In Change Management we introduced the concept of planning and implementing
technical changes in a consistent manner. We gave you an overview of the whole
Change Management process and an implementation guide giving step-by- step
instructions to help you implement a change management process that we believe
is appropriate for the needs of schools. An operations guide gave you a list of
ongoing activities required by the process in order for you to keep it going and reap
the benefits. We described roles and responsibilities and offered guidance on how
to assign roles. We removed anything non-essential to give you a lean process
requiring the minimum of effort and resource.
Check your understanding of the process by following:
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Step
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Tasks
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Create a request for change
form
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Complete the initial details of the change with:
- unique identifier
- name
- brief description of the change
- reason for the change
- the name of the person raising the request for change (the
originator)
- the name of the person who will authorise the change to be
planned (the initial approver).
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Seek approval to proceed
with developing the change
and spend any money that
may be required
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Submit the partially completed form to the initial approver for their
review, comments if appropriate, signature and return. This step
may result in changes or outright rejection if the initial approver
does not agree with the change.
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Plan and prepare the change
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Add to the request for change document the details of your
planning and preparation, as these become available, including:
- full details of the change
- the impact of the change on ICT services and end-users
- the risk of the change failing and the impact of failure on ICT
services and end-users
- a fallback plan for use in case the change does fail
- the date and time the change will take place
- the name of the person who is checking and approving the
technicalities of the change (the peer reviewer)
- the name of the person carrying out the change (the
implementer)
- the name of the person who will give the final go-ahead to
implement the change (the final approver).
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Seek approval of the
technical plan
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Submit the form to the peer reviewer for their review, comments
(if appropriate), signature and return. This step may result in
changes being made to the plan until the peer reviewer is able
approve it.
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Seek approval to implement
the change
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Submit the form to the final approver for their review, signature
and return. This step should not result in changes to the plan, as
any issues relating directly to the change should have been
identified and resolved as a result of the initial approval and peer
review. However, the scheduling of the change must be agreed
with the final approver so this element may require change at this
stage.
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Communicate the change
with other technical staff and
end-users
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Notify everyone affected by the change of the scheduled date and
time and the impact of the change. This may be done in writing or
at staff meetings or both, as long as reminders are timely.
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Implement the change
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Carry out the change and, if necessary, invoke the fallback plan.
Indicate on the request for change form whether the change was
successful or not and sign it off as complete.
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Update records of affected
equipment on configuration
management database
(CMDB)
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Pass the completed request for change form to the CMDB
administrator for them to update records of equipment affected
by the change as appropriate. Depending on how roles have
been assigned, the CMDB administrator may also be the
implementer.
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What you should expect now that you have implemented Change
Management
- Technical changes do not occur randomly or without authorisation.
- All technical staff who implement changes are familiar with the request for
change process and comply with it at all times.
- Budget holders are asked to authorise expenditure on changes before they
take place.
- End-users are aware of planned changes before these happen.
- Supporting technical staff (such as service desk) are aware of planned changes
before they happen.
- A culture is developing whereby technical change is considered with the
interests of the school as a whole and carried out in a collaborative way.
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What you should have achieved through Change Management
- There is a way of recording and keeping track of changes that are made.
- All major changes (changes to shared infrastructure items such as servers,
routers, network cabling, other communications links and so on) are planned,
approved and scheduled in accordance with the request for change process.
- A method for handling requests for change has been established - either by
circulating the request for change to the participants in the process or holding
regular meetings of a change advisory committee.
- Changes are implemented in a timely manner (the process doesn't get in the
way of change).
- Information about the number of changes being made is available.
- Changes can be considered within the context of bigger scheme of things (the
whole- school strategy/business plan) and you take the most appropriate action
for the long term.
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Benefits of having implemented Change Management
- You use the same format to plan all changes, so changes become quicker to
implement.
- All changes have a fallback plan ready so that you can restore service quickly in
case of failure.
- End-users and school leaders are aware in advance that changes are
scheduled to take place so that they can plan their work accordingly.
- School leaders, budget holders or line managers have the opportunity to
approve changes before you have done too much work on them, so that you can
limit the resources spent on inappropriate activities.
- You reduce the number of incidents and problems caused by unplanned
change, so need to spend less time on fire fighting.
- More attention to planning and preparation will reduce the number of incidents
and problems.
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