Establishing and Using a Risk Management Program Effectively

We manage risk every day of our lives. You would think all good SE's would be good risk managers. Yet many enterprises fail because some unidentified or un-handled risk materializes. Many enterprises fail to take advantage of positive risks (opportunities) that could all but ensure success. Risk Management is not as easy as it seems it should be. This tutorial reveals to both the new SE and the seasoned veteran looking for a refresher the secrets of Risk Management and how to make it work. We will review the basic concepts of formal Risk Management and how it is executed in Systems Engineering. We will cover in depth all seven areas of Risk Management: Identification, Analysis, Assessment, Mitigation, Accounting, Planning, and Communication. Each of these areas will be approached with a specific emphasis on how they work together to make an enterprise successful. Further, we will set up a framework for introducing Risk Management within Systems Engineering, to work synergistically by integrating it with Project Management. And as icing on the cake, we will introduce some new methods for risk assessment that make the practice much more effective. © 2011 The Authors.