RMP Template for EduStream Project
RMP Template for EduStream Project
Apart from the changes discussed in the preceding elements on this page, you must not change
this template. This reflects real-world imperatives. Companies generally want you to conform
to the templates that they provide. Therefore, get used to utilising standard templates now.
1 INTRODUCTION
Risk Management (RM) defines the processes required for identification, assessment,
mitigation, tracking, control, and management of a project’s risks. RM should drive
decisions that affect the development of the business capacity and the management of the
project.
This Risk Management Plan (RMP) aims to give the EduStream project a consistent method
for managing risks, to help ensure success.
2 PROJECT SCOPE
[[Instructions for what to include in this section: Please note that you should use the same
Project Scope statement that you developed for the QMP and CP. Therefore, please
carefully read and follow the instructions for Section 2 of the QMP.]
The Project Risk Manager (PRM) will be the EdMedia International (EdMI) Quality Team
Manager (QTM) for this project. In this role, the PRM is directly responsible to the Project
Manager for all aspects related to Risk Management.
The PRM may delegate these responsibilities to other team members for implementation, but
the accountability to the Project Manager will always rest with the PRM.
The Project Manager will have overall responsibility for ensuring the Risk Management Plan
is executed appropriately. Specific Risk Management responsibilities of the Project Manager
include:
approving the mitigation of very high severity level risks;
supporting mitigation implementation as appropriate; and
assisting in cross-organisation and controversial risk mitigation, to facilitate involving
senior personnel from other organisations and their resources.
The Risk Owner (RO) is the person to whom the PRM assigns primary responsibility for
managing/mitigating the risk. This assignment of responsibility will be based on the type of
risk and will normally be delegated to the team member who can be empowered to assure this
risk is managed/mitigated. This will typically be a Team Leader and/or their respective co-
lead. Other stakeholders can also be delegated as Risk Co-Owners (RCO), so appropriate
skills and authority can be applied to manage and mitigate the risk. However, the RO will
always be directly responsible to the PRM for managing/mitigating the assigned risk.
The RO and RCOs (as appropriate) will take the following actions:
assessing the risk and creating a Risk Response Plan that meets the PRM approval
criteria;
mitigating/controlling risks in accordance with the specified Risk Response Plan;
recommending risk closure to the PRM once the risk has been mitigated/controlled/
ameliorated appropriately; and
presenting risk status information at Quality Team meetings, as required.
The ability of our team to identify risks that may affect project outcomes is extremely
important. Once a risk has been identified, it must be logged into the Project Risk Register.
The Risk Register includes the following information:
1. REF ID. This is a unique identifier for each risk. Typically, it is a sequential number.
2. Description of the Risk. A description of each potential risk event is provided in this
column of the Risk Register. In many cases, this is supported by more detailed
information in separate documentation or notes associated with the Risk Register.
3. Potential Impact of the Risk. A short explanation of how the risk could affect the
project is included in this cell. These are typically defined in terms of aspects such as
the impacts on safety, pricing/costs, scheduling, technical, etc. In many cases, this is
supported by more detailed information in separate documentation, or notes associated
with the Risk Register.
4. Risk Level. The risk level is typically developed from qualitative analysis. This uses a
matrix that includes the probability of occurrence and the impact/seriousness if it does
(see Figure 1). The information within this cell should be VH, H, M, L or VL, which
equate to Very High, High, Medium, Low, or Very Low. Additionally, a risk score can
be added in this section. Risk scores are often developed from Qualitative Analysis
(see Section 4.2.2) but may also be defined through different Quantitative Analysis
models.
5. Risk Owners. This column of the Risk Register is used to provide details of the RO
and any RCOs who will be responsible for managing the risk. In some cases, this
includes contact details, however, this is not required in this version of the Risk
Register.
6. Date Reported. The date on which the risk was reported is included in this column.
This allows the age of the risk to be identified effectively, so it becomes clear which
risks are slow to be addressed.
7. Control/Contingency/Fallback Strategies. Include the strategies proposed for dealing
with the risk (preventative, contingency, contingency reserves, fallback, etc.). Where
necessary, these should be provided as fuller descriptions in separate documents or
notes attached to the Risk Register. It is important that this information provides
enough content to allow a reader to understand the steps/strategies that will be taken to
manage the risk.
