Does risk management contribute to IT project success? A meta-analysis of empirical evidence

The question whether risk management contributes to IT project success is considered relevant by people from both academic and practitioners’ communities already for a long time. This paper presents a meta-analysis of the empirical evidence that either supports or opposes the claim that risk management contributes to IT project success. In addition, this paper also investigates the validity of the assumptions on which risk management is based. The analysis leads to remarkable conclusions. Over the last 10 years, much has become known about what causes IT projects to fail. However, there is still very little empirical evidence that this knowledge is actually used in projects for managing risks in IT projects.This paper concludes with indicating new directions for research in the relation between risk management and project success. Key elements are stakeholder perception of risk and success and stakeholder behaviour in the risk management process.