Risk Analysis Report

September 27, 1999

Prepared by:

Beverly Black

Angelika Heidelberger

Ann Pintar

TJ Thompson

Steve Watkins

Table of Contents

1.0 Product Description

2.0 Risk Analysis

2.1 Product Competition

2.2 Product Awareness

2.3 Possible Negative Employee Response

2.4 Data Integrity / Employee Privacy

2.5 Staff Selection May Still Include Bias

2.6 Licensing Microsoft Project 98

2.7 Accessing Data Files in Project 98

2.8 Storage Requirements

2.9 Maintaining Functionality in Future Releases

2.10 May not be Applicable for small companies

2.11 General Project Risks

2.12 Risk Assurance

1.0 Product Description

Manage 2000 is a program that is designed to enhance the capability of Microsoft’s Project 98. Configured as a plug-in, Manage 2000 will aid staff management with employee placement. Manage 2000 will import data stored within Project 98 files and create its own database of information. Additionally, all of the employee records are updated through several means. First, an employee can update his/her records and submit the changes to his/her supervisor for approval. Next, a Dynamic Refresh Module will automatically update the records of employees who complete current projects or assignments. These records are taken into consideration when new projects or positions become available. A project manager then provides input to describe the position(s) available. Subsequently, the database engine compiles the records of each employee and returns a calculated tally of the top employees. These employees are the most suitable (based on the records maintained within the database) for the position. Additional reporting functionality complements Manage 2000’s capability. In short, Manage 2000's design will assist project managers by performing the following:

· Tracking employee statistics relevant to project related domains

· Analyzing database records with supplied input and providing staff placement recommendations

· Dynamically refreshing employee database information upon task completion

· Providing an employee skills index corresponding with furnished project requirements

· Preparing resume affiliated employee information and statistics

2.0 Risk Assessment

2.1 Product Competition

Though a general risk to every new product, being beat to the market is our greatest risk. Research shows that more often than not, the first product to the market is the most successful. Our research has not produced a similar product to Manage 2000. This research includes Microsoft’s upgrade to Project 98, Project 2000. Since the newest product from Microsoft does not contain the same functionality that Manage 2000 provides, we feel fairly certain that we will be first to market such a product.

This risk has the possibility to influence our schedule. If during development, we discover a similar product is being developed, it may be necessary to reduce functionality and hurry the product to market. Once the product is on the market, we could complete the full functionality for the product and provide our customers with the complementary upgrade. On the other hand, we could hire additional programmers to complete the full functionality of the product in a more rapid time frame. The latter alternative would certainly affect our budget. In this case, we would modify costs related to purchasing the product.

2.2 Product Awareness

Product Awareness and marketing are issues which face products of Manage 2000’s nature. Normal advertising methods, such as television advertisements, or radio commercials are not effective for products of this kind. Because Manage 2000 has an atypical target market, dealing specifically with managers of large projects, there is a huge risk in being able to reach this target market.

This risk has the possibility of preventing our product from reaching its full market potential, as well as a more severe consequence of losing money as a result of lack of market support. In order to overcome this challenge, the Manage 2000 project team has explored various non-traditional forms of advertising. To start, a very simple as well as cost effective approach is registering with internet search engines. This will allow people searching for information about project management software to get access to information regarding our product. In addition to this, a demo of the program will also be released to various download sites so that trial versions of the software can be made to the general public. The Manage 2000 product will also be shipped to magazines and web-zines which review software. Reviews on popular sites give products free advertising, and can be used to help spread information about Manage 2000 to the public at little cost to the project team. In general, the solution to this risk is to target areas where managers are likely to see the information about this product, which requires an inventive advertising strategy, which is also cost effective for the project.

2.3 Possible Negative Employee Response

Although many employees rely on computers for work day in and day out, some of these staff members may have negative feeling toward a computer-based selection and rating process. Though difficult to circumnavigate, employees who have this lack of confidence may be assured to know that Manage 2000 is just as reliable as the computer they use daily. Manage 2000 strictly remains a facts based system. For this reason, Manage 2000 does not include subjective attitudes toward any employee while identifying selections.

The risk of having this negative response has guided us to provide tools for employees to verify the accuracy of the database. Not only can employees maintain their own records, but also they will be able to view a complete report of their records stored within the Manage 2000 database. For instance, while they are not able to directly modify the database records, they may either view or print out a report of their personal information. In this manner, employees are assured that these records are up to date and contain completely accurate information.

This risk will affect the schedule by adding additional functionality to the program. The Manage 2000 Project Group does not feel that this risk will affect the budget as we provided a generous amount of cushion in our initial budget estimates.

2.4 Data Integrity / Employee Privacy

Maintaining employee privacy is crucial. Manage 2000 will be designed with security features to protect rouge users from accessing data. Most security breaches come from within the company structure, so Manage 2000 can not guarantee 100% data security (as no application can).

Maintaining employee privacy is a crucial task. If there is no assurance that the records stored within the database are secure, then the privacy of the employees is in jeopardy. To overcome this risk, Manage 2000 will provide an authentication process for access to the database records. This authentication is provided within the SQL database software that we have selected as our primary tool for the product. This access will be two-tiered. Employees will be able to submit a change request to their supervisors. As this has the potential to change the records, this is just a request and will not modify actual database records until administrative approval has been given. Also, users will have the capability to read their records via reports that they request through the application. On the other hand, administrators will have read/write access to the records, as they will be the ones modifying the data.

Again, it is not anticipated that this risk will affect the budget, as the basis for this functionality is inherent to the database software. However, it may have limited affect on the schedule if requirements dictate additional security.

