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CISA Practice Question: During system development, the project team…
During system development, the project team discovers that the original requirements are incomplete. What is the BEST course of action?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently choose Option D (halting the project) because they assume all requirements must be fully finalized before development, but the CISA exam emphasizes that change management is the appropriate mechanism to handle evolving requirements without stopping the project entirely.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Formally document the new requirements and follow the change management process
Formally documenting new requirements and following the change management process ensures that all changes are controlled, assessed for impact on scope, budget, and schedule, and approved by stakeholders. This aligns with the systems development lifecycle (SDLC) best practices and the ISACA standard for managing requirements changes, preventing scope creep and maintaining project integrity.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Formally document the new requirements and follow the change management process
Why this is correct
Undocumented scope changes undermine traceability and testing. Formally recording the new requirements and routing them through change management ensures impact assessment, approval and updated baselines, keeping the system aligned with business needs and audit expectations.
- ✗
Inform the steering committee and continue as planned
Why it's wrong here
Continuing as planned without resolving the gaps leaves the steering committee approving a baseline that cannot deliver the intended system, so scope decisions lack governance input. It is tempting to keep sponsors informed, but escalation must accompany a revised requirements baseline, not unchanged execution.
- ✗
Proceed with development and address changes during maintenance
Why it's wrong here
Deferring incomplete requirements to maintenance lets defects and rework compound through design, build and testing, since maintenance cannot retroactively correct a flawed baseline. It is tempting when schedule pressure dominates, but maintenance is for post-implementation fixes, not unresolved scope.
- ✗
Halt the project until all requirements are finalized
Why it's wrong here
Halting the entire project over incomplete requirements stalls unrelated workstreams and delays delivery without first assessing which gaps are material. It is tempting as a cautious response, but the correct action is to analyse and close the requirement gaps through change control, not freeze all activity.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CISA practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISACA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CISA exam.