Hey, Doc Squad!
Doctor White here with the business analysis doctor! Today,
we’re gonna talk about risk management! Before we get started be sure to subscribe
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So, let’s get to it!
Risk management is a topic that doesn’t seem to get discussed enough in the business analysis
space. Now, while the project manager has the chief responsibility for the overall project risk,
the business analyst should focus on the product risks to ensure optimal solution performance
after implementation. So, risk management for projects is really a collaborative effort. Now
BAs need to be especially keen on product risks when evaluating design options and
recommending solutions. So, with that said, here are the top 10 risks BAs need to manage.
Business Impact Risk – The possibility for a project or solution to disrupt the
business operations during or after implementation.
Business analysts work with the business and the delivery team to help plan and coordinate
releases and implementation efforts in order to cause minimal disruption to
business activities and to ensure all stakeholders understand the impact to the organization.
Design Risk – The possibility that design components do not
satisfy the requirements they are allocated to.
The business analyst will work with the development team
by reviewing design options to ensure they conform to the specified requirements.
This can also be facilitated by executing traceability activities to better understand
the relationships between the requirements and the design elements allocated to them.
Implementation Risk – The possibility that the development or implementation
of a solution will fail. This can also relate
to a successful solution deployment having adverse effects on the business.
The business analyst will need to work closely with domain subject matter experts as well as
implementation subject matter experts such as developers, architects, and delivery managers to
develop a comprehensive change strategy that enables successful outcomes.
Information Security Risk
– The possibility for unauthorized or malicious use of information related to a solution.
Business analysts address this during requirements development by performing
a nonfunctional requirements analysis specifically around the category of security.
Working with key stakeholders and SMEs to develop roles and permission matrix such as a CRUD matrix
can be particularly useful.
Integration Risk – The potential that integrating new
technology, processes, or making organizational changes to support a solution will fail.
Business analysts can manage this risk by performing a cultural and operational assessment
to gauge whether or not the organization is equipped
to adopt and effectively use a solution long term.
Performance Risk – The possibility that a product
or solution either doesn’t meet the critical success factors that have
been established or does not provide the expected value to the organization.
Business analysts can evaluate the appropriateness of the selected performance measures with proof
of concepts and also assess performance early with pilots that use KPIs, business objectives,
and other key targets to simulate results. Also, the performance is monitored after a full
operational release, so that any adjustments can be made if the solution is underperforming.
Requirements Risk – This is the potential for poor solution performance or project failure as
a result of low-quality requirements or poor requirement management.
Some common contributors of high-risk requirements may include
missing requirements, uncooperative or missing stakeholders, poorly structured requirements,
ambiguous requirements, conflicting requirements, or requirements that are just not understandable.
There are several activities business analysts can do to mitigate requirements risk but two
common approaches include requirements tracing activities and using a requirements checklist
to ensure requirements meet the standard requirements quality characteristics.
Residual Risk - The risk that remains
after action has been taken to deal with an original problem or risk.
So, for example, if a solution is implemented that doesn’t completely
prevent an identified risk, the business analyst will re-analyzed the risk factors
and new impact that need to be monitored after corrective measures have been taken.
Vendor Risk – The potential that a vendor or supplier will
fail to deliver or maintain certain commitments related to a solution.
If a project relies on vendors to support successful outcomes, the business analyst
needs to perform a vendor assessment to assess multiple suppliers and select the best choice
based on their ability to meet the business needs. A key role for the BA will be working with SMEs to
define clear and measurable evaluation criteria to better enable the vendor ranking processes.
Technology Risk
– The likelihood that technology limitations lead to poor solution performance or project failure.
This is a broader risk and is influenced by several other types of risks such as data,
availability, capacity, integration, and several others. The business
analysts can also work to minimize these risks by performing a thorough
non-functional requirements analysis and clearly specifying non-functional requirements.
We there you have it folks, those the top 10 risks
business analyst need to manage. If you’d like to add some items to the list I’d love to hear
your feedback in the comments! If you found this video helpful be sure to click the like button and
tell me what risks you plan to manage I your next project!
Thank you so much for watching! Until next time!