PM FPX 5334 Assessment 1 Risk Management Plan

Risk Management Plan

Project Name: Vodafone GLAN Network Project

Learner Name: Student Name

Course Name: 5334

June, 2026

Table of Contents

Section 1 – Introduction to the Plan_ 3

1.1 Benefits of Risk Management 3

1.2 Project Goals and Objectives 3

1.3 Company Background_ 4

1.4 Risk Identification_ 5

Section 2 – Risk Scope, Components, and Value_ 5

2.1 Scope of the Risk Management Plan_ 5

2.2 Risk Management Plan Components 5

2.3 Expected Monetary Value_ 5

2.4 Determine the Risks 6

2.5 Evaluate and Assess the Risks 6

2.6 Qualitative and Quantitative Processes 6

Section 3 – Risk Analysis and Assessment 6

3.1 Major and Minor Risks 6

3.2 Risk Probability_ 7

3.3 Risk Matrix Template_ 7

3.4 Risk Data Quality Strategy_ 7

3.5 Risk Reviews 7

Section 4 – Corrective Action and Monitoring_ 7

4.1 Risk Tolerance_ 7

4.2 Risk Mitigation_ 7

4.3 Corrective Risk Management Strategy_ 8

4.4 Corrective Action Plan_ 8

Section 5 – Postmortem Plan_ 8

5.1 Results 8

5.2 Follow Up_ 8

Section 6 – References 9

6.1 References 9

Templates 10

Risk Matrix Legend Example_ 10

Risk Matrix Example_ 10

Risk Monitoring and Control Example_ 11

Section 1 – Introduction to the Plan

1.1 Benefits of Risk Management

An integral component of any successful project is effective risk management. Risk management assists project managers in anticipating threats, mitigating uncertainty, and preserving organizational resources. Project Risk Management increases the likelihood of success and reduces anxiety and provides the ability to better predict project outcomes (Kallow et al., 2022). When utilized in a structured manner, risk management provides a proactive environment that enables project teams to address issues before they escalate to become expensive failures.

The advantages of applying structured risk management processes to complex technology projects are even more significant than in projects of less complexity. The Vodafone Global Local Area Network (GLAN) project provided an excellent example of how conducting risk assessment workshops early in the project allowed the project team to identify a high-priority risk of potentially millions of euros in cost due to network failure during implementation (Project Management Institute [PMI], 2021). By addressing this risk at the beginning of the project, the project team developed mitigation strategies, recorded the risk in an issue log, and tracked the project’s dependencies throughout the duration of the project. Through this proactive method, the project team received a Net Promoter Score of 10/10 from the customer when the project was completed.

Risk management supports global project cost efficiency and schedule compliance, two critical criteria for successful global projects. According to Testorelli et al (2024), organizations that implement PRM efficiently throughout the entire project lifecycle experience verifiable advantages in terms of cost, time, and quality. Dedicating funds to visit the most important project locations and establishing a formal change control process helped Vodafone avoid cost overruns and protect project resources from scope creep. Through structured risk management, organizations can reduce uncertainty through planned, actionable processes, positively aligning project outcomes with organizational goals.

1.2 Project Goals and Objectives

The foundation for identifying and evaluating risks is a clearly articulated set of project goals and objectives. Vodafone’s Global Local Area Network (GLAN) project began in late 2017 at the request of a strategic customer that wanted to replace the existing legacy network with a fully managed Global Local Area Network (GLAN) that spanned 42 sites across 28 countries (PMI, 2021). The key goal for this project was to finish migrating the full network by November 2019 under a five-year managed services agreement and any and all identified risks throughout the project were evaluated against this overarching goal which meant any risk decisions directly supported project success.

The four objectives of the project were developed on the four aspects of performance which included time, cost, quality and customer satisfaction. Ullah et al. (2026) observed that mapping, balancing and prioritising risks can be critical in maintaining the stability of the project and in accomplishing the project’s objectives. Vodafone operationalised this principle by categorising the 42 customer sites into four categories of priority – Low, Medium, High and Top – each of which required a standardised method of delivery (PMI, 2021). Through this structured approach to prioritisation of risks, any risk at a higher complexity/priority level would be evaluated and addressed with a greater level of detail than would risks at lower complexity levels (such as a customer’s headquarters combining both an office and factory).

