Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico.Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Colleagues,
I'm curious to hear your thoughts on identifying risks during the business case phase of a project. In some situations, I've seen stakeholders request a risk assessment before the project is even approved, as part of the business case.
What are your experiences with this? Do you think it's beneficial to identify potential risks at this early stage, even if it might lead to the project being rejected?
What key information or risk categories do you typically evaluate at this stage to inform the business case?
I'm interested in hearing your perspectives on the pros and cons of this approach.
Thanks in advance for sharing your insights!
Francisco
Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico.Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Sep 23, 2025 12:19 AM
Replying to Ramesh Sahoo
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Colleagues, I am currently involved in a project from an African country where negotiations and contracts are complete, but execution is delayed due to pending bank financial approvals. As a team member waiting for initiation, this experience has reinforced my view that a preliminary risk assessment during the business case phase is highly valuable.
Even with limited information, assessing strategic, financial, regulatory, resource, and stakeholder risks upfront helps gauge both feasibility and resilience. My approach is to categorize risks, rate likelihood and impact on a 1–5 scale, and map them to the project lifecycle with indicative mitigation budgets. This produces a simple heat map that enables quicker, more informed decision-making.
In my view, early identification of risks doesn’t weaken the business case—it strengthens it by ensuring proposals are realistic, transparent, and supported by clear mitigation pathways.
Best regards,
Ramesh Sahoo
Ramesh Sahoo on the value of early risk assessment for enhancing realism and transparency in business cases, your experience in the African project, where delays occurred due to pending financial approvals, highlights the importance of considering potential challenges upfront to ensure that project proposals are realistic and supported by clear mitigation pathways.
Regards! Francisco. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Sep 24, 2025 1:06 PM
Replying to Francisco Herrera
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Sergio Luis Conte I understand the point you're making – that considering risks is crucial for a sound business case – I wonder if it's always the case that a lack of identified risks means there's no valid business case.
Perhaps there are situations where the potential benefits are so overwhelmingly positive that the risks are deemed minimal, at least initially?
It's definitely something to consider carefully! What your toughts?
Francisco
As I mentioned, if you do not consider risks then you do not have a business case. Just to understand the impact of risks into all the things you will include inside a business case you can take a look to Barry Bohem´s work mainly Cone of Uncertainty. Adding to that, to put this in terms of the PMI, you will find information about this topic inside Business Analysis guides.
Yes considering risks is crucial for a robust business case. Understanding their impact, as Barry Boehm's Cone of Uncertainty suggests, adds significant value. For PMI-related insights, the Business Analysis guides provide useful information on this topic.
Thanks! Francisco
Program Manager| HARPER SRLSanto Domingo / Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic
Identifying risks in the business case is essential for me, based on my experience, it has proved to be right. A light-touch risk scan at this stage helps stakeholders weigh not only benefits but also vulnerabilities before investing. I usually focus on broad categories: regulatory, financial, resource availability, technology maturity, and organizational readiness. The goal isn’t to build a full risk register, but to highlight deal-breakers or major uncertainties early. The upside is transparency; the downside is that risks can look scarier than they are without context. The balance lies in framing them as considerations with mitigation paths rather than red flags that stop momentum.
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1 reply by Francisco Herrera
Oct 20, 2025 8:06 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Lissette oj early risk identification in the business case is crucial, it allows stakeholders to consider vulnerabilities alongside benefits, facilitating informed decision-making. By scanning broad categories like regulatory and financial risks, the aim is to spot major uncertainties early, framing them as considerations with mitigation paths rather than obstacles.
Regards! Francisco.
Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico.Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Sep 23, 2025 12:55 AM
Replying to Syed Ashir Riaz
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Great question, Francisco! Identifying risks early adds real value; it helps decision-makers see challenges before committing resources. I usually look at high-level risks like financial, technical feasibility, stakeholder alignment, and compliance. The benefit is informed choices, even if it sometimes slows approvals.
Syed on identifying high-level risks early to facilitate informed decision-making, even if it sometimes slows down the approval process, understanding potential challenges from the start allows decision-makers to make more informed choices and allocate resources effectively.
Regards! Francisco Saving Changes...
Ayman TamimExecutive Manager| El Moez MaritimeCairo, Egypt
Dear Francisco
It is a valuable question,
Most sponsors used to see the business case simply as a financial document highlighting the benefits of various opportunities or as an economic study justifying a project’s need. Historically, it was just a written explanation that outlined and discussed the reasons for the project, often influenced by the requester’s rank. Now, the business case is a well-structured document that includes information about the project, such as known project risks, which are mentioned in PMBOK 6 (project business case 1.2.6.1), and in Business Analysis For Practitioners: A practice guide- PMI(Assemble the Business Case 2.6)
In practice, risk identification should begin early, even before the project starts, because major risks might lead stakeholders to reject or delay the project.
