Change management in software engineering
Changes are inevitable in software development. Change management is a systematic approach to tracking and managing changes to
Why is change management important?
It is imperative to establish a change management process. The change management process is as important as incorporating the changes. It allows you to
Improve performance
Increase engagement
Adapt to changes
Bring innovation
Reduce the project cost and time for implementation
How to implement change management.
An organization should be able to keep track of the changes, assess the cost and determine the right time to act on them and how to implement it. Following are the steps an organization should take to manage change:
Request creation: A change is requested by someone. It is vital to ensure that the change has a purpose and improves the software product. Being clear about the change helps identify the risks and importance of the change.
Plan creation: Once the change is identified, a plan is created to make that change. It will give a road map of how to incorporate that change in the development of the software.
Approve a change: The plan is carefully reviewed and analyzed. It can be approved or rejected. If accepted, you move on to the next step.
Implementation: The team starts working on the change following the plan created earlier. The whole process is monitored, and documented.
Closure: When the changes are implemented, the change and its outcomes are reviewed. A retrospective is drafted, which can prove fruitful for future projects.
Types of change
The change management process may vary with the type of change. While working on software development following types of changes might occur:
Anticipatory change: When the changes are known to you in advance. These planned changes are easier to take care of.
Incremental change: Changes that occur frequently during the whole project and do not have an immense impact on the project.
Urgent change: As suggested by the name, they need to be implemented immediately or it might have a detrimental effect on the project.
Reactive change: Changes that occur as a result of an event, they can not be anticipated earlier. They are challenging to manage.
Strategic change: These changes involve the whole organization and usually are decided by the C-level management of the company
Anticipatory change
A large corporation decides to undergo a digital transformation initiative, restructuring its processes and systems to leverage new technologies and gain a competitive edge.
Urgent change
A company faces negative public backlash due to unethical practices and immediately takes actions to address the issues and rebuild its reputation.
Strategic change
An e-commerce company proactively upgrades its website infrastructure to handle anticipated high traffic during the holiday season.
Reactive change
A mobile app regularly releases updates to add new features and improve user experience based on user feedback.
Incremental change
A critical security vulnerability is discovered in a web application, requiring immediate patching and deployment to prevent potential breaches.
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