Software project risks and development focus

Risks to software projects pose a major dilemma to information systems (IS) project managers. The identification of techniques that may mitigate certain risks can help determine approaches that may be taken during the development process. Based on a survey of Project Management Institute (PMI’) members, the authors identify the major risks to software success and the commonly applied approaches to mitigate the risks. Risks involving the size and complexity of the project were deemed most threatening and were approached with methods to gain more support and provide more training. Certain risks were found to have no common response, and others were found to have inappropriate responses.