Holistic change propagation and impact analysis in requirements management

In developing complex technical systems, requirements are subject to continuous change. Systematic and holistic change impact analysis and proactive measures are required for reducing the number of requirement changes and their negative impact. There is no method to analyse the holistic impact of a requirement change in the context of developing complex technical systems. Holistic analysis requires to consider the local effects of requirement changes as well as effects from change propagation. To develop an approach for holistic change propagation and impact analysis, twelve performance goals are defined. Those are derived from a state of research analysis as well as an industry workshop. A three-step method is proposed. Firstly, requirement dependencies that cause change propagation are detected. Secondly, critical requirements are automatically identified based on a Page Rank algorithm. Thirdly, change impact of critical requirements is analysed based on a guideline. Validation proves that ten goals are fulfilled and two are partly fulfilled. The method addresses major shortcomings of preceding research and enables sound decision making for development engineers both before a change occurs and during decision process on a change request. This helps to reduce negative change impact in development projects and the risk of project failure.