Change Management Procedures

July 18, 2007

The Change Management Process is a formal way of carrying out consistent planning, communication, approval, and scheduling of change using a repeatable process. Why use change management? Because change management is a recognized best practice that, when implemented properly, can: reduce the overall cost of making changes, reduce problems associated with making changes, improve internal communications and communications with customers about service disruptions, and helps identify and reduce the risks associated with making changes to the IT infrastructure. The basic process is:

  1. Identify change
  2. Create a change request
  3. Plan and prepare change
  4. Peer review of the change
  5. Obtain approval to implement
  6. Implement change
  7. Review the change

Before a change is implemented, it must be documented and submitted to the Change Advisory Board (CAB) using the Request For Change (RFC) form. The RFC form has 3 major sections that correspond to the change process:

  1. Initial needs assessment.

When the need to make a change is recognized, an initial request should be submitted to the immediate supervisor or manager using the RFC that includes a simple statement of what needs to be changed and why. The supervisor then either approves or rejects the request.

  1. Change procedure definition and impact assessment.

After the request is approved, a plan is developed to implement the change. The requestor or someone else assigned by the supervisor may develop the plan. All steps should be documented. The plan should include date and time of proposed change, an impact assessment stating what services or equipment will be affected and a simple risk assessment. Plans should include a detailed fallback plan that includes steps to restore services if the change fails and when the fallback plan is initiated.

  1. Approvals

After the change plan has been documented, it should be reviewed by a peer for completeness and viability. After peer review, the RFC is given to the manager for approval. For standard changes, the change can be implemented after manager approval with the RFC forwarded to the CAB. The department manager is responsible to see that the RFC is complete and the RFC procedure is followed. For non-standard changes, the manager then submits the RFC to the CAB for CAB approval. RFC’s requiring CAB approval should be submitted to the CAB at least one week before the change is scheduled. Submit RFCs via e-mail to . The CAB meets on the third Thursday of the month.

The Change Manager is Craig Bennion. The alternates are Dave Huth and Kevin Taylor, then Steve Hess for emergency changes with campus wide impact or when the Change Manager is not available.

Change Advisory Board (CAB): Kathy North, Caprice Post, Bryan Morris, Scott Lloyd, Jan Lovett, Craig Bennion, Steve Scott, Dave Huth, David Kosanke, Mike Morgan.

Standard Changes

Standard changes are changes that are operational in nature and typically don’t have a major impact to overall services. A standard change is defined as:

  • The task is well known and proven (documented and tested)
  • The impact is typically to a single user or a small, well-defined group of users
  • Considered part of normal business operations
  • Authority is effectively given in advance
  • Budget approval is under the control of the Change requester.

For OIT purposes, a standard change:

  • Is a task that is well defined, proven, documented and tested.
  • Will generate no calls to the Service Desk when implemented successfully.
  • Doesn't require a user to change the way they interact with the service being changed.

Standard changes do not need to go through the formal RFC/CAB process. However, all standard changes must be documented through either a procedural checklist or an RFC and the change process approved by the CAB. (Standard change checklists or RFCs should be available for review on request.)

Change Impact Matrix

The impact of a change is determined by the scope and the urgency of the change and determines when a change must go through the CAB or other approval process.

The scope of the change indicates how many users are affected.

Minor:1 or more individuals or a single department

Medium:1 or more departments or a building

Mega:Multiple buildings or entire campus

The urgency of a change indicates how quickly the change must be deployed.

Low: The change has little or no impact on day-to-day operations and can be scheduled several weeks in advance.

Medium: The change addresses operational issues to which there are current work-arounds and can be scheduled at least one week in advance

High: The change addresses operational issues that must be addressed within 1 - 7 working days. The system is functioning but at reduced efficiency.

Emergency:The change addresses a severe operational deficiency that must be addressed now

January 31, 2006Change Management Notes1