Risks are an inherent part of the implementation of any project. There are risks associated with the basic assumption that information integration will improve interagency communication, or reduce costs through the entire system. There are a host of basic factors that can change during a project, including political support, personnel, technology, and cost estimates. In the business case, you need to identify the risks that are critical to the success of your project and demonstrate avenues to handle any problems that may arise. A variety of risk analysis methodologies are available to perform more sensitive risk assessment and analysis, if necessary.

In both the public and private sectors, a well-documented set of risks accompanies information technology (IT) initiatives. Your project may face any number of them:

Unrealistic expectations among sponsors, builders, and users about the benefits, costs, and barriers associated with the project.

Lack of organizational support and acceptance for changes in business processes, tools, and practices. Support and acceptance throughout the organization, especially among the people who will use the technology, is just as important as top management support.

Failure to evaluate and redesign business processes before applying technology. Meeting the needs of customers, employees, and decision makers means carefully studying, evaluating, and improving business processes in preparation for new systems.

Lack of alignment between policy goals and project objectives. The goal of IT adoption should be to enhance or improve your ability to carry out your public safety mission or business objectives. It should improve citizen service, reduce response times, speed transactions, prevent errors, or support good and timely decisions

Failure to understand the strengths and limitations of new technology. Most new technologies are constantly changing, must work in tandem with others, or must be incorporated into existing older systems.

Most risks associated with information technology initiatives can be anticipated and addressed as part of the planning process. A focus on business processes, practices, and the people who will use the system is critical to achieving a complete and feasible design. Direct participation by users will help keep expectations realistic, increase support and acceptance, realistically ground new changes to the business process, and help keep goals and objectives clear. You should also get unbiased advice about the capabilities and costs of different technical solutions. Some advisory services are helpful here. You can also get good advice from other governments who have implemented solutions similar to the ones you are considering. A modular approach to design and development often reduces complexity, a common source of failure. Ask vendors and consultants for references to their past clients and take the time to question these people about their experiences and advice.

The public policy choices and public management processes that are part of government make it an especially difficult environment for technology-based innovation. The structure of government decision making, public finance, and public accountability complicate your job and limit the choices available for achieving your goals. Your project may face any or all of these public sector risks:

• Divided authority over decisions. Executive agency managers do not have a clear line of authority over agency operations. Their decisions are circumscribed by existing law, the limits of current appropriations, a civil service system, and a variety of procedures mandated by both the legislatures and the courts.
• One year budgets. Uncertainty about the size and availability of future resources weakens the ability of government agencies to adopt innovations. Most government budgets are handled on an annual cycle and annual appropriations (influenced heavily by changing government-wide priorities) tend to negate long term planning.
• Highly regulated procurement. The goals of open competitive procurement are integrity and fairness. But the processes are often lengthy and prone to controversy. Commodity- based procurement, on the other hand, is easy for agencies to use, but (often mistakenly) assumes that they have all the information they need to design and assemble a high- performance system out of a catalog of parts.
• Few government-wide information and information technology policies. The absence of a government-wide information policy in many jurisdictions adds additional risks and problems. Without a high level overview of how information and information technology can support government operations and public policy goals, integration goals are difficult to realize.

Constant communication, joint planning and decision making, bipartisanship and a long-term perspective will all go a long way toward mitigating the risks associated with your integration initiative. Be sure that all of the players who will have influence over the decision to proceed are consulted and well informed. Consider multi-agency planning councils, give informative legislative briefings (on both sides of the aisle), and think several years ahead to anticipate the full impact of your project. Even though you are likely to receive funding one year at a time, present a more complete, long-term picture so those who review your budget can see how each year's effort fits into a larger plan. When it comes time to procure a system, learn from past experience and consider the value-based procurement methods including partnership arrangements with vendors, as well as more traditional approaches.