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Top1. Introduction
Risk is an event or an uncertain condition that, if it occurs, will have a positive or negative effect on at least one of the project objectives (PMI, 2017). The presence of risks throughout the project life cycle can affect the technical feasibility of cost, product market’s launch time, financial performance and strategic objectives (Loch, Solt, & Bailey, 2008). Good risk management models should be able to identify risks and monitor changes as the project progresses (Khatavakhotan, Ow, & Siew, 2015). There are a number of risk factors that affect the entire software development process (Kumar & Yadav, 2015). Thus, many software projects do not achieve the expected results due to poor management. This justifies the research on risk management in software development (Lindholm, Notander, & Höst, 2014).
Software project management has evolved and risk management is increasingly seen in industry as a tool to improve project success, but practices remain non-standard (Olechowski, Oehmen, & Seering, 2016). In this way, new approaches to risk management have emerged and new trends can be addressed, in addition to the traditional ones (Eiras et al., 2017).
In the present day, a large number of studies are established in the area of software development methodologies, comparing similar models, as well as studies based on risk factors and their consequences in software evolution from different perspectives (Rai, Agrawal, & Khaliq, 2017). But these studies are not absolute at the point of deciding the precise risk factors and how the models succeed from these effects (Ruchi, Deepali, & Ashish, 2016). The work by John, Alex, & Konstantinos (2016) emphasizes the notion of risk assessment and the experienced management in agile methodologies, attempt to make clear the major steps and techniques involved in software risk management. The study by Edzreena, Des, & Darryl (2014) indicates about risk factors and the evolution of techniques.
Software development firms are the most risk-prone firms according to Kendrick (2003). For Hu et al. (2013), Lindholm, Notander, and Höst (2014), and Neves and Silva (2016) are more prone to a multiplicity of risks that result in changes in requirements and scope. These organizations are subject to unstable environments and frequent changes. In this scenario, the software development industry has used agile approaches to project management rather than the use of prescriptive approaches (Eiras et al., 2017). Risk management in projects is an important area from a software engineering perspective. Being associated with the logically changeable nature of software, promoting the need for new project management methodologies that are supportive of software development environments. These methodologies are designed with a single objective: to ensure the success of projects and the use of risk management practices. In addition, the consequence of using risk management processes, techniques and tools is more familiar in software development environments. Some authors believe that managing projects is managing risks (Rai, Agrawal, & Khaliq, 2017). In this way, it is evident the importance in analyzing risks in software projects. Risk management is one of the disciplines related to project management and its use becomes progressively more necessary as the size and complexity of the software grows. It is currently a necessity for companies working in this field. In this splendor, we can say that there is a need for indicators and metrics that support risk management for software in the context and belief of software project management, even when we consider organizational factors (JuhaniIivari, 2011; Menezes & Cristine, 2013).