Practices, Challenges and Approaches for Software Project Risk Management in Kenyan County Governments

Abstract

In the recent past the county governments in Kenya have embarked on an aggressive drive to automate their processes and systems in an effort to improve service delivery to their citizens, improve revenue collection and better management of resources. Part of these efforts have been the initialization of software projects that have either required the development of bespoke software or acquisition and customization of existing products from vendors. However, it has not always been smooth sailing for these projects as they often delayed, experience cost overruns and experience scope creep occasioned by the materialization of various risks in the projects. This study examined the practice of risk management at the Nakuru county government ICT department in order to establish the specific risks facing software projects at the county level, the challenges faced in managing them and proceeds to make specific recommendations for risk management at the county level for software projects risk management.