What is impact analysis?

Impact analysis involves detecting and evaluating the positive and negative effects of a change or event on an application, system, or environment. It helps in planning effectively and making informed decisions to ensure smooth transitions and risk mitigation during changes.

How to perform impact analysis?

Traditionally, impact analysis is a manual, time consuming process of tracing relationships between programs, files, fields, and variables. Additionally, it involves scoping the change, identifying potential impacts, evaluating those impacts, and developing mitigation strategies. Due to its manual nature, this process often poses critical challenges for architects, developers, and professionals.

What are the challenges of impact analysis that IBM i professionals face?

IBM i systems comprise thousands of interconnected components and little documentation. While performing impact analysis on these systems, professionals face difficulty in identifying affected components accurately, understanding the extent of changes, and managing time and resources. Additionally, professionals struggle to meet the evolving nature of requirements, keep up with new technologies, and collaborate effectively with other team members.

How does iA help in impact analysis?

iA automates and simplifies the entire impact analysis process. It scans your IBM i environment, maps all relationships, and uses AI to generate visualizations and plain-language summaries. With iA, professionals can:

  • Scan the entire IBM i environment automatically
  • Map all relationships between fields, files, objects, programs, and variables
  • Instantly identify impacted programs, variables, and files
  • Convert core program logic into easy-to-understand summaries for simplified documentation
  • Communicate actionable insights clearly across technical and non-technical teams

These help reduce costs and time for IBM i projects significantly.

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