How do agile software development organizations manage risks: results from a systematic literature mapping

Agile software development methods exploit software development characteristics to minimize risks. Although Agile practices tend to mitigate risks, they are often not sufficient to manage project risks in certain scenarios such as in highly regulated domains. In order to understand how explicit risk management is being integrated into Agile software development methods, a Systematic Literature Mapping (SLM) was conducted, which identified 18 studies. Results indicate that the most used Agile method for integrating explicit risk management practices is Scrum. Ten studies present evidence for all PMBOK risk management processes, with the risk identification being the only process covered by all studies. In general, the selected studies indicate that the results of integrating explicit risk management with Agile methods are positive, encompassing improved communication, improved product quality, increased risks visibility, cost reduction, improved team efficiency and time-to-market reduction. Based on the results, we claim that Agile methods are enablers of risk management practices. However, a comprehensive guide that allows for the incorporation of risk management practices into any Agile method still seems to be needed. The results presented in this paper can be used as a steppingstone achieving this.