Emergency Change

Emergency changes bypass the normal change assessment process due to urgency. They are authorised by the Emergency Change Advisory Board (ECAB) — a smaller group empowered to make rapid decisions. While the authorisation process is expedited, emergency changes are still documented, tested where possible, and reviewed after implementation. Post-implementation reviews ensure lessons are captured. Excessive emergency changes often indicate problems in release management, testing, or capacity planning. Tracking the ratio of emergency to normal changes is a key health metric.