Managing risk in information technology project: A case study of TradeNet

• Main Authors: NEO, Boon Siong, LEONG, Kwong Sin
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 1994
• Subjects: Accounting; Asian Studies; Management Information Systems; Technology and Innovation
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soa_research/1678; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soa_research/article/2705/viewcontent/JITM_Vol_V_No.3_4.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The development and implementation of IT (Information Technology) projects are plagued with problems of cost and time overruns, technical inadequacy, inability to meet user requirements, lack of utilization and failure to achieve anticipated benefits. These problems occur to some projects and not to others because 1) IT projects have different profiles of risk, and 2) IT projects risks have been managed more or less effectively. This paper synthesizes the literature into four classes of risks and applies it to evaluate TradeNet, an EDI-based trading system implemented in Singapore in 1989. Through a case study of TradeNet, we derived a typology of four risk management strategies for IT projects: 1) risk preemption, 2) risk reduction, 3) risk isolation, and 4) risk sharing. Each risk management strategy is described in terms of the tactics and mechanisms used in the TradeNet project. Some of these tactics include: positioning of the systems, providing incentives for adoption, managing project developments, information and expertise, scoping the system, separating accountability, surfacing of problems, cooperating with organizations, coopting key personnel, and connecting to othe systems. The relevance of these risk management strategies is analyzed and discussed.