Coping with changes: Causes, findings, and strategies

There is no engineering of successful systems without any changes; they are the rule and not the exception in product development. To uncover the problems, rationales and goals associated with changes during the life cycle of a system, an exploratory case study in German industry was conducted. Causes and reasons for changes are described, as well as five strategies to cope with changes and the related methods. One example will show how to successfully prevent and front-load changes. Though the preferred strategies to cope with changes are prevention and front-loading, it is concluded that, in today's dynamic business environments, changes are necessary to stay competitive. Therefore, it is proposed to make late changes cost-efficient by implementing changeability within system architectures. Managing changes has to be understood as a major practice for developing successful systems.