Software Engineering

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CHAPTER 1 
Introduction to Software Engineering
5. 
Before a change is adopted, the scope of the work package adjustments must be 
understood to ensure that project cost and schedule objectives remain achievable. 
The software engineering IPT must ensure that the impact of the proposed change 
is thoroughly understood to support a cost-benefit analysis of adopting the change.
6. 
Change impact analysis should be sufficiently detailed to permit the authorized 
change to be assimilated into the software architecture, technical plans, and 
schedules without introducing additional risks to the success of the project.
The desire for a change may arise from sources external to the project, such 
as customers, competition, or advances in computing technology, or from sources 
within the technical team arising from an improved understanding of the architec-
tural solution. These internally proposed change requests may represent opportu-
nities to improve the solution or may identify modifications necessary to resolve 
existing architectural deficiencies. These changes stemming from architectural defi-
ciencies should dominate the technical change control board’s attention since these 
adjustments must be conducted within the existing scope of the technical effort.
Changes that arise from external sources represent unfunded change proposals 
that are typically outside the scope of the current project in terms of the funding 
and resources associated with the current work plan. Change proposals that impact 
the scope of the planned technical effort must be authorized by the project’s change 
control board to ensure that all stakeholders understand the cost and benefits asso-
ciated with the change authorization. Therefore, the term 
change request
 will be 
used to refer to a change that does not change the funding or schedule profile of 
the project, while 
change proposal
 will refer to a change that impacts the scope of 
the planned effort. A change proposal must be accompanied by funding or schedule 
relief before the project should consider authorizing the proposed change.