Change is the only constant, they say. In a professional setting, it is the only way to progress. When you narrow it down to an IT service organization, change becomes a way of life.
There are several changes almost every day in an IT organization – new software versions, database upgrades, service packs, configuration changes, hardware changes, etc. Studies, and experience, reveal that 70 – 80% of service interruptions are because of changes being made to the system infrastructure. Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a best practice framework for IT service management that enables organizations to tackle this ever-evolving puzzle of change management.
How ITIL Helps Change Management
ITIL defines ‘change’ as the addition, modification, or removal of anything that could have an effect on IT services. The scope should include changes to all architectures, processes, tools, metrics, and documentation, as well as changes to IT services and other configuration items.
Change Management Follows an Established Process, and its Steps are Described Below:
1. Change Request
The process starts with a ‘Change Request’. A change request is a formal communication seeking an alteration to one or more configuration items. Any service owner or IT department worker can raise a change request if he or she deems it appropriate.
Change is Classified into 3 Types:
- Standard Change: A standard change is a pre-authorized change that is low risk, relatively common, and follows a procedure or work instruction. For example, a password change request.
- Emergency Change: A change that entails serious consequences and needs to be implemented as soon as possible. For example, a major software release is scheduled for tomorrow and you have found a bug in the code today. A security patch needs to be installed immediately.
- Normal Change: This is not the same as standard change although it sounds similar. A normal change does not have to be pre-authorized and automated. It is just that it is not as urgent as an emergency change and does not constitute the same level of risk.
2. Change Advisory Board
Once a Change Request is submitted, it will be reviewed by a Change Advisory Board (CAB). A Change Advisory Board is a group of interested parties who ask certain logical questions in association with any change request that is submitted and take a decision if that particular change should be implemented or not. Their job is to determine if this change makes business sense and ensure that it does not interrupt other service delivery aspects. This board is chaired by the Change Manager and it will consist of other service owners, representatives from various disciplines and other stakeholders. They assess, prioritize, approve/reject and schedule changes.
Some of the questions that are asked during change review are:
- Has the suggested change been fully tested?
- How can we determine if this change has been successful after implementation?
- What is the backup plan if this change fails?
- Are sufficient resources available to accommodate this implementation?
- Are there any other change implementations going on which might impact or get impacted by this change?
If all these questions are answered to the satisfaction of the board, then the change is approved and implemented.
3. Change log
A change log is maintained, where all change requests, Change Advisory Board meeting minutes, approved changes, their costs and benefits, and all other necessary information can be logged and tracked. The log needs to give you the information you need about a certain change whenever you need it.
In conclusion, implementing ITIL for change management is a continual process. ITIL provides context, logic, and structure to the way change is handled in IT organizations. This way everyone, from the users to the service providers, becomes aware of the reasons and benefits of a change.
