In James Lam's Enterprise Risk Management book, there are some general approaches to Operational Risk Management as well as brief discussions on some of the specific techniques on how to assess and control risks. One particular approach is that of developing 2-D Risk Maps whereby a general risk assessment is treated with the application of relative risk rankings (with respect to probability and severity). Additionally, he discusses risk indicators and performance triggers that get factored into the "dashboard".

I can think of a number of examples of the indicators and triggers (e.g. 99.97/8/9% uptime of a production application or piece of hardware, etc). But, I would love to see some specific examples of these Risk Maps for an bank's application environment as I think this could be a rather tough thing to create given the diversity and complexity of the enterprise. Presumably, the severity ranking would include the criticality of the application in general, impact of certain functions/information not being available, and the knock-on (chain) effects. As for probability, I would imagine that it is more of a combination of some emperical data (ie knowledge of existing problematic systems) and a some finger-waving guestimates.

I was really glad to see that Rolls-Royce Aerospace recently announced plans to build a new overhaul plant in Scotland. I used to work at this specialist plant while studying Aerospace Engineering at university. At that time, post cold-war, the defence industry was weakening and many RR jobs were being threatened (RR builds a lot of defence engines, like the one used in the Harrier “jump-jet”). This was when I decided to get into IT and the Financial Services industry, and specifically to join JPMC in London, so RR really was the first step to where I am today. Personally, this is/was a cool plant to work in — you got to see all the leading civil and defence engines, hands-on, and got to see how they test them (yes, the old throw frozen chicken at it story - no-one seemed to point out the fact that a frozen chicken, dead or alive, cannot fly at 37,000 ft, or sea level for that metter!). Btw — this is the engine I was most inolved in - a joint venture with Pratt & Whitney, and we had to redesign the fuel system to make it more environmentally friendly.From a business perspective, this is an interesting move on RR’s part. In the early 90s everything was being moved south and consolidated as RR tried to save money, improve efficiencies, etc. That fact that this plant is going to be replaced/upgraded to a new plant, is fantastic news and a true testament to what they do there. At the time, it was all doom and gloom and the risks associated with being able to have a career there influenced my decisions then, and where I am now, personally and professionally. Brilliant news for RR and the local economy - I wish them all the best.