Analyse, Enhance and Reiterate Risk Management Strategies, Implemented in Information Technology Project Management, amidst COVID-19

Abstract

The global perspective of human life drastically changed after the spread of COVID-19. The world reduced itself, to a digital cocoon. Education, work, commerce, shopping, industry, sales - all walks of life, transformed mostly into a digital mode. The IT (Information Technology) and ITES (IT Enabled services) saw a tremendous transformation in the operational aspects. ‘WFH (Work from Home)’ enabled the resources to work from their preferred locations. These factors increased the risk of data management and data security. The security of the network and the personal devices used to handle the sensitive and confidential data aggregated the risk factors in project management. The significant challenges faced by the IT sector project management were (1)Global Travel restrictions (2) Forecast of Global Recession in near future and resultant minimization of budget allocated to new projects (3)Negative growth Impact from multiple domains, resulting in reduction of new projects and reducing the scope for existing ones (4) Initial adaptation glitches due to the quantum leap in the digital channels (5)Manage constant fluctuating attitudes and anxieties of employees on personal aspects, job security, drastic change in work environment(6) Unprecedented and unpredictable exorbitant influence of macro environment in the routine enterprise activities. The chances of non-availability of critical resource due to health issues, the network issues faced in the remote locations, the unpredictable exposure of data - all these were contributing elements that increased the risk management complexity. In future, many IT companies have decided to operate mainly in the WFH mode as the operational expenses are drastically reduced. The implementation of efficient and effective risk management strategies become crucial considering the long-term implementation of ‘not from office’ operating model. The trust of the multinational clients, commitment of meeting the deadlines, maintaining the confidentiality and sensitivity of data, protecting the unintended intrusion from the digital malicious practices - all are the additional significant risks and challenges, as the probability for the occurrence of these events have increased exponentially due to the latest work arrangements. This paper attempts to evaluate the current risk mitigation strategies and analyse the gaps in the current system. The aim is to effectively manage the upcoming threats and risks in the long-term implementation of the current working  (WFH) scenarios. The overall objective of the paper is to (1) analyse the present-day risks (2) evaluate the contemporary ideas that could be modified into solid framework for better risk mitigation strategies in long-term (3) what to anticipate in the future risk analysis and management processes related to IT Project Management.