8. Due Date. The due date assigned for completing the risk mitigation/controls defined in
the preceding column should be included in this column. When developing this due
date, the team should ensure that the projected resolution duration is appropriate (e.g. if
it is a Very High Risk or High Risk it should be addressed in a very short time frame).
9. Risk Status. The risk status is typically defined as Open or Closed. However, some
organisations include other terms such as Escalated or Pending. The information in
this cell can then be used to find specific types of risk, such as those ones that are still
open.
10. Date Closed. The column for Date Closed refers to the day on which the risk was
officially closed. In some cases, this is an automatic field that updates when the risk
status is changed. Including this field allows the team to investigate metrics such as
average time for closure of risks (i.e. the average for Date Closed minus Date
Reported).
11. Lessons Learnt. The lessons learnt is an important field, because it allows future
projects to proactively identify risks and solutions that worked or did not work. This
information is often provided as a link/field for a detailed file, or a note in the Risk
Register, which explains issues related to the root cause, and other key factors that
could need to be addressed in future projects.
Please note that the last three of these Risk Register elements are not included in the example
provided within Appendix 1, as they are not directly pertinent to this assignment.
Risks are analysed using Qualitative and Quantitative methods. Such analysis can be
conducted in parallel or in tandem (e.g. one after the other). These types of analysis can be
categorised as explained in the following subsections.
4.2.1 Qualitative Analysis
Qualitative Analysis is a method for assessing the level of risk, by entering the probability of
occurrence and the impact of an occurrence using a matrix, such as the one provided in
Figure 1. This is achieved by defining each issue in terms of the general criteria to the right
of this diagram.
Once this qualitative analysis has been completed, take appropriate action as defined in Table
1
Table 1: Actions to be taken for different levels of Qualitative Risk
Where the risks are identified as being Very High, High, or Moderate, an RO (and possibly
one or more RCO) will be allocated to manage the risk. They will begin this activity by
developing a Risk Response Plan. This plan is used to provide options and action plans,
which can help to reduce the threats associated with the identified risk.
To facilitate these activities the RO/RCO will be required to interact with all appropriate
stakeholders, to identify suitable solutions/options for mitigation/control. They will then
submit their plan to the PRM (or their delegate for that level of risk). Once the plan is
approved, the Risk Register is to be updated with specific and suitable details related to the
proposed plan. Additionally, appropriate changes are to be implemented through the Change
Management, Configuration Management, Problem Management, and/or Issue Management
systems. Where necessary, such changes should also be applied to other documentation,
including the Project Management Plan (and its sub-documents) and the Work Breakdown
Structure/Schedule. Appropriate steps must then be taken to implement the approved risk
management steps within an appropriate timeframe.
Risk Monitoring and Control is the process of identifying, analysing, and planning for newly
identified risks, monitoring previously identified risks, and re-evaluating existing risks, to
verify the effectiveness of planned risk response strategies.
assessing the impact on the project of actions taken (cost, time, resources);
identifying new risks resulting from risk mitigation actions;
ensuring that the project plan (including the Risk Management Plan) is maintained;
ensuring that Change Management addresses risks associated with the proposed change;
revising Risk Management documents, to capture the results of mitigation/control actions;
updating the Risk Register; and
communicating Risk Management status (and risk response follow-through as
appropriate) to pertinent stakeholders.
Most Risk Management decisions will be made within the Quality Group (QG) led by the
EdMI Quality Team Manager (QTM). Escalation to the Project Manager will take place
when:
Very High, or High, risk issues are identified;
there is a need to coordinate Risk Management across organisations and the level of
authority needed to manage the risks is beyond the capabilities/authority of the
members of the QG; and
when the QTM or Project Manager considers it appropriate.
Such escalations are implemented to help ensure that the risks can be mitigated or
ameliorated effectively within the appropriate timeframe.
Once an identified risk has been appropriately controlled/mitigated, this should be reported to
the QTM by the RO as soon as possible. Where a risk has been escalated, the QTM is to
advise the Project Manager as soon as it is practicable.
Prior to closure, the QTM (or the Project Manager if the risk has been escalated) is to take
appropriate steps to ensure that the risk has been appropriately mitigated. Once they are
confident that appropriate mitigation has been implemented, they will officially change the
status in the Risk Register to closed.