This risk is very minimal to the project team. In our research, we have concluded that our main target market consists of current Microsoft Project 98 users. Other than the aforementioned functions that may appeal to smaller market companies, Manage 2000 will not try to remedy this risk. Therefore, this risk will neither affect the schedule, nor will it affect the budget.

2.5 Staff Selection May Still Include Bias

Although Manage 2000 will provide users an index of premium employees, project managers still have the propensity to introduce bias into the final decision. No matter what Manage 2000 provides these project managers, personal attitudes and predispositions will always overcome staff selection.

The developer of Manage 2000 has concluded that this is a risk that cannot be overcome. Though we are aiming to provide tools that aid project managers with staff selection and placement, these administrators always possess the capability to disregard the selected staff and arrive at a biased decision.

As we will not provide a solution to this risk, it is not anticipated that this risk will have any influence on the schedule or on the budget.

2.6 Licensing Arrangements for Microsoft Project98™

Receiving a licensing agreement to use the Microsoft Project98™ code may prove to be problematic. In such a case where Microsoft denies licensing, Manage 2000 will be redesigned to only import data from MS Project98™, or become a stand-alone product. Modifying Manage 2000 to import the resources from MS Project98™ will decrease the output capability with regard to non-staff related project issues. However, this would not have a viable impact on Manage 2000's staff management capabilities. The latter of the options is not anticipated, yet it would increase production time and costs significantly. Additionally, it would require a tremendous amount of marketing as many project management software packages already exist.

There is always a concern about licensing issues when dealing with another corporation’s product. In the case of Manage 2000, we have to deal with Microsoft’s Project 98. In researching this project, this area of concern deals with any code, which is supplied by Microsoft to our development team. The actual use of Manage 2000 in conjunction with Project 98 is not an area of concern. In order to avoid license issues, Manage 2000 can access Project’s data through either development tools released by Microsoft which aid in product development (in which case they are made publicly available, or can be bought and used freely from then on). Otherwise, the Manage 2000 team can take the time out to attempt to decipher Project data files, (which adds both time and resources necessary to the project). The Manage 2000 team is attempting to gain expert assistance from a professional who has already accomplished the access of Project data files.

2.7 Access Project 98 data Files

As mentioned above, a method for accessing Project 98 data files is being researched at this moment. Once additional information is secured, this area of the risk analysis will be updated. However, it is important to note that the access of Project 98 data files is possible, and has been done by someone outside of the Microsoft Corporation. This illustrates the point that the information can be extracted from Project 98

2.8 Storage Requirements

Large organizations, which require hefty databases, will need ample amount of disk space. In today's market, disk space is inexpensive. Therefore, while disk space is a consideration, its impact on Manage 2000 will be insignificant.

The risk of space limitations is a risk that is, for the most part hardware dependent. Since our product is an add-on to the Project 98 application, we are somewhat bound to its restraints. Microsoft’s Project 98 has been expanded to handle the planning needs of any organization. Previous versions of the software had limits with respect to the number of tasks within a project and the number of project files within a consolidation. In this version, these limits have been blown away. Below is a table comparing limitations between different versions of Microsoft Project.

Number of …	Microsoft Project 4.0	Microsoft Project 98
Tasks	9,999	Limited by hardware
Resources	9,999	Limited by hardware
Resources assigned to a single task	100	No limit per task
Tasks used by a single resource	1,000	No limit per resource
Maximum resource units	100 units	10,000 units or 1,000,000%
Predecessor tasks	100	No limit per task
Successors tasks	100	No limit per task
Outline levels	10	100
Subprojects	255	1000
Consolidated projects	80	1000
Open project files	80	1000
Sharer files connected	79	999
Open windows	20	50
Calendar exceptions	250	1000

Because these limitations are built within the parent application, it is not anticipated that this risk will affect the schedule or the budget at this time.

2.9 Maintaining Functionality with Upgrades to MS Project™

As stated previously, Manage 2000's design permits smooth transition to new versions of supported software. Additionally, Manage 2000's design allows may allow it to support other project management software.

Currently, Manage 2000 is an add-on product to Microsoft’s Project 98. It has been discussed that once our product has a sizeable market base, we will begin to expand the product and make it a stand-alone application. This transition is so that Manage 2000 can take more of a Human Resources stance within organizations. Therefore applying to an entire corporation and not just project oriented positions.

Plans to transition Manage 2000 to a stand-alone product will obviously affect both the schedule and the budget. However, it is not known at this time the extent of which these facets will be affected.

2.10 Product May Not Apply To Small Companies

Due to cost/benefit ratios, smaller companies may at first think that Manage 2000 does not apply to them. However, Manage 2000 provides other functionality besides staff selection. Manage 2000 has the ability to draft charts and issue reports based on any of the skill, characteristics, or any other category within the database. Smaller companies may not need the benefit of staff selection, but they can certainly benefit from the other functionality within Manage 2000.

2.11 General Project Risks

These risks include the scheduling conflicts that may increase project length. Employees on extended sick leave or other loss of resources inherently cause projects to be extended. These kinds of risks can be planned into the schedule, but you can never assume that you have accounted for all of this time.

Computer failure and data loss is another risk that is considered. At some point a Manage 2000 user's computer may fail and may not able to recover data. An investigation would be launched if the user contacts Manage 2000 support. If results show that Manage 2000 was responsible for the damage, legal counsel for Manage 2000 will offer a settlement to the user.

These risks, among other miniscule risks, will affect the schedule and the budget in some small way. For this reason, the Manage 2000 Team has padded the schedule and the budget to provide time to ease these types of risks. Other than a general approach to these risks, there is not much that we are able to do to prevent them.

2.12 Risk Assurance

The Manage 2000 Project Team has planned to address some of these risks in the product prototype. During presentation of the Manage 2000 prototype, a more clear perception of the ways we plan to address the issues discussed in this report will be provided.