Risk Management in Distributed IT Projects: Integrating Strategic, Tactical, and Operational Levels

Distributed IT projects exhibit certain features that make them fundamentally different from traditional co-located projects, not only involving additional steps and decisions, but also impacting the risk management process. The goal of this paper is to discuss these impacts and to suggest the development of an integrated risk management process taking into account site dispersion, time zone difference, and cultural boundaries not only at the operational, but also at the tactical and strategic level. We also report results of an exploratory case study conducted in a software development center (a Brazilian subsidiary of a U.S. corporation) in support of such a model, and conclude with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications of our work.