CAPM Practice Question: Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts
A project manager is leading a software development project. During the planning phase, the team identifies a significant risk that a key third-party API may be deprecated before the project completes. The project sponsor asks for a risk response strategy. Which strategy should the project manager recommend to best address this risk?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse 'acceptance' (Option A) with a valid passive strategy, but for a significant technical risk like API deprecation, proactive mitigation is the standard recommended approach in project management.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Mitigate the risk by developing a workaround using an alternative API or building a fallback mechanism.
Developing a workaround using an alternative API or building a fallback mechanism directly reduces the probability and/or impact of the API deprecation risk. This is a classic risk mitigation strategy that proactively ensures the project can continue even if the third-party API becomes unavailable, which is a common technical risk in software projects.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Accept the risk and plan to deal with the issue if it arises.
Why it's wrong here
Acceptance without contingency is passive and may not be sufficient for a high-impact risk.
- ✗
Transfer the risk by purchasing insurance against API deprecation.
Why it's wrong here
Insurance typically does not cover technical obsolescence, and transfer does not address the dependency.
- ✓
Mitigate the risk by developing a workaround using an alternative API or building a fallback mechanism.
Why this is correct
Mitigation reduces the probability or impact; a workaround proactively addresses the potential issue.
- ✗
Enhance the risk by increasing the use of the API to benefit from it before deprecation.
Why it's wrong here
Enhancement is used for positive risks, not negative ones.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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