Software Risk Management

This paper presents a holistic vision of the risk-based methodologies for Software Risk Management (SRM) developed at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). SRM methodologies address the entire life cycle of software acquisition, development, and maintenance. This paper is driven by the premise that the ultimate efficacy of the developed methodologies and tools for software engineering is to buy smarter, manage more effectively, identify opportunities for continuous improvement, use available information and databases more efficiently, improve industry, raise the community’s playing field, and review and evaluate progress. The methodologies are based on seven management principles: shared product vision, teamwork, global perspective, forward-looking view, open communication, integrated management, and continuous process.