Risk Management toools: suggestions to purchase

I hope that resources in your projects are not limited. In other case no tool will produce reliable result.

Sorry Vladimir but I did not understand what you mean with "resources in your project" and with "not limited".

Basically I am asking a preliminary technical support to purchase a software considering the experiences of the people here.

Thanks.

Regards.

Michele:

What do you want this 'Risk Management Tool' to do?  No experience with Risk Project Professional, but some with Primavera Risk Analysis (PRA).  For me, I make a distinction between schedule risk assessment and project risk management.  

For project risk management almost any spreadsheet or word processor can help you capture and track assignments and mitigation.  However, PRA has a powerful Risk Register that should serve you well.

For schedule risk assessment, PRA is probably the best tool available (remember no experience with Risk Project Professional), but you will pay a hefty price - around $12,000 USD.

I have a nodding acquaintenance with Acumen Risk and I would add it to your list of candidates.  Its price is about $3,000 USD and, at last exposure, it did not do a credible job with resources - very important limitation in my world.

I would start with a list of requirements - what does management want to accomplish - and then setup your matrix.

Good luck,

Michel,

Most risk management tools use Monte Carlo simulation for obtaining probability distributions of project parameters like duration, cost, finish date, etc. It means that the tool simulates project performance creating project schedules and calculating project budget many times (thousands). If resources are limited then different software packages may create different schedules for the same sets of project data. I simulation tool uses resource leveling algorithms that are different, distributions that will be created will be wrong because resources will be assigned using one rules and MC software simulated different rules.

Using add-on software for risk simulation is reliable only for projects wihere resources are not limited.

Is it your case?

Thanks guys for suggestions.

@ Dennis

I have to do risk plan/assessment/mitigation accordingly all the process from definition of all risks by a risk register that coulb be like an xls file to its assessment and mitigation. Each activity duration, resources and expenses should be assessed by probabilistic values to obtain more likely finish date, costs score, and so on... obviously through a monte carlo approach.

The risk register will be only a part of the scope.

Yesterday I contacted the oracle's commercial office to get an appointment with their technical responsible/commercial partner to show me how it works. I think PRA will be helpful and I wish it will be easy to learn.

To me is mandatory the integration with P6 to import all details and assignments (resources and expenses).

@ Vladimir

Ok, now I understood what you mean... basically all sw are different and obviously only an undefined no. of resources can generate the same (more or less) result. To me it is no important the different algorithm and its different result... I simply need a sw that do what I need as well as I wrote first.

Now I am playing on a trial version of PRA... I think that can do what I need. somebody knows a good getting started or tutorial to suggest me?

Thanks guy, I really appreciate your help.

Michele:

I think you have made a good choice.  You should be pleased with the results, though your management will not be pleased with the cost.  There are a number of in-program tutorials that should help you get started and the rep should be able to guide you through the basics.  There is a Yahoo group, in addition to this forum, that can provide some assistance on the more esoteric problems later on.  Oracle support has been very useful resource for me.

Welcome to the club.  I think you and your management will be pleased with the software.