Risk Management Handbook , November , 2011
Risk Management Handbook , November , 2011
From the document: "In some form, risk management (RM) has always been an integral part of virtually every challenging human endeavor. A formal and, at that time, qualitative RM process known as Continuous Risk Management (CRM) was introduced to NASA in the latter half of the 1990s. More rigorous quantitative RM processes including Risk-Informed Decision Making (RIDM) and an enhanced version of CRM have only recently been developed for implementation as an integral part of systems engineering at NASA. While there will probably always be vigorous debate over the details of what comprises the best approach to managing risk, few will disagree that effective risk management is critical to program and project success and affordability. Since their introduction and until recently, NASA RM processes have been based on CRM, which stresses the management of risk during the Implementation phase of the NASA Program/Project Life Cycle. In December of 2008, NASA issued NPR 8000.4A [1], which introduced RIDM as a complementary process to CRM that is concerned with analysis of important and/or direction-setting decisions. In the past, RM was considered equivalent to CRM; now, RM is defined as comprising both CRM and RIDM. In April 2010, NASA issued NASA/SP-2010-576, the NASA Risk-Informed Decision Making Handbook. This handbook introduced RIDM as the front-end of the RM process, described the details of how RIDM is conducted, and ended with a description of how the results of RIDM transition to and set the stage for CRM, the final portion of the RM process. The RIDM Handbook did not proceed to describe CRM, as the development of an enhanced version of CRM was still a work in progress in 2010. Now this handbook addresses the entirety of the NASA RM process, including both RIDM and CRM. Beginning with and facilitated by RIDM, decisions made during the course of a program ultimately ―burn in‖ the risk that must be managed during the life cycle of the program (primarily during the development portion of the life cycle) using CRM processes to ensure progress towards the program’s goal. RIDM helps to ensure that decisions between alternatives are made with an awareness of the risks associated with each, thereby helping to prevent late design changes, which can be key drivers of risk, cost overruns, schedule delays, and cancellation.
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