A quick tool to classify a change, score its real risk across every angle that matters, and confirm you've covered the basics before it ships.


Step 1: Classify the change

Then classify:

Type When it applies
Standard Done before, established process, known rollback, low risk
Normal Some risk or unknowns, or done fewer than 2–3 times
Emergency Something's actively broken, needs to move now

Step 2: Score the risk

Two questions matter here, and they're different: how bad is it if this fails (impact), and how likely is it to fail (vulnerability). Pick the one answer per factor that fits best, the answer itself tells you the risk level, no separate rating needed.

Impact: if this fails, what's the damage?

Business process impact

Downtime