Prioritization of Risks in Agile Software Projects Through an Analytic Hierarchy Process Approach
Ayesha Ziana M, Charles J · Procedia Computer Science · 2024
Abstract Risk management is often overlooked in the software industry, especially in agile methodology-based projects, which can have negative impacts on the schedule, budget, and quality of a project, eventually leading to customer dissatisfaction. Hence, it is essential to identify the risks and prioritize them based on their level of importance. This study has utilized the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology for prioritizing the software risk factors identified during our previously executed risk identification phase experimental study in small and medium software enterprises that follow agile and traditional methodologies for software development. Among the 16 risk factors categorized under four different risk natures named ‘difficulties’, ‘changes’, ‘mistakes’, and ‘challenges’, the ‘challenges’ risk nature category is found to be the most significant one by the research findings, followed by ‘difficulties’, ‘mistakes’, and ‘changes’ risk natures. The results also highlight that ‘proper utilization of funds’, ‘complicated tasks’, and ‘convincing the customer with alternative technologies’ are the most significant risk factors. The study gives an insight into the possible risk factors in a software environment, along with their significance.