A method includes selecting a study group including a first network element and a second network element of a network, selecting a control group including a third network element, identifying times at which a change is deployed at the first network element and the second network element, time-aligning the change at the first element and the change at the second network element to a common time, performing a statistical analysis that compares the performance of the network before the common time to the performance of the network after the common time, detecting an impact of the change on a performance of the network based on the statistical analysis, and initiating a remedial action when the impact comprises a degradation to the performance.