A challenge facing IT project managers is to
identify potential risks and adopt appropriate
actions. The literature review identifies a list of 27
risks in IT projects. The two highest ranked risks,
both in the literature and this survey, were
“personnel shortfalls” and “unrealistic schedule
and budget”. Furthermore, three other risks were
prevalent in this research:
(1) unrealistic expectations;
(2) incomplete requirements; and
(3) diminished window of opportunity owing to
late delivery of software.
This strongly indicates that IT project managers
should be highly sensitive to these risks on their
projects. The overwhelming treatment strategy is
risk reduction using project management
processes. Prevalent project management
processes for high ranked risks are scope/quality
management, stakeholder management and
human resource management. In particular,
managing stakeholders’ expectations will provide
a solution to managing several high-ranking IT
project risks. The research found that most of the
strategies for managing risks entail the application
of project management. So IT project managers
need to be aware that project management is the
key strategy for managing risks, and very few IT
risks have to do with technical issues. The
propensity of IT project managers to become
immersed in technical aspects of their projects
means that the effective management of IT risks
will be impeded. The findings reported can be
used as a checklist of important risks and a rich
and diverse range of treatment strategies that IT
project managers should consider for effective
risk management. Understanding the critical role
of project management as a key and
encompassing strategy for managing IT project
risks is a necessity for project success. In
particular, expectations management is a specific
strategy that would provide efficient and effective
risk management