Change Management: Definition

Change Management plans, organizes, controls, executes and monitors changes that affect IT service delivery. Change Management encompasses all components and activities required to direct additions, modifications and deletions to systems, network, processes, and environmental facilities.

Change Management Goals

The goal of the Change Management process is to ensure that standardized methods and procedures are used for efficient and prompt handling of technical changes, in order to minimize the impact of change-related incidents upon service quality, and consequently to improve the day-to-day operations of the organization.

Purpose

In order to:

• Better align IT services to business requirements
• Increase visibility and communication of changes to both business and service-support staff
• Reduce adverse impact of changes on the quality of services and on Service Level Agreements
• Increase productivity of users - through less disruption and higher-quality services
• Create a greater ability to accommodate a large volume of changes
• Foster and facilitate a high level of communication amongst all IT departments
• Contribute to the successful implementation of configuration management within UIT
• Establish change process accountability
• Enforce best practice change management controls

Practice

This committee shall:

• Establish policies, procedures, and standards
• Assign roles and responsibilities
• Filter, accept, and log changes
• Manage changes and the change process
• Convene the Change Advisory Board
• Coordinate all changes
• Review and close requests for change
• Manage all reporting from the change management process

Process

These goals will be achieved by:

• Clearly outlining change management policies
• Maintaining the Forward Schedule of Changes
• Providing access to and training on the Change Management tools used to implement the change schedule
• Conducting weekly reviews to evaluate and coordinate proposed changes
• Providing external UHS departments an easy way to participate in the CMC's activities