What's the difference between a functional and a technical change?

Question

Example:

We need to alter this software program, due to a functional change asked by the system administrator.

We need to alter this software program, due to a technical change asked by the system administrator.

I would say a functional change occurs when a new function is asked and a technical change occurs when a different technical solution is proposed, to implement an existing function.

I know functional/technical change are not universal "terms", but can anyone give me an insight on what they are?

Solution

A functional change would be driven by a change to the functional requirements http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_requirement. e.g. The software needs to provide an additional field in a report it generates.

A technical change would be driven by a change to the non-functional requirements of the system. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-functional_requirement. e.g. The database the software uses is being upgraded to a new version