Change management in Software Engineering

Change ManagementSOFTWARE CONSTRUCTION

HIBA M. GHANNAM

10-17-2016

Who Am I ?

You need to keep up if you want to survive !

Agendao Change Management

o Sources of Software Change

o Objective of Change Management in SE

o SW Change Management Procedures

o Change Management Roles

o Change Management Process

o Tools

o Tips to Make it seamless

Change ManagementChange management is the discipline that guides how we :

o Prepare

o Equip

oSupport individuals to successfully adopt change

oIn order to drive organizational success and outcomes.

How ?oBy assuring that all proposed changes are evaluated

oBy prioritizing changes

oBy requiring that all changes are thoroughly tested

oA back-out plan

oBy ensuring that the configuration management system is updated to reflect the effect of any changes.

Working with changing requirements is like trying to shoot a moving target!

Facts oNo matter where you are in the system life cycle, the system will change

oThe desire to change it will persist throughout the life cycle

oThe services should be stable, reliable, and predictable.

oThe services should be able to change rapidly to meet evolving business requirements.

requirements

definition

specification &

design &

coding &

testing

acceptance

testing

Change

Source of Change in SE

Change Management

New customer needs

New market conditions

Business reorganization

Budgetary or scheduling constraints The performance or

reliability

New equipment

Errors must be repaired

Objective of Change Management in SEoTo maximize speed-to-competence at minimized cost – this is the basic conundrum faced by executives.

oTo effectively control risk – in people as well as process.

o To recognize resistance to formal change management and to use activities within change management specifically targeted to overcome that resistance. This is a recursive approach which is almost unique across the portfolio of everyday management processes.

SW Change Management Procedures

Request for change review

Change planning

Change approval

Change implementation

Change closure

1

2

3

4

5

Change Management Roles

Recognizes and identifies the need for changeChange Initiator

Risk and impact, implementation plan, progressChange Coordinator

Prioritizing, evaluating, outcomeChange Manager

Schedule a meeting with ,how to proceedChange Advisory

Board

Approve or RejectApprover

SpecialistsChange

Implementation Team

Change Management Process

Creating a Request for Change

Reviewing and Assessing a Request

for Change

Planning the Change

Testing the Change

Creating a Change Proposal

Implementing Changes

Reviewing Change Performance

Closing the Process

1 Creating a Request for Change

Incidents that necessitate the change

Description of how the change would be implemented

The impact that the change would have on all associated systems

A risk assessment

Contact information for everyone involved in the change

An outline of who will need to approve the request

A backup plan to follow in case the change is not successful

Impact AnalysisIt provides accurate understanding of the implications of a proposed change.

Which helps the team make informed business decisions about which proposals to approve.

Three aspects:

1- Understand the possible implications of making the change.

2- Identify all the files, models, and documents.

3- Identify the tasks and estimation of efforts.

Impact AnalysisChecklist of possible implications of a proposed change.

Checklist of possible software elements affected by a proposed change.

Impact AnalysisEstimating effort for a requirement change

Impact AnalysisIdentify the sequence in which the tasks must be performed.

Determine whether the change is on the project’s critical path

Estimate the impact on project’s schedule and cost.

Evaluate the change’s priority by estimating the relative benefit, penalty, cost, and technical risk compared to other discretionary requirements.

Report the impact analysis results

In most cases, this procedure shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours

2 Reviewing

Evaluate the request based on its priority , impact analysis

If requests relate to problems that have already been addressed.

Determine who would be responsible for fulfilling the request.

Implementers’ ability to dedicate time to making the change.

3 Planning

Resources that are needed to complete the change.

A timeline for implementation.

4 Testing

Test will demonstrate the procedure to be followed in case the change request is approved.

Testing the change gives you the opportunity to work out any problems in the procedures that you have developed .

5 Creating a Change Proposal

Outlines the type of change.

The priority associated with a change request

The outcomes that could occur if the change is not made

6 Implementing Changes

Implementing a change is not a simple process.

Once the change has been made, tests must be done.

If the change is not successful , backup plan.

7 Reviewing Change Performance

Understand whether your change procedures are working as expected.

Determine the accuracy of estimates that were made before a request was fulfilled.

Reviewing change performance gives you the opportunity to fine-tune your change management process for better results in the future

8 Closing the Process

You must be sure that the entire process has been documented in a database that all stakeholders can access .

ToolsBug Tracking Tools (Bugzilla)

Requirements Management Tools (JIRA)

Tasks Management (JIRA)

Time and Resources Management (MS Project)

Code Management (Team Foundation , Source Safe)

Tips: Stay calm and stress-free when software changes are heading your wayTESTING. Testing. One. Two. One. Two.

Know your users

Don’t rush it

Push it. Push it REAL good

DON’T GO BACK

References

• http://www.strategy-business.com/article/rr00006?gko=643d0

• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/software-change-5-tips-make-seamless-lindsay-riggs

• http://www.bmc.com/guides/itil-change-management.html

• http://www.drdobbs.com/software-change-management/184415707

• http://change.walkme.com/top-4-change-management-software/

• book Software Requirements, 2nd Edition (Microsoft Press, 2003), describes how the impact analysis activities might work. (http://www.jamasoftware.com/blog/change-impact-analysis-2/)

Thank You ! Software Construction

Hiba M. Ghannam

10-17-2016

[email protected]

We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.