Migrate from Project Risk Manager to Microsoft Project

Project Risk Manager Project records (containing risk data for a given initiative) map to individual Microsoft Project files or Project for the Web projects. Project name and project-level metadata (start date, description) migrate as file-level fields. If the destination is a single consolidated project file, multiple source Projects map to separate subprojects or phase-level summary tasks with the original Project Name preserved as a task name prefix for traceability.

Each Project Risk Manager Risk record maps to a Microsoft Project task with the risk title as the task name and the risk description in the task Notes field. Probability and Impact scores migrate to custom Number fields (Risk Probability % and Risk Impact Rating). Mitigation Plan text migrates to a custom Text field or Notes append. Risk Status from Project Risk Manager (Open, Mitigated, Closed, Accepted) maps to a custom Text or Flag field because Microsoft Project's native Status field reflects task completion percentage, not risk lifecycle. The mapping type is 1:1 at the object level; field-level transformation happens within the task custom fields.

Mitigation Actions linked to a source Risk can map to Microsoft Project subtasks under the parent Risk task, using the action title as the subtask name, the action owner as the resource assignment, and the action due date as the subtask deadline. Alternatively, if the action represents a discrete schedule item, it maps to a predecessor-linked task with a Finish-to-Start dependency on the parent risk task. Status (Not Started, In Progress, Complete) on the subtask reflects action progress. Customers choosing the subtask approach should be aware that Microsoft Project subtasks do not have independent deadlines separate from the parent.

Project Risk Manager's Risk Categories (e.g., Technical, Financial, Operational, Compliance) are preserved as a custom lookup table or custom picklist field in Microsoft Project. We configure a lookup table named Risk Category on each project with the source category values and deploy it via the project-level custom field configuration. Users select from the lookup table on each risk task. If the destination is Project for the Web, we use a Choice column for the category values.

Project Risk Manager Risk Owner names map to Microsoft Project Resource assignments on the risk task. We build a resource sheet from the distinct owner names in the source export, then assign each risk task to the corresponding resource. If the destination project plan is not resource-loaded (no resource assignments planned for the broader schedule), we use a custom Text field (Risk Owner) to preserve the name without triggering resource allocation logic.

Project Risk Manager risk status values (Open, Mitigated, Closed, Accepted) have no native Microsoft Project equivalent because the platform's built-in Status field reflects task completion, not risk lifecycle state. We configure a custom Flag field (Risk Status Flag) or custom Text field (Risk Status) and set the value from the source export. Flag fields show as graphical indicators in the Gantt view if the customer enables the graphical indicator formatting; Text fields appear as a column value.

Project Risk Manager file attachments on Risk and Mitigation Action records have no native storage equivalent in Microsoft Project. We extract attachment URLs or binary files from the source export, store them in a shared location (customer-provided SharePoint document library, network share, or cloud storage), and create a custom Text field (Attachment Link) on the target task containing the URL or file path. The customer manually attaches files in the desktop client if desired. This is a known limitation of the migration and is documented as a post-migration manual step in the handoff inventory.

Project Risk Manager Risk-level comments and discussion threads migrate as appended entries in the Microsoft Project task Notes field. Each comment is prefixed with the author name and timestamp (Author | DateTime: Comment text) and appended in chronological order. This preserves the discussion history on the risk task without creating separate records. Note length in Microsoft Project is limited; comments exceeding the Notes field character limit are flagged in the reconciliation report for manual review.

Probability values from Project Risk Manager (numeric percentage or Low/Medium/High scale) migrate to a custom Number field configured on the Task enterprise custom fields. If the source uses a qualitative Low/Medium/High scale, we map it to numeric equivalents (Low=25, Medium=50, High=75) or preserve the text label in a companion custom Text field depending on the customer's reporting preference.

Impact values migrate similarly to Risk Probability: numeric impact scores populate the custom Number field; qualitative scales (Low/Medium/High or 1-5) map to numeric equivalents or are preserved as text. The impact field is independent of the probability field; both are used together in the Microsoft Project Gantt view or Power BI reports to calculate a risk exposure score (Probability x Impact) that customers compute post-migration.

When multiple Projects from Project Risk Manager consolidate into a single Microsoft Project file, we create a summary-level task (e.g., 'Risk Register') containing all migrated risk tasks as subtasks, preserving the project-level grouping. The project-level custom fields (Risk Register ID, Program Name) are set on the project file summary or summary task. This ensures a single file retains the full risk register hierarchy rather than flat task lists.