At the completion of the project, there will be a transition of any open risks, and the capturing
and harvesting of lessons learnt. These are important for future project maintenance and
support. Additionally, this activity can assist in the management of future projects. Key
activities that are to be undertaken during this phase include the following:
validating the closure of identified risks (i.e. ensuring that they have been closed
appropriately);
for any open risks, assess whether there are ongoing operational/technical risks that
warrant communication of these matters to other stakeholders;
documenting remaining open risks within an accessible final report;
producing final Risk Management metrics and evaluating the process effectiveness
against established benchmarks; and
capturing risk factors and Risk Response Plans for inclusion in Risk Reference Models.
5.1 Task 1
[Instructions for what to include: The first step will be to identify possible risks associated
with the implementation of this project. This exercise is best managed through a workshop
discussion involving your entire group.
Your team needs to take the following steps:
(1) Make sure that you have all carefully read and understand the information provided in
this RMP before the meeting, so you have key knowledge that you will need to
complete this exercise properly.
(2) You may find it easier to do the next steps if you use the template provided for the Risk
Breakdown Structure (see the LMS under Topic 9).
(3) Carefully read the Assignment 2 information and other ancillary information/guidance
that has been provided. From this, identify any likely risks that could affect the
EduStream project (many of these have been outlined in the materials – especially the
Topic 9 Workshop).
(4) Additionally, think about any other realistic risks that could adversely affect the project.
To achieve this objective, you will need to think about issues that are likely to have
been disclosed through previous parts of your work during the semester. Additionally,
think about real-world issues that may have an influence (e.g. political, macro-
economic, social, technical, etc.).
A USEFUL HINT ON SELECTING WHICH RISKS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR RISK
REGISTER – THE RISK IDENTIFICATION PROCESS
Be careful to avoid risks related to imprecise, so-called ‘motherhood’ statements. For
example, risks like ‘delay in the project’, ‘technical faults and errors’, ‘resource issues’,
‘financial stability’, or ‘employee negligence’ are not valid (but all were included as risks
by members of previous cohorts). Please don’t fall into the same trap. These types of
statement do not reflect the risks that need to be included.
In your Risk Register you need to ensure that all of the identified risks meet the following
key criteria:
The risk must be realistic and there would have to be something that you can do
about it. There is simply no point including risks where the chance of them
occurring are very remote and they would not be manageable anyway. For instance,
a risk like ‘we could be hit by a meteorite’ is not worth including.
Make sure it is specific. Ensure that the risks you include are specific enough to be
scoped effectively for management. As an example, you would not include ‘Human
Resources’ as a risk in the register. This type of statement simply does not mean
anything! Alternately, making a statement like ‘Inability to recruit qualified
personnel for the Level 2/3 support team’ would be valid. In this case, it refers to a
Human Resource issue, but it has been scoped so the risk is clear. Just as
importantly, there are a number of strategies that you could implement to manage
this risk.
(5) Insert a short description for each of the risks that you identify through steps (3) and (4)
into the Risk Register provided in Appendix 1. Where you need to provide more detail,
include a very short description in the appropriate cell for that risk, and refer the reader
to a specific Note number (see below). You can then write a Note into the appropriate
section below the Risk Register Table.
(6) Next, for each risk, insert potential impacts of the risk. You need to think about these
in terms of issues such as safety, pricing, cost, schedule, technical, security, etc. If you
can effectively describe these elements in the table cell for each risk, do so. If you
cannot fully describe the risk impacts, you can add a short descriptive note into the cell
and then direct the reader to an appropriate Note provided below the Risk Register
table.
(7) Carefully assess the risk level for each of the risks that you have identified. Mark these
as VH, H, M, L or VL in line with the qualitative assessment that you make (see
Sections 4.1 and 4.2.1). Additionally, you can optionally include the risk score as well.
This aspect is really important. Your team need to think carefully about this, so the
assessment is realistic.
(8) Assign a Risk Owner (RO) (and Risk Co-Owners (RCO) where appropriate). Do not
insert names but include the appropriate role identification/s from the Stakeholder
Engagement Matrix (Provided in Topic 7). It is important that you assign the right
people to address each risk. Remember, they will need the
expertise/authority/capability to manage that risk.
