Risk in a Systems Analysis and Design

¶ … risk in a systems analysis and design project, and how does a project manager cope with risk during the stages of project management?

The major sources of risk in a systems analysis and design project at a strategic level include environmental, external and design risks and over t ime these can accelerate and change the entire nature of a given project plan and direction. These three strategic risks often lead engineering services, project management, organizational and legal risks as well (Fu, Li, Chen, 2012). The strategic elements of customer, technical and delivery risk also serve to further constrain and many times clarify the systems analysis and design foundation of a project (Fu, Li, Chen, 2012). Constraints force trade-offs which in turn lead a project to gain greater clarity of vision and greater acuity of focus on desired results (Fu, Li, Chen, 2012). A project manager will often cope with sources of risk in a systems analysis and design project by concentrating on the five best practices of enterprise project management. These five areas include risk planning, risk identification, risk analysis (both qualitative and quantitative) risk response planning, and risk monitoring and control) (Fu, Li, Chen, 2012). Project management professionals use these strategies across each phase of their projects to ensure consistently, congruity of risk management and mitigation strategies and greater consistency of project-based risk and constraint management (Fu, Li, Chen, 2012).

Q2. Suppose that you have been contracted by a jewelry store to manage a project to create a new inventory tracking system. Describe your initial approach to the project. What should your first activity be? What information would you need? To whom might you need to speak?

The first or initial approach to the project would be define how the jewelry is organized, from a product line, accounting and catalog management perspective. What would be critically important to determine during this first phase of creating an inventory tracking system is what taxonomy and data structures align optimally with the jewelry store's price and value of spectrum of products sold. Once this is understood, from analyzing pricing, sales out data, customer preference lines by product area, customer relationship management (CRM) historical data, an inventory management system could be designed that would be efficient in serving customers. It would align with how they buy and further, how they perceive value delivered by the store. It would be critically important to speak with the Chief Financial Officer, Director of Finance, Director of Marketing and the pricing teams. The sales teams would also need to be talked with to see how the inventory management system could compliment and not inhibit their ability to sell over the long-term.

Q3 The economic analysis carried out during project identification and selection is rather superficial. Why is this? Consequently, what factors do you think tend to be most important for a potential project to survive this first phase of the life cycle?

There are many factors that could contribute to a project identification and selection being superficial, the most common being the tendency to only look at the most static areas of pricing when all aspects, even those defying quantification, need to be included (Mehrez, Sniedovich, 1992). The most critically important success factors for this phase of the life cycle of a project need to include access to not just the statics or historical data, but the dynamic and unquantifiable as well (Mehrez, Sniedovich, 1992). The first phase of a project cycle needs to include these factors and also take into account how they will shift over time during subsequent phases of the project as well.