You're facing limited resources in IT. How do you decide which risks to prioritize?

When facing limited IT resources, prioritize risks by assessing their potential impact on core business operations, data sensitivity, and the likelihood of occurrence. Focus on risks that could disrupt critical processes, cause significant financial loss, or lead to legal non-compliance. Consider the cost-effectiveness of mitigation efforts, prioritizing risks that can be significantly reduced within budget. Additionally, address any risks that could directly affect customers, stakeholders, or strategic business objectives, while keeping an eye on those with cascading effects. Regularly re-evaluate risks to ensure priorities align with the evolving threat landscape and organizational goals.

To prioritize risks with limited IT resources, assess their potential impact on business operations, likelihood of occurrence, and cost of mitigation. Focus on addressing high-impact, high-likelihood risks first, while considering strategic alignment with business goals. Utilize risk scoring methods and regularly review and adjust priorities based on evolving threats and resource availability.

Kind of an odd topic here. I'm never prioritizing risks alone no matter what size teams we have. We always have to look at what moves the business forward the quickest and then determine the risks to the business associated with "not" doing something else. The business cases then present themselves much easier and you basically form the foundation for what you are asking the company to do.

When dealing with IT resources it's essential to prioritize risks to protect your organization. Start by evaluating the impact and likelihood of each risk, later giving attention to those that pose a threat, to systems and compliance requirements. Involve stakeholders to align with the organizations goals and utilize a risk matrix for visualizing and ranking risks. By taking a step, by step approach and keeping an eye on the situation we can ensure that our resources are used effectively where they are most needed. This focused strategy will help in addressing the crucial risks, also enhances the value of our IT endeavors.

I think there is a vague assumption here that you are limited to only the resources you currently have. Of course we are always looking at all of the variables mentioned here, but you may explore flex resource plans through third parties to get over the humps. Not only do you have to think about projects that grow the business, but we also have to think about KTLO (Keep the Lights On). The risk and mitigation matrix grows substantially when you account for both. When you think about mitigation, think about people, process, and technology, especially where we can gain efficiencies that allow us to mitigate other risks.

Communication is important no matter what you are doing. In OCM (Organizational Change Management), the stakeholders may simply be informed depending on the size of the risk to the organization and a decision from leadership that is based on those risks. Keep in mind these business / risk cases need to be understood at a "business impact level" that to which everyone can relate. The urge to speak "geek" here should be overridden to present clear business terminology.