Change Management Policy

# Change Management Policy ## 1. Purpose This policy ensures all changes to **[Company Name]** production systems are planned, tested, approved, and documented to minimize risk and maintain system integrity. ## 2. Scope This policy covers all changes to: - Production infrastructure and configurations - Application source code and deployments - Database schemas and data migrations - Network configurations and firewall rules - Third-party integrations and API connections ## 3. Change Classification | Type | Description | Approval | Examples | |------|-------------|----------|----------| | **Standard** | Low-risk, pre-approved changes | No additional approval | Dependency updates, config changes within approved parameters | | **Normal** | Moderate-risk changes | Peer review + manager approval | Feature releases, infrastructure changes, new integrations | | **Emergency** | Critical fixes for outages or security | Verbal approval, documented post-facto | Security patches, data breach remediation, critical bug fixes | ## 4. Change Process ### 4.1 Normal Changes 1. **Request**: Create change request with description, risk assessment, rollback plan 2. **Review**: Peer code review (minimum 1 reviewer, 2 for infrastructure) 3. **Test**: Pass all automated tests (unit, integration, security scans) 4. **Approve**: Manager or change advisory board approval 5. **Deploy**: Deploy during approved maintenance windows (or continuously if CI/CD pipeline validates) 6. **Verify**: Post-deployment validation and monitoring 7. **Document**: Record outcome and close change request ### 4.2 Emergency Changes 1. Verbal approval from on-call manager or CTO 2. Implement fix with minimum viable change 3. Document change within **24 hours** post-implementation 4. Conduct post-incident review within **5 business days** 5. Backfill code review and testing ## 5. Development Practices - All code changes require pull request (PR) with at least **1 approved review** - PRs must pass CI pipeline (linting, tests, security scans) before merge - Branch protection enabled on main/production branches - No direct commits to production branches - Feature flags used for gradual rollouts of significant features ## 6. Deployment Requirements - All deployments use automated CI/CD pipeline - Blue/green or canary deployment strategy for production - Automated rollback capability within **5 minutes** - Database migrations must be backward-compatible - Deployment documentation includes rollback procedures ## 7. Change Log All changes are logged in the version control system (Git) and ticketing system with: - Who made the change - What was changed - When the change was deployed - Why the change was needed - Approval record --- *Approved by: [Name, Title]* *Effective Date: [Date]* *Version: 1.0*