Rule Change in Grace Period? How Software Platform Anatomy Prevents Breakage Across Components like Notifications, Billing and Workflows
- Krish Ayyar
- May 14
- 6 min read
Updated: 19 hours ago
Category: Rules & Motivations in Flux
Series: Rethinking Requirements: How the ICMG Enterprise Anatomy Model Makes Systems Change-Ready
Perspectives Covered: Strategy, Business Process, System, Component Specification, Implementation, Operations
Key Variables Impacted: Rule, Data, Event, UI, Function, Network
When a "Simple" Rule Change Breaks the System
It started as an act of empathy:
“Extend the repayment grace period from 5 days to 10 for borrowers in flood-affected areas.”
A humane response.
Regulatory alignment.
A sensible business decision.
But once the rule hit the systems, everything went sideways:
Auto-debit instructions still triggered on Day 6.
Notifications warned of late fees—incorrectly.
Customer support was blindsided.
Reports were inconsistent—some showing 5 days, others 10.
What should’ve been a minor update turned into a release-day emergency.
Why? Because the architecture wasn’t prepared to absorb a change without side effects.
The rule changed—but the system wasn’t structured to respond coherently.
Why Conventional SDLC Approaches Fail
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