This information-gathering technique examines the project from the perspective of each project’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to increase the breadth of the risks considered by risk management.

A process whereby a group of people determine:

1. What Strengths do we have? (How can we take advantage of them?)

2. What Weaknesses do we have? (How can we minimise them?)

3. What Opportunities are there? (How can we capitalise on them?)

4. What Threats might prevent us from getting there? (Consider technical obstacles, competitive responses, values of people within the organization, etc. For every obstacle identified, what can we do to overcome or get around it? This helps to develop contingency plans.)