(9) For the Date Reported, just insert the date for the day on which you held the workshop
to identify the risks.
(10) For each risk, you need to include sensible and practical control/contingency/fallback
strategies. You can provide a synopsis in the cell, and if necessary, expand on this
within an associated Note. It is very important that you think about this carefully
because this aspect will have the highest weighting in the scores allocated to this part of
the assignment.
WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR CONTROL CONTINGENCY & FEEDBACK
STRATEGIES?
The strategies that you define must be practical and assist you to manage the risk
appropriately. This approach is discussed in the Topic 9 Lecture and Workshop in
(11) The Due Date for each risk should be entered. Make sure that this aligns to the level
of risk that you identified. For example, Very High risks should be addressed as soon
as possible. You can get guidance on this within Table 1 (above). Additionally, take
into account the project schedule, as this will also help to drive your decision making
on this aspect.
(12) You must provide a minimum of 30 additional realistic Moderate to Very High
risks in your Risk Register (Note - that you can include Positive/Negative risks). The
more realistic your risks are, the higher your assessment score will be. At the moment,
33 rows have been included in the Risk Register. This is because three examples have
been provided in the table, so you can see what is required. If you need more rows
because you have identified more risks, just add them and make sure that they are
sequentially numbered.
(13) Where you have complex information to include in the Risk Register cells, make a
synopsis statement about this in the table and refer to a specific Note. These notes are
auto-numbered, so just point the reader to the right number by inserting the text ‘See
Note # for more information’ – where # is the Note number.]
5.2 Task 2
Your team has been contacted by the Project Sponsor because the Board is thinking about
adding a fourth Pilot site into the project. The options for this are Brisbane, Adelaide and
Darwin. Your team has been asked to implement an Expected Monetary Value (EMV)
analysis based on the following information. This data was developed by the EdMI
Marketing Department based on:
the expected additional costs associated with implementing that node in Year 0;
the probabilities for different levels of demand for the EduStream services, based on a
statistical analysis of various prospective clients (defined as probabilities of Strong,
Moderate or Weak demand);
costs are based on establishment and operation of the additional node for Year 0 and
Year 1; and
the expected revenue that is likely to be generated within the first year if the demand is
Strong, Moderate or Weak (please note that these figures have already been adjusted
for Net Present Value).
[Instructions for what to include in this section: Using the information provided in the first
table above:
(1) Work out the expected Differential (Profit/Loss) and Profit/Loss x Probability and
insert these into the columns provided in the upper table.
(2) Using the processes discussed in the Topic 9 workshop, work out the EMV for each
project, and insert the results into the allocated cells within the lower table provided
above.
(3) Finally, in the bottom cell of the answer table, write a statement that explains your
recommendation for project selection. When developing this part of the response,
begin by discussing the direct outcome of to the EMV calculation. However, please
note that EMV is typically not just assessed on its own. Other real-world factors would
also be assessed. For example, in this case you would need to think about the
following:
a. The risk profile of the various options should be assessed. For example, are there
options where the risk of low demand is higher than the others. If so, think about
why this might be the case and whether this should influence the decision.
b. Think about the population size for the three options and therefore the likely size
of the market in each city. Additionally, assess a range of other aspects such as
future population growth, as this might change the outcome noting that the
revenues in this case are only covering the first year of operation.
c. Assess the implications related to selecting different cities. For instance,
establishing the node in which of these three cities would help us to engage with
the National Indigenous Australians Agency. Noting that this would be a large
client that could provide guaranteed cashflow, should this change the decision?
d. What are the macroeconomic conditions likely to be during the period and is
there likely to be differences in their impact on these different cities? As a hint, it
is typically best to select cities for nodes where their economic power and growth
are likely to be less affected by the expected economic situation.
e. Think about the availability of technical infrastructure in the various cities (e.g.
the presence of Tier 3 datacentres or network connections such as cheap high
bandwidth backhauls) as these will influence the feasibility, risks and costs
related to the project.
f. Think about the fact that the costs for Year 0 and Year 1 are included, but the
revenues only cover the first year of operation. If we were to take into account
costs and revenues over five years, is this likely to make a difference in the
outcome? You don’t need to work out the longer projections, just think about the
implications in terms of the preceding points.
