theartofservice

Every IT organization has a Change Management process, but the scope of the process is typically very limited to a small set of controlled IT components in the environment. The reasons given for the limited scope may vary, but they have the same underlining message, “it’s too much for the staff to manage all changes.”

Maybe it’s time to reevaluate this position. The new age of IT is calling for more integration of systems, processes, people, and knowledge. It is becoming more apparent that a shift in one area of IT support can have ripple effects across the entire organization. As things get more complicated, the greater the need for communication. Change Management does just that.

A change is a simple matter to understand. Take any tangible item and modify it in some way so that it functions differently. If that tangible item is connected to a larger entity such as a server connected to the network, than the larger entity has a potential impact or risk to react to. Change Management allows control over the change so that the reaction turns into a planned, well thought out response that minimizes any harmful impact to the environment. At the core of Change Management is communication and affirmation that the communication has been received through a review and approval process.

Most IT departments focus mainly on changes to the technical aspects of the environment, hardware, software, and configurations. Here are other IT areas that should be under change control:

• Strategies
• IT Plans
• Services
• Service Level Agreements
• Service Level Requirements
• Processes

Consider the risk for not having these elements under change control.