Risks with use of technology

The design manager and the engineering manager were discussing with me the software tool they normally use for their design and engineering work. It is critical to their process, but there are some defects in the software that result in errors in the designs. The team knows how to find them and correct them, but it takes additional time during the desing and engineering timeline. The managers just received an e-mail from the software vendor stating that a new version of the tool will be available right as the design tasks are expected to begin. Historically, the vendor is known to deliver the software about four weeks later than announced. The upgrade corrects the defects that the team knows about, as well as provides some new functionality that will make some of the engineering tasks faster. The vendor is strongly encouraging training for the design and engineering teams to use this new version.

As the project manager, I must decide whether or not the team will use this new version of the software. The vendor is offering a 50% discount on the training if people are signed up within the next ten days.

In making a decision I need to answer the following questions:

What risks does this use of technology introduce to the project?

What is the impact of each risks? The probability?

Based on my understanding of the risks, will I be able to tell the managers whether or not they should sign their people up for training?