Applying Monte Carlo Simulation to Measuring Risk Factors in Information Technology Projects

Planning and decision making are the basic duties of a project manager which without them it is almost impossible to reach the project goals. In planning and decision making process, firstly, risk factors should be identified and after that their impacts and probabilities should be measured. Therefore, risk management is a critical part of the project management and, ignorance of risk factors is one of the primary causes for the project to be failed. The purpose of this paper is to measure risk factors of IT projects. In this research, 13 main factors are identified, then, based on literature and experts opinion these factors are categorized in 3 groups (project factors, software factors, and internal and external organizational factors). Finally, using Monte Carlo simulation, risk associated with each factor is quantified. As the results of this research show “recourse” is the main factor for IT project. To be effective, managers need to consider suitable strategies in order to decrease the dangers related to the possible risks in the resources.Planning and decision making are the basic duties of a project manager which without them it is almost impossible to reach the project goals. In planning and decision making process, firstly, risk factors should be identified and after that their impacts and probabilities should be measured. Therefore, risk management is a critical part of the project management and, ignorance of risk factors is one of the primary causes for the project to be failed. The purpose of this paper is to measure risk factors of IT projects. In this research, 13 main factors are identified, then, based on literature and experts opinion these factors are categorized in 3 groups (project factors, software factors, and internal and external organizational factors). Finally, using Monte Carlo simulation, risk associated with each factor is quantified. As the results of this research show “recourse” is the main factor for IT project. To be effective, managers need to consider suitable strategies in order to decrease the dangers related to the possible risks in the resources.