Risk evaluation for this project aligned directly with fulfilling contractual obligations and protecting the customer’s production operations. One of the key objectives of the project was to keep the customer’s manufacturing production lines running without interruption as the network was migrated, since any failure would potentially cost millions of euros (PMI, 2021). Therefore, risk tolerance levels (thresholds) were established at a very low level for high severity implementation risks, which drove how much of the project team’s resources to commit to and how to schedule the project’s migration activities. In this way, clear and concise objectives gave the lens through which all project risk identification and response planning efforts were accomplished during the project.

1.3 Company Background

To identify risks and manage stakeholders effectively, one must understand the organisational context of the project. Vodafone is one of the largest telecommunication companies in the globe and operates its wireless network across 24 countries, in addition to having network partnerships in 42 other countries and fixed broadband services provided in 19 markets. There are over 500 million total customers using Vodafone services worldwide (PMI, 2021). Vodafone’s size and international presence facilitate its ability to manage complex, multi-location technology-based projects; however, they also create significant challenges for coordinating work and managing risk across geographically dispersed teams. Vodafone’s project management practices utilise PMI-style project management standards, demonstrating the company’s commitment to following structured processes for delivering in high complexity environments.

One of the first steps to understanding how a project will impact the enterprise is to identify the stakeholders. Siems et al. (2022) note that identifying risks involving stakeholders improves communication between those stakeholders as it requires the sharing of risks and how to mitigate them. The GLAN project will have as stakeholders the strategic customer (a global enterprise that operates factories and offices at 42 different locations) as well as Vodafone’s customer program delivery project team, technical solution architects and third-party suppliers involved in the rollout of the network (PMI, 2021). Each of these groups of stakeholders has different functions and affect the decisions made on the project and risk outcomes based on their role.

In the case of this project, each stakeholder group’s role was integral to establishing the risk management structure for the project. The project management team at Vodafone, which is led by Ahmed ElGedwany, the Senior Customer Portfolio Lead, had responsibility for the delivery approach and ensuring that the agreed-to PMI standards were used throughout the execution of the project (PMI, 2021). The customer had the authority and responsibility to approve the site designs, confirm the migration plan(s) are appropriate, and assess the project’s overall performance, which is exemplified by the 10/10 Net Promoter Score awarded to the project at close. Suppliers to the Vodafone GLAN project also played an important role in the management of resources through their participation in the resource management workshops and had a direct operational impact on how to execute the migrations; therefore, their support was crucial to effectively managing the risks to the schedule and quality.

1.4 Risk Identification

The first and most important component of the risk management process is identifying risks (i.e., identifying and assessing all potential threats to project scope, schedule, cost, and quality) using both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to understand the full range of uncertainty associated with a particular project. As noted by Huzooree and Yadav (2025), professional, effective risk management practices are designed to limit the uncertainties experienced, increase the level of resilience to withstand future adversity, and allow for change and adaptation as project needs change. Vodafone began identifying risks immediately after initiating the GLAN project and conducted structured risk assessment workshops led by technical and project management subject matter experts.

Qualitative risk analysis was primarily used to categorize and prioritize risks on this project (i.e., experts facilitated workshops as an acceptable qualitative technique for assessing the likelihood of occurrence and potential impact (severity); an example of this was a severe network failure during implementation (PMI, 2021). The project team then used a site-priority matrix to classify all identified risks as being Low, Medium, High, or Top priority, based on site complexity; this allowed them to direct their mitigation efforts to the sites with the highest risk first. This type of qualitative prioritization of risks is consistent with PMI’s recommendation that probability-impact assessments be used as the determining factor in assessing which risks should have further analysis or an immediate response.

