Information system success as impacted by risks and development strategies

The high failure rates long associated with information system (IS) project s, despite advances in techniques for information technology development, s uggest that organizations need to improve their ability to identify and to manage associated risks. Until recently, studies of specific risks and succ esses were limited by the lack of formal measures that were both comprehens ive and multifaceted. This paper proposes and tests a model based on litera ture that relates sources of risk to strategies and success, One hundred ni nety-six: project managers were surveyed to begin an exploration of the typ es of risks encountered, the impact they have on different categories of su ccess, and the types of strategies that are deployed to mitigate known risk s. Analysis of responses indicates that risk-reduction strategies influence success. Strategies involving behavioral aspects tend to be more influenti al in risk reduction than are those aimed at technical risks. Suggestions f or both practitioners and researchers are discussed.