When you get out into the industry always look at these bigger picture issues and put them
into the context of risks.]
A USEFUL HINT FOR MANAGING THE EMV RESPONSE
If you get the EMV calculation correct, this is worth a maximum of 60% of the total marks
for this question. The remaining 40% of the marks will be allocated in terms of how well
you look at the bigger picture issues. This is an important point to remember. Real
success in the industry comes to those people who can not only assess the specifics (such
as an EMV calculation) but can also make informed and well-reasoned decisions based on
much broader issues. This is the type of skill that is widely in demand in the ICT industry.
Consequently, the last part of this question is designed to help you build this skill.
REF Description of the Risk Potential Impact of the Risk Risk Level Risk Owner/s Date Control/Contingency/Fallback Strategies Due Date
ID (Insert a short description of the (Explain the impact of the risk in terms of safety, (VH/H/ (RO/RCO) Reported (Provide a synopsis of the approaches that you are (For
risk) pricing/costs, schedule, technical, security, etc.) proposing to manage this risk. Remember that this Plan/Action)
M/L/VL)
approach must conform to the RMP framework.)
1 Netflix not providing rights to EduStream will not have a video streaming H (15) CIO/ EdMI PM, 2/03/22 Control: Continue negotiations and secure the 16/03/22 (See
utilise OCA Equipment (see Note # server. As this is a core element of the system, StreamTech PM utilisation of the OCAs. Offer resource sharing. Note 2)
1 for more information) this lack would have significant cost, schedule Contingency: Deploy through Netflix and become a
and technical impacts content provider (this has significant business &
technical implications).
Fallback: Utilise another video streaming engine
(develop or reuse another COTS solution). This fallback
could have a significant business/technical impact.
2 Planned client software tokens Unless the token system can be made foolproof VH (25) DemSet PM/ 31/05/22 Control: Investigate and implement 128b token 09/07/22 (See
may not stop unauthorised usage there is a high probability that security protocols StreamTech PM, solution including storage of tokens in the Client DB. Note 3)
of the system can be breached, and unauthorised users will EdMI Security Do extensive white hat hacker security testing.
gain access to content. This will have significant Advisor Contingency: Option up to a 256b token. Do extensive
cashflow, technical and security ramifications. hacker security testing.
Fallback: Option up to a 512b token and implement
more rigorous multi-level security measures.
3 Inability to recruit appropriately This means that we would only be able to deliver M (5) CIO/ EdMI HR 2/03/22 Control: Start the recruitment process early and 05/04/22 (See
skilled personnel to provide Level Level 1 support through the MBSD. Lack of this Manager engage the recruited staff member during project and Note 4)
2/3 Support Level 2/3 service may make it difficult to resolve document development, so they have time to
technical risks quickly. A shortfall of this nature understand the system intimately prior to deployment.
could adversely impact on our ability to deploy a To help ensure the right people are engaged, ensure
stable system and encourage corporate groups that the monetary offering and conditions are
to engage. This will have significant cashflow competitive.
and technical development implications Contingency: Engage StreamTech and DemSet on long
term support contracts to provide the support. This
would have to be a tight contract to control cost
blowouts.
Fallback: Headhunt a person with the appropriate
skills from an employment agency.
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REF Description of the Risk Potential Impact of the Risk Risk Level Risk Owner/s Date Control/Contingency/Fallback Strategies Due Date
ID (Insert a short description of the (Explain the impact of the risk in terms of safety, (VH/H/ (RO/RCO) Reported (Provide a synopsis of the approaches that you are (For
risk) pricing/costs, schedule, technical, security, etc.) proposing to manage this risk. Remember that this Plan/Action)
M/L/VL)
approach must conform to the RMP framework.)
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NOTES: [Add your notes below. Autonumbering is used, so to add a new note, just press enter at the end of the note.]
(1) At this stage, our team has assumed that EduStream can utilise OCAs, which may be provided for free or at low cost. However,
negotiations with Netflix are ongoing and the use of this technology has not been finalised.
(2) This needs to be done before we go out to tender, which is why the early date has been selected.
(3) This date is late in the design and prototype phase, so we would test this carefully before making a decision, but also leave scope in the
design to change it out if necessary, without making fundamental changes to the architecture.
(4) This should kick off early engagement through recruitment.