Quantitative risk analysis complemented the qualitative risk analysis process in that it provided estimates of the financial implications of certain key risk events. For example, the project team was able to quantify the risk associated with network failure as it was estimated that significant disruption(s) to the customer’s production lines could cost millions of euros. this amount was used to prepare the risk response plan and budget (PMI, 2021). As such, the tailored risk management plan and issue log were used to capture all identified risks, assess all dependencies, and document all impact assessments for the respective project throughout the entire lifecycle. In total, both qualitative and quantitative risk identification strategies resulted in the identification, prioritization, and overall risk management of all major risk areas for all 42 global project sites.

Section 2 – Risk Scope, Components, and Value

2.1 Scope of the Risk Management Plan

Define the boundaries of the risk management plan scope.

2.2 Risk Management Plan Components

Explain the components and the corresponding responsibilities that comprise the Risk Management Plan.

Describe the processes included in a risk management plan.

2.3 Expected Monetary Value

Apply an expected monetary value analysis to estimate the cost of a project without a risk plan.

Articulate the benefits of a risk management plan.

2.4 Determine the Risks

Identify sources of risk and the corresponding potential impact on project outcomes.

Include evidence of at least one of these processes:

• The Delphi technique.
• Ishikawa diagrams.
• Interviewing processes.

2.5 Evaluate and Assess the Risks

Define the elements of the risk breakdown structure for use in evaluating project risk.

Analyze the impact of risk on project outcomes.

Integrate risk analysis techniques to create a risk breakdown structure.

2.6 Qualitative and Quantitative Processes

Apply qualitative and quantitative risk analysis.

Include evidence of at least one of these processes:

• Sensitivity analysis.
• Expected monetary analysis.
• Monte Carlo simulation.
• Decision tree analysis.)

Section 3 – Risk Analysis and Assessment

3.1 Major and Minor Risks

Analyze project risk to identify major and minor risks associated with the project.

• How were the risks determined?
• Were qualitative or quantitative methods used?
• Was the most effective method applied to determine risk?)

3.2 Risk Probability

(Integrate qualitative and quantitative risk analysis techniques to identify methods for evaluating the probability of a risk event.

• How confident are you in the accuracy of the probabilities used?
• What can you do to improve the accuracy of the probability?

3.3 Risk Matrix Template

Insert your completed Risk Matrix Template. See the end of this document for examples.

3.4 Risk Data Quality Strategy

Define the process and tools to be used to determine the quality of data for use in assessing project risk.

• How reliable is the data?
• What is the evidence of reliability?)

3.5 Risk Reviews

Define the process to be followed for risk reviews to be conducted throughout the project life cycle. Insert your completed Risk Monitoring and Control Template. See the end of this document for an example.

• What is being done to proactively reduce risk in the future?
• What is being done to communicate risks?

Section 4 – Corrective Action and Monitoring

4.1 Risk Tolerance

Evaluate the organizational and departmental tolerance for risk.

• Discuss the different risk tolerances within the organization.)

4.2 Risk Mitigation

Identify risk mitigation approaches in support of the project.

• How will you implement the mitigation approaches?
• Have you identified specific triggers to initiate mitigation?

4.3 Corrective Risk Management Strategy

Describe your strategy for corrective risk management.

• Explain whether you will use auditing, strategic planning, or another type.
• Describe the corrective action process and responsibilities.
• Will you be performing a risk postmortem? If not, why not?)

4.4 Corrective Action Plan

Assess corrective plan procedures in support of the project.

• Is your documentation available to others?
• Is it reviewed by the team or others?

Section 5 – Postmortem Plan

5.1 Results

Identify and describe how results data will be collected and reviewed to determine corrective actions.

• Did your postmortem results lead to any concrete changes? Explain.

5.2 Follow Up

Evaluate the organization’s view of risk management and approach, resulting from project outcomes.

• Did this project change the organization’s approach and management of risk?

Describe the impact of postmortem results on the organization.

Recommend corrective plan procedures to effectively manage risk.

• What recommendations would you make for future risk management projects?
• What resources did you use to support your assertions?