There has been a lot of discussions about risks recently in the social media. There have been inputs from the industry leaders about not to only consider project risks, but also consider business and industry risks. Let’s look at what a Software Testing person can consider while assessing risks, and how to go about it.
There are a variety of industry risks that could or could not be considered while a product is perceived. As I wrote about risks assessment from a product perspective, the risks before the product is developed are actually design considerations. If we consider the industry risks also while designing the product, it will be great, but there are challenges. For example, in the logistics industry, the following risks are present at the industry level:
- Carrier delays and non-performance
- Hijacking and theft
- Lack of security procedures
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Liability for loss or delays
- Bankruptcy of transport providers
- Lack of inventory
- New security and safety legislation affecting logistics
Source: shield.eu
The question then would be, how can these risks be considered while designing the product. Well, not all can be taken care of as some of them may not be in the control of the product team.
The key question under consideration is what can a software tester do to analyze such risks and how can they contribute to make sure that the product addresses such business/industry risks. Here are the things that a Software Tester can do:
- List down the business/industry risks that you could come up with. For this, you have to do research on your own industry’s risks. Within the industry, there will be different types of businesses, each with their own set of risks. You need to narrow down to the indstry->business risks for your own context.
- Meet the Product Owner, Business Analyst, and the developers with this list and discuss these risks, whether they are applicable for the product that’s being designed, and how the risks would be mitigated / taken care of.
- Based on the discussion in Step 2, during the various stages of product development – requirements, architecture, design, etc., verify and validate that these risks are addressed.
- After the product is built, in the post-development testing, verify and validate if the risks are handled correctly in the developed product.
Hope this article gives you clarity about how to handle business/industry risks while the product is being developed. If you need help in analyzing risks for your own organisation’s product/project, feel free to get in touch with me.