The Change Management Process

Change Management is a key element for businesses. Large companies depend on it for everything that affects their production environment. But what is the management of change at all? Change Management is the process that comes into play when a change is made to the production environment of a company. For the matter of this article we will use a case regarding information technology to explain Change Management.

Company "A" uses change management to track changes to their web servers. The change management process can also inform all internal business units and departments of the impending change to the web server and which parts of the business are affected by this change. The change management process is initiated by the decision to update the web server with a newer version of the web. Site administrators, the QA department and the developers have finished the final test of the new application update and now it's time to go live.

The site administrator starts the process by writing the purpose of the change and what steps are required to complete the operation. He also describes the impact for internal users and external services that the business could be affected (eg: external customer service). The description of these tasks for updating are usually high and not too detailed. The reason for this is more to inform the company about the change to the list and not as an exact step by step guide.

Once the site administrator has completed the initial management of the change request form (electronic or paper) you go up one level to the direct supervisor and with his approval the request for change management is distributed among the points departmental contacts that have been defined in a previous job. The various departments and business groups to consider the request for change management to assess the impact to the department or group. If the impact is not visible, or a possible impact is already addressed and covered the modification request of the department or group approves the change. If a potential impact has not addressed the group or the department denies approval and request more information or how the problem will be addressed. Approval for the change request goes to "pending".

Once all issues are addressed and processed and any necessary approval has been submitted the request for change management expects a step further - CTO (Chief Technology Officer) or CIO (Chief Information Officer) for approval may be required. This process ensures that a track record of changes that affect the business was created and that every group, every department and business management are aware of what is happening.

Some critics see change management as a process that slows down the ability to act quickly when necessary. Others see it as collateral for business success continues as a department may not realize how big the impact of a proposed amendment to section B. ......