Assess Requirements Changes

Example templates

Requirements are bound to change during development.
Changes should ideally be managed in a formal, consistent manner via change requests.
The assessment and decision-making process begins when a proposed change identifies new needs or potential solutions.
The proposed change must be evaluated before deciding to approve, deny, or alter it.
Business analysts consider the proposed changes in relation to the solution's value, current requirements, and associated risks.
Key questions to ask when evaluating a proposed change include: Does it align with the overall strategy? Does it affect the value delivered to the business or stakeholders? Does it impact the timeline or resources needed to deliver value? Does it alter any risks, opportunities, or constraints?
The responses to these questions guide the outcome of the change assessment.
Remember to use the decision-making and change control approaches defined in the governance approach when assessing a proposed change.

Proposed Change: Can be identified at any time and impact any aspect of business analysis work or deliverables completed to date. There are many triggers for a proposed change including business strategy changes, stakeholders, legal requirements, or regulatory changes.
Requirements: May need to be assessed to identify the impact of a proposed modification.
Designs: May need to be assessed to identify the impact of a proposed modification.

Assessment Formality: Determine the formality of the assessment process based on the information available, the apparent importance of the change, and the governance process.
Impact Analysis: Assess the impact of the proposed change by considering: Benefit, Cost, Impact (number of customers or business processes affected), Schedule, Urgency (importance):
- Benefit: the benefit that will be gained by accepting the change.
- Cost: the total cost to implement the change including the cost to make the change, the cost of associated rework, and the opportunity costs such as the number of other features that may need to be sacrificed or deferred if the change is approved.
- Impact: the number of customers or business processes affected if the change is accepted.
- Schedule: the impact to the existing delivery commitments if the change is approved.
- Urgency: the level of importance including the factors which drive necessity such as regulator or safety issues.
Impact Resolution: Who and how decision is made about the change, is determined by the Plan business analysis Governance. All impacts and resolutions resulting from the change analysis are to be documented & communicated.