The 5-Phase Change Lifecycle: Baseline, Plan, Apply, Verify, Document
Every change should leave a trail. The lifecycle makes that the default, not the exception.
Running a script is easy. Running it safely — with a before snapshot, a preview, a verification, and a record — is the hard part most teams skip. The Change Lifecycle wraps any script in a five-phase stepper that makes the safe path the default path.
The five phases
- Baseline — capture the current live state so you can prove what changed.
- Plan — preview the intended change before touching the network.
- Apply — execute the change against the targets.
- Verify — confirm the intended outcome with post-change checks.
- Document — record the result so the change is auditable later.
Why the order is enforced
The stepper is gated: you cannot apply before you have a baseline, and the change is not complete until it is verified and documented. That sequencing is what converts an ad-hoc script run into a reviewable change.
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