Planning for Risk in IT Projects

by Kerry F. Gentry

The implicit message above is not that one should never take risks but that risk-taking should be deliberate and calculated, not foolhardy. The master poker player understands the game and the environment in which it is played. He is familiar with the players and knows that if their risk calculation surpasses his, he will lose. It is remarkable that so few senior IT managers seem to understand the parallels between their role and that of our anonymous poker player, because, first and foremost, both are managers of risk. It can truly be said that, at any level, management has only three fundamental tasks. They are the following: