In your project, you have to estimate how long it takes to complete a certain task.
You estimate that it usually takes 15 days to complete. If things go well it may take 12 days but if things go badly it may take 20 days.
In your project plan you enter 15 days against the task.
The other information, the best case estimate of 12 days and the worst case estimate of 20 days, is not entered into the project at all.
If this seems familiar, then you already go through the process of identifying uncertainty or risk. By entering only the most likely duration a great deal of additional information is lost. But with Schedule Risk this extra information is used to help produce a much more realistic project.
And you are not just limited to durations. Uncertainty in resources and costs can also be modeled in your project to produce an even greater depth and accuracy to the information available to you.
Who should use Schedule Risk Analysis?
The simple answer is - anyone who manages a project! If you are running projects that are time and/or cost critical, risk analysis will help you manage your projects more effectively and help reduce the chances of your project being late and over budget.
Pertmaster is used by project planners of all levels, from those just entering into the Schedule Risk arena to the world's leading risk experts.
How easy is it to use?
Very easy. You do not need to be an expert in risk and statistics to be able to use schedule risk. With normal project planning, the level of detail and complexity that you build into the project is up to you and your requirements. This is the same with Schedule Risk. Very little extra information is required as a minimum but you have the ability to provide a great deal of very specific additional information if you require it.
Pertmaster is acclaimed as being very easy to use. By simply following the tutorials and examples you will be able to incorporate risk into your project with ease. Pertmaster includes a Quick Risk (link) facility that lets you add risk to your project in seconds.