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1 reply by Francisco Herrera
Oct 21, 2025 2:48 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Ayman Tamim business cases have evolved from mere financial documents to comprehensive evaluations that include risk identification. In early risk assessment, mentioned both in PMBOK 6 and PMI's practice guide for business analysis, is crucial as it can determine whether stakeholders proceed with, reject, or delay a project. This shift ensures a more transparent and informed decision-making process.
Francisco
En mi experiencia, considero que identificar los riesgos desde la fase de análisis de negocio puede ser muy beneficioso. Aunque a veces esto lleve a que un proyecto no sea aprobado, creo que es mejor descubrir las posibles amenazas desde el inicio que avanzar con algo que después genere pérdidas o problemas más grandes. Para mí, es un ejercicio de responsabilidad y transparencia.
En esta etapa suelo enfocarme en categorías de riesgo como el financiero (costos fuera de presupuesto), el operativo (procesos poco claros o dependencias críticas), el tecnológico (limitaciones de sistemas o herramientas), y el humano (falta de capacitación o resistencia al cambio). Estos puntos dan un panorama realista y permiten decidir si el proyecto tiene bases sólidas.
El principal “pro” es que ayuda a tomar decisiones más informadas y a preparar planes de mitigación. El “contra”, en cambio, es que puede generar cierta resistencia en los interesados, porque a veces se interpreta como poner obstáculos. Aun así, pienso que es mejor enfrentar esa incomodidad inicial que arriesgarse a fallar más adelante.
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1 reply by Francisco Herrera
Oct 22, 2025 1:13 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Gracias por tus comentarios María de Jesús! Francisco.
Desde mi punto de vista, si lo veo importante ya que, nos permite realizar un buen análisis para una correcta toma de decisión basado en riesgos y oportunidades, también nos puede permitir identificar riesgos e incrementos inesperados en los presupuestos durante la ejecución.
más que un rechazo, nos puede ayudar a prevenir lo antes mencionado.
Los riesgo que pues evaluar son; riesgos financieros, técnicos, estratégicos y operativos.
Francisco.
Aunque no tengo mucha experiencia en la gestión de riesgos, considero que resulta valioso identificarlos desde la fase de análisis de negocio. Esto permite ofrecer un panorama más completo y realista para la toma de decisiones, incluso si todavía no se cuenta con toda la información detallada del proyecto.
Entre los beneficios veo que ayuda a anticipar posibles obstáculos y definir desde el inicio estrategias de mitigación o ajustes en el alcance. Como posible desventaja, en etapas tempranas la información puede ser limitada y llevar a sobreestimar ciertos riesgos.
En cuanto a las categorías que revisaría, pondría atención en aspectos operativos, financieros, tecnológicos, regulatorios. Aun cuando no sea un análisis exhaustivo, creo que aporta elementos importantes para sustentar la viabilidad del proyecto.
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1 reply by Francisco Herrera
Oct 24, 2025 3:48 PM
Francisco Herrera
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Gracias por tu aportación Alondra, Saludos! Francisco.
Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico.Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Sep 23, 2025 12:40 PM
Replying to Md. Golam Rob Talukdar
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Great topic, Francisco
I see early risk ID as essential. Even if a project doesn’t move forward, that insight saves time and money.
At business case stage, I focus on strategic alignment, cost impact, and stakeholder readiness.
Golam
Hi Golan,
True, on the value of early risk identification for saving time and money, even if a project doesn't move forward, identifying potential issues upfront helps avoid wasting resources on initiatives that are unlikely to succeed.
Regards!
Francisco. Saving Changes...
Desde mi punto de vista solicitar una evaluación de riesgos como parte del análisis de negocio mas que un problema es un beneficio identificar los riesgos potenciales en esta etapa temprana.
si se analiza los riesgo de desde una edad temprana demuestra que se ha evaluado el proyecto de forma crítica, no solo optimista.
además es mucho más económico y rápido modificar la estrategia de un proyecto en papel que una vez que la ejecución ha comenzado y así se determina si se rechaza o se acepta el proyecto, identificando los riesgos.
considero que hacerse preguntas como:
¿El proyecto seguirá siendo relevante si la estrategia de la empresa cambia o si entra un competidor fuerte?
¿Tenemos la capacidad para hacerlo, o la inversión inicial es demasiado arriesgada?
¿La organización o los usuarios finales aceptarán y usarán la nueva solución?
nos resulta mas fácil saber si se aceptara o se rechazara, además es mejor hacerlas al inicio y no a mitad del proyecto. contestando su pregunta, si es una fortaleza ver los riesgos antes de esperar si se acepta o se rechaza. saludos.
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