A new approach to teaching software risk management with case studies

Software development is inherently risky, however the need to adapt processes intended for larger organisations introduces a new element of risk. In addition, the nature of many new software products can be described as "critical" and therefore should undergo a formal risk assessment procedure. Despite the majority of software projects involving these additional elements of risk, risk management planning is virtually non-existent, as managers have not been trained in risk management. Few current software engineering curricula provide comprehensive coverage of risk, nor any practical experience in risk assessment. In this paper we propose that risk be repositioned in the software engineering core body of knowledge, and discuss preliminary requirements for a one semester course on risk. As experience is considered an essential element of successful risk assessment, a feature of the course is the use of case studies based on real projects to simulate an historical perspective for students.