Change control is manual step in software life-cycle. Change request submitted and evaluated to assess technical merit, potential side effects, overall impact on other configuration object and system function, and project cost of change.

The result of the evaluation are presented as a change report, which is used by the change control authority (CCA) – A person or group who make final decision on the status and priority of the change. An engineering change order (ECO) is generated for each approved change.

The ECO describes the change order to be made, the constraints that must be respected, and the criteria for view and audit. The object to be changed can be placed in a directory that is controlled by software engineer making the change. As an alternative, the object to be changed can be “checked out” of the project database, change is made, and appropriate SQA activities are applied. Change control process is illustrated in following figure below