4.5 Risk mitigation implementation - AWS Prescriptive Guidance
OverviewBest practicesAdditional steps

4.5 Risk mitigation implementation

Overview

The objective of this activity is to launch the activities set forth in the risk mitigation strategy and plan (Envision the Future, 3.5). The focus of the OCA team is to work closely with all cloud workstreams to assess and analyze risks, formulate a solution or mitigation plan, assign ownership, and address the risk for closure. The resolution of risks requires commitment and close alignment with executive sponsors, leaders, and champions, as well as a disciplined approach to managing, mitigating, and monitoring people-related risks throughout the program lifecycle, and integrating this process with all other workstreams in the cloud transformation program.

Best practices

The risks that you track across your cloud transformation program should be logged in a risk tracking tool, as discussed in Envision the Future, 3.5 Risk mitigation strategy and plan. The following table provides an example of such a tool.

Risk category

Severity

Probability

Risk description

Mitigation actions

Owner

Status

Due date

Resourcing

Medium

High

Security SME is taking a leave of absence that overlaps with our testing and cutover phase.

Onboard and train backup security SME on specific tests and cutover planning.

Martha Rivera

In progress

31 March 2025

Focus areas

Risk mitigation implementation can be organized into the following five phases:

  • Planning and setup

  • Identification and analysis

  • Assignment and resolution

  • Monitoring and reporting

  • Continuous improvement

Risk mitigation plan checklist

Use the following checklist as a reference guide throughout your organization's cloud transformation process.

Note

The following checklist is not an exhaustive list, but it represents the activities that you would typically find in a risk mitigation plan. Your validated and approved risk mitigation strategy and plan should include the full list of training activities. 

Area

Actions

Planning and setup

  • Review the cloud strategy and plan for desired outcomes and timelines.

  • Align with the cloud project manager on the overall issue and risk mitigation process.

  • Create a template for the risk management tracking tool.

  • Obtain signoff on the risk management tracking tool template.

  • Identify SMEs or champions for risk management activities.

  • Onboard SMEs or champions on OCA solution tactics and communications.

  • Secure OCA team participation in weekly project status meetings.

Identification and analysis

  • Determine if the identified risk is a people-related issue.

  • If yes, identify the groups and stakeholders who are impacted.

  • Categorize each risk into an area such as change leadership, vision and clarity, organizational impact, retention and engagement, skills and capability, and commitment.

  • Identify the appropriate OCA solution tactics (for example, more information and communications, additional training, scenario and hands-on demonstrations).

Assignment and resolution

  • Make a specific OCA team member responsible for addressing and resolving each identified risk.

  • Coordinate the timeframe for the solution or mitigation event.

  • Schedule the solution or mitigation event.

Monitoring and reporting

  • Monitor the implementation of solution or mitigation activities.

  • Evaluate the risk management tracker for common root causes.

  • When reviewing the risk management tracker, capture attendance, questions, and feedback evaluations.

  • Update presentation materials with feedback as necessary.

  • Update the risk mitigation tracker.

Track best practices and lessons learned for continuous improvement

  • Analyze the risk tracking tool for insights and make improvements to your organization's ongoing transformation initiatives.

  • Establish and share the repository of lessons learned and best practices for ongoing development, training, and growth.

  • Determine any patterns within the list of risks, and help accelerate other transformation initiatives. If your organization has a transformation management office (TMO) or project management office (PMO), this might be a topic of interest to those offices.

  • Evolve your culture by sharing best practices and lessons learned. Timely feedback and adjustments can help your organization stay agile, and ultimately save valuable time, money, and effort.

Additional steps

To ensure effective risk mitigation:

  1. Make sure that the people-related risk management process is integrated with program processes such as risk, action, issue, dependency (RAID) logs.

  2. As you explore people-related risks, look across the program to see how other technical, budgetary, and timing risks will impact people.

  3. Implement clear monitoring and measurement processes to ensure that any and all risk mitigation efforts are working and effective.

  4. Track the mitigation and closure of people-related risks over the course of the cloud program to evaluate the impact of risk mitigation on your organization's ability to achieve desired cloud outcomes.

The effective implementation of the risk mitigation plan is critical for driving cloud adoption and achieving desired business outcomes. By following these best practices, using a comprehensive risk tracking tool, and maintaining a structured approach to risk management, organizations can proactively address potential obstacles in their cloud transformation journey. This not only minimizes disruptions but also accelerates adoption and maximizes the value realized from the cloud investment.