Only 70 percent of the software components scheduled for reuse will, in fact, be
integrated into the application. The remaining functionality will have to be custom
developed.
Refinement/context:
Subcondition 1: Certain reusable components were developed by a third party
with no knowledge of internal design standards.
Subcondition 2: The design standard for component interfaces has not been
solidified and may not conform to certain existing reusable components.
Subcondition 3: Certain reusable components have been implemented in a
language that is not supported on the target environment.
Mitigation/monitoring:
1. Contact third party to determine conformance with design standards.
2. Press for interface standards completion; consider component structure when
deciding on interface protocol.
3. Check to determine number of components in subcondition 3 category; check
to determine if language support can be acquired.
Management/contingency plan/trigger:
RE computed to be $20,200. Allocate this amount within project contingency cost.
Develop revised schedule assuming that 18 additional components will have to be
custom built; allocate staff accordingly.
Trigger: Mitigation steps unproductive as of 7/1/02
Current status:
5/12/02: Mitigation steps initiated.
Originator: D. Gagne Assigned: B. Laster

Risk analysis can absorb a significant amount of project planning effort. Identifi-
cation, projection, assessment, management, and monitoring all take time. But the
effort is worth it. To quote Sun Tzu, a Chinese general who lived 2500 years ago, "If
you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred
battles." For the software project manager, the enemy is risk.

REFERENCES
[AFC88] Software Risk Abatement, AFCS/AFLC Pamphlet 800-45, U.S. Air Force, Sep-
tember 30, 1988.
[BOE89] Boehm, B.W., Software Risk Management, IEEE Computer Society Press,
1989.
[CHA89] Charette, R.N., Software Engineering Risk Analysis and Management, McGraw-
Hill/Intertext, 1989.