Change Management
A structured process for evaluating, approving, implementing, and documenting changes to information systems, infrastructure, and processes in a controlled manner that minimizes the risk of unintended disruptions or security vulnerabilities.
Change management ensures that modifications to an organization's IT environment — whether software deployments, infrastructure changes, configuration updates, or process modifications — are planned, assessed for risk, approved by appropriate stakeholders, tested, implemented in a controlled manner, and documented. Without effective change management, organizations face increased risk of outages, security vulnerabilities, data loss, and compliance failures. The process provides traceability and accountability by creating a clear record of what changed, when, why, by whom, and with whose approval.
Change management is a critical control across compliance frameworks. ISO 27001 Annex A control A.8.32 addresses change management directly, and several other controls reference change-related requirements (such as A.8.9 on configuration management and A.8.25-A.8.31 on secure development). SOC 2's Common Criteria for change management (CC8.1) require that changes to infrastructure, data, software, and procedures are authorized, designed, developed, configured, documented, tested, approved, and implemented. NIS2 requires essential entities to implement measures for the security of their network and information systems, which necessarily includes controlled change processes. In technology due diligence, the maturity of change management processes is a key assessment area.
Modern change management in software organizations often leverages CI/CD pipelines as the primary mechanism for implementing controls. Version control systems (Git), code review requirements (pull request approvals), automated testing (unit, integration, security scans), staged deployments (development, staging, production), and automated rollback capabilities provide technical enforcement of change management principles. However, technical controls should be complemented by governance processes including change classification (standard, normal, emergency), risk assessment for significant changes, change advisory board (CAB) review for high-risk changes, post-implementation review, and maintenance of a change log. Emergency change procedures should be defined for situations requiring expedited changes, with retroactive documentation and review requirements to maintain accountability.
Related frameworks
Related terms
Asset Management
The process of identifying, classifying, documenting, and managing the lifecycle of information assets — including hardware, software, data, and cloud services — to ensure they are appropriately protected according to their value and sensitivity.
Audit Trail
A chronological record of system activities that provides documentary evidence of the sequence of events — including who accessed what, when, and what actions were taken. Audit trails are essential for security monitoring, incident investigation, and compliance evidence.
Patch Management
The systematic process of identifying, evaluating, testing, and deploying software updates (patches) to fix security vulnerabilities, address bugs, and maintain the integrity of systems and applications across the organization's infrastructure.
Secure Software Development
A methodology that integrates security practices throughout the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC), from requirements and design through coding, testing, deployment, and maintenance, ensuring that security is built into applications rather than added afterward.
Segregation of Duties
A governance control that divides critical functions and responsibilities among different individuals to prevent any single person from having the ability to authorize, execute, and conceal errors or fraud. Also known as separation of duties (SoD).
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