From the course: Business Analysis Foundations

Change control

From the course: Business Analysis Foundations

Change control

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- Change happens all the time. It's always been this way, so don't think that there were stable, good old times. But change today is happening faster and more often. As the business analyst, it's your job to be a gatekeeper of sorts. Rather than trying to stop change, we need to embrace it. But that doesn't mean that we just react to every request for change, but rather, we need to have a way to analyze the request and the possible impact. Then we can make a decision to modify our current work or continuous plan, deferring the change until a later time. Most organizations have a process in place to handle changes. This includes a way to receive and log all requests, regardless of the type or source of the request. Those requests are then analyzed and the importance and impact to the work in progress helps determine what the next steps will be. This process is often documented in the requirements management plan. For changes that have a major impact on the work, the approval may need to be made by a group that is charged with this responsibility. This group is often referred to as a change control board or CCB, or a steering committee. Now, not every request should be reviewed by this group. You need to have an understanding of which types of changes and impact levels can be approved by business analysts, project managers, or sponsor. Another way that we can support this changing environment is to shorten the work timeframe. Rather than trying to decide everything for a large effort, we break the work into smaller portions. It's easier to plan what to do for that small portion, and then incorporate any needed changes into the next portion. Part of the overall area of change also includes a plan for configuration control. This pertains to the tracking of changes to documents or processes via version control. It's important to make sure that when changes are made, everyone is made aware of the change, and that the most recent version is being used. The business analyst has their hands in a lot of different areas. They have the perspective to ask the questions needed to assess the change. So don't take this task lightly. You can have a big impact just by tracking changes.

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