Change Management

In this context, the change management is not referring to user outreach, but change to project requirements, scope, system design and other project artifacts. Change management has a few faces depending on what phase of the project you are in. The further into the project you are, the more crucial it becomes. Basically, I see it as having a few main aspects 1) evaluate impact of change 2) notify everyone of the change so that they can plan accordingly.

To evaluate the impact of the change solid baseline for what the solution is needs to be defined through project and system design documentation.

·         Impact analysis - Without a formal process, you will not know the full impact of a design change. This is why a lot of projects finish late with costs that are higher than expected. The changes are incorporated into the project without proper evaluation.

·         Change control between groups – When multiple teams are working on pieces of solution, they all need to be in sync.

·         Requirements Changes – As requirements are added and/or change (and they will), additional time and money may be required to meet them. The impact of new requirements needs to be evaluated against the baseline to gauge the additional time and money required.