A Change Control Board is a formal group that evaluates and decides on proposed changes to a project, product, or requirements baseline.
The board may include customer representatives, project managers, requirements engineers, developers, testers, and operations specialists. However, its composition depends on the project and the type of change.
First, the board reviews the change request. Next, it examines the impact analysis. This analysis covers affected requirements, costs, risks, schedules, architecture, implementation, and tests. Therefore, the board can make an informed decision.
The Change Control Board may approve, reject, or postpone a request. For example, it may reject a change if the costs exceed the expected value. Likewise, it may reject a change that creates unacceptable risks or conflicts with existing requirements.
The board also records each decision and its reason. Moreover, it defines priorities for approved requests. As a result, stakeholders can trace changes from the original request to implementation and verification.
A Change Advisory Board often focuses on operational IT changes. In contrast, a Change Control Board usually has formal authority over project or product changes.
Effective change control protects approved baselines while allowing necessary and valuable changes.
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