IT Change Management Version Written/Reviewed By Date 0.1 Shane Moss 16 th February 2015 0.2 Shane Moss 27 th March 2015
Contents Overview... 3 Change Advisory Board (CAB)... 3 Change Types... 3 Normal Changes... 3 Urgent Changes... 3 Emergency Changes... 4 Change Request Document... 4 Risk Evaluation... 4 Contingency Planning... 4 Communications... 4 Change Request Scope... 4 Template Change Request Document... 5
Overview This document outlines the policy regarding control and communications of changes made to the Information Services supported environment within DIT. The control of such changes provides DIT with a mechanism to evaluate the risk of a proposed change not proceeding as planned and the impact that this will cause on services provided to the institute. This control extends to clear definition of decision points and procedures should a change need to be reversed or rolled back. Another major component of this process is the communication plan which requires a definition of who needs to be informed in advance of the change and who should to be notified should the change not proceed as expected. Change Advisory Board (CAB) The change Advisory Board consists of a panel of selected IS staff members who meet every second Tuesday to approve or reject normal change requests and to review urgent or emergency changes that occurred since the previous CAB meeting. Change Types There are a number of types of change that can be defined based on their urgency. Normal changes are those that can be managed through the normal change management cycle i.e. changes are proposed and evaluated at the next CAB meeting. Urgent changes are those that need to be completed before the next scheduled CAB meeting while emergency changes are those where an immediate action is required for example if a server is about to fail. Normal Changes Normal changes require completion of a change request document. This completed document should be submitted to CAB by close of business on the Friday before the next scheduled CAB meeting. Any pending requests will be reviewed by CAB where their status will be changed to approved, rejected or pending further information. Once approved it is the change owner s responsibility to communicate the changes as outlined in the change request and to manage the actual changes. Urgent Changes Urgent changes require completion of a change request document, this document must be circulated to the CAB email group (is-cab@dit.ie) and a minimum of two approvals must be obtained from the CAB members before changes can be implemented. As with normal changes, the change owner is then responsible for communicating the changes and implementing the change plan. These changes will be reviewed at the next scheduled CAB meeting.
Emergency Changes If the situation arises where there is a more immediate requirement to make changes, where possible a change request document should be completed and circulated to the CAB email group (iscab@dit.ie). A reasonable effort should be made to obtain at least two approvals however if these approvals cannot be obtained sufficiently quickly the change should proceed. In particularly time critical scenarios, the change request document can be completed after the event as part of a review process for the next scheduled CAB meeting. Change Request Document The change request document will contain a number of important pieces of information and should be fully completed before submission to the CAB. Risk Evaluation Each change request must identify any risks associated with the change, it must also define what the impact to the institute will be if the change doesn t go to plan. Contingency Planning In addition to the risk analysis the change request will also describe a contingency plan and the time at which the decision will be taken to rollback if the change is not proceeding according to plan. Communications Business owners of affected systems should be identified and notified in advance of the change going ahead providing details of the maintenance windows and the scope of expected outages. Change Request Scope While it is important that many changes are captured and controlled, not all changes need to go through the formal change management process. Regular, operational tasks with minimal risk and impact need not go through the formal change management process.
Template Change Request Document Note that this Request for Change must be submitted to the CAB by close of business on the Friday before the next scheduled CAB meeting REQUEST FOR CHANGE STATUS Normal Change Urgent Change Emergency Change Change requested by Tel. Group Information Services owner Reason for change
If an urgent or emergency change please explain why (An emergency change is one that REQUIRES an emergency response and CANNOT be delayed, e.g. a server is about to fail or there is a fire. An urgent change is one that CANNOT wait until the next, scheduled CAB meeting and therefore cannot give 7 days notice, e.g. a database will reach capacity within 4 days and must be extended. All other changes are normal changes.) Systems /apps affected: if this will affect any production services or systems, please provide details Affected Groups Description of change Date submitted to CAB Date Required or Planned Planned Start Time Planned Finish Time Time Limit for Completion Who will perform change? Resources required (specify if internal, external, and duration) Budget Required Risk assessment: what is the likelihood of something going wrong? High risk. Medium risk Low risk. No risk. Unknown risk Please submit details of risk assessment Impact assessment: how much will DIT or your group be affected if this change goes wrong? High impact Medium impact. Low impact No impact Unknown impact Please provide details of your impact assessment
Please provide details of mitigation and/or contingency plans Time when back-out plan will be executed if required Communications plan: who needs to know? Subsequent to this change, will any alterations have to be made to relevant documentation provide detail Test Plan Details Please confirm that the backup and restore process have recently been tested successfully to your satisfaction Please confirm that a full system backup will be made within the 24 hours prior to this planned change Number of pages attached (for supporting documentation if required) Contact details Backup and restore have been tested recently to my satisfaction Backup and restore have NOT been tested recently to my satisfaction List relevant contacts such as change implementers, business owners, backup personnel etc.
Change Management Process Flow