Risks management in software development capstone projects

Project risk management is one of the most important knowledge areas that a project manager should know well. During university level studies, computer science students participate in different kind of capstone projects where they can learn risk management in practice. In this paper, we study risk monitoring in student's software development capstone projects. We analyze risk identification, foreseen and unforeseen risks, mitigation, and reactions after a risk is realized. Most common realized risks were related to time management of the project. Main mitigation techniques were good documentation, version control usage and open communication. Teams reacted to risks by rescheduling or speeding up their work