Change management is an integral part both of project management and all business processes. Information technology is not an exception. IT change management can be found throughout the IT service lifecycle, from Service Strategy to Continuous Service Improvement. IT change management is a complex topic that requires service owners to be familiar with the roles and responsibilities of each party. ITIL foundation trainings include extensive discussion on ITIL change management.
Official definitions
Let’s take a look at the official definition of IT change management. Change refers to any addition, modification, or removal that can have an impact on IT Services. For example, introducing a new service such as financial news for subscribers of a telecom operator, or retiring an old service that is no longer needed are all examples of IT change management.
IT Change Management should cover all IT Services, configuration items and processes. IT change management does NOT deal with all changes to the services. For example, updates to the documentation of a process or service might be required. These are also considered changes.
Request for a change
RFC is an abbreviation for request for change. RFC stands for the formal request for a change in IT change management. A request can be made by the business, customer, or department of an organization for a new service, or to update existing services, or to make changes in the processes, documentation, policies, etc. An RFC is required to initiate IT change management. An RFC contains details about the proposed change and can be recorded electronically or on paper. Depending on the company’s processes and organization, an RFC may be sent electronically, via meeting minutes, or by a tool that tracks the progress of change requests.
Types of Change
IT change management is impacted by three types of changes. These are:
Standard Change
Normal Change
Emergencies.
A standard change is a pre-approved, low-risk change that is relatively common and follows a procedure. It is possible to change the password of an employee once every three months, but this is not a common change. If the user follows the instructions, the password can be changed easily. A standard change in IT change management can also include changing an employee’s profile picture or updating his notebook. Standard changes don’t require an RFC. Standard changes can be tracked and logged using a different method within the IT change management process. An employee can request service to upgrade the notebook.
Normal Change is the second kind of change. Normal changes are any change that isn’t classified as an emergency or standard change. A normal change is when a new feature is introduced or an existing service is updated. A normal change is defined as IT change management. For example, the introduction of fingerprint recognition as a new service to identify users at ATMs in a bank is an example.
Emergency Change is the third and final type of change. It is important to make emergency changes as soon as possible. An emergency change is not an extension of a service or the introduction of a new one. It is generally initiated to address a major incident or implement a security patch. If an IT service provider discovers a security breach that could cause credit card det
