Change Management

Da itm wiki.

Change Management process is supported by a SM workflow cartridge that enables the execution of the process according to the ITIL and ISO/IEC 20000 guidelines.

Of course the preconfigured process (the workflow cartridge) is just an accelerator and the tuning / completion of the initial configuration will still be required. To this aim, the Workflow Engine guide may be useful.

IMPORTANT NOTE: the configuration below is only one of the possible configuration to deal with the change management process. The need for a different behaviour of the process may be fulfilled by simple changes of the configuration.

Operational model

The preconfigured process has the objective to facilitate and support the effective and efficient execution of changes. At the core of the process configuration is the following operational model.

Change Management operational model

The requester, an authorized client, service manager, member of the service desk or technical team or n related process (such as Incident Management or Problem Management) requires to open a Request for Change (RfC). The service manager takes in charge it and assigns an owner who coordinates all the tasks needed to fulfil the change. The owner requests the change authorization to the change authority, if needed. As appropriate, technical team members may directly implement and deploy the change or make it through the Release Management process and later the Depolyment Change.

Roles

For this process, the following organizational roles are defined:

Organizational role Description itmSUITE® role mapping
Requester This role is mapped on:
  • a system resource with user of user type "Requester". The login identifier of this user is "FinalUser";
  • service manager (see after);
  • service desk members (system resources with user of user type "Resource"; the login identifier of this user is "SDSpecialist";
  • technical team members (see after).
Change owner
  • Requires change approval to the change authority after its assessment is completed
  • Assign tasks to be performed to complete the change
  • Watches over and monitors the change along all its life cycle ensuring target service levels are achieved
  • Activates escalation/ routing/ requests
  • Manages all the communications with the requester
  • Checks the implementation and sets the change to to completed
  • Closes the change after completing the final checks
Role assigned by the service manager to himself/herself or to a technical team member.
Technical team member
  • He/she receives the notification on the assignment of an activity concerning a change (e.g. conducting the assessment or designing/implementing it)
  • Carries out the assigned tasks
  • Notices when completed or unable to complete
There are several technical teams predefined for different domains. The following table shows which users are members of each team.
Domain Group Member

users

Application management "Application Management" "AppManager"

"AppSpecialist"

Personal devices management "Personal Management" "PersonalManager"

"PersonalSpecialist"

Network management "Network Management" "NetManager"

"NetSpecialist"

Server management "Server Management" "ServerManager"

"ServerSpecialist"

Technical team manager
  • Receives the notification about the assignment of the change to his/her team in order to implement it
  • Assign the member of his/her team who should work on it (this can be done by setting the ticket worker or creating and assigning ticket activities)
  • Watches over and monitors the work of his/her team
There are several technical teams predefined for different domains. The following table shows which users are set as solution group manager for each domain.
Domain Group Group manager
Application management "Application Management" User "AppManager".
Personal devices management "Personal Management" User "Personal Manager".
Network management "Network Management" User "NetManager".
Server management "Server Management" User "ServerManager".
Service manager
  • Takes in charge and assigns the change owner
  • Monitors how the changes are evolving for the service(s) he/she is responsible for
This role is mapped on a system resource with user of user type "Project/Service Manager". There are different service managers configured for specific services. See Services section in this page for further information.
Change authority
  • Approves the change implementation
  • Approves the change deployment
This role is mapped based on the required authorization and change classification.

For change implementation authorization:

Change Type Change Category Change authority
"Emergency" Service manager
"Normal" "Minor" Service manager
"Normal" "Significant" CAB
"Standard" Change owner

The CAB is mapped on a group: "CAB".

For change deployment authorization:

Change Type Change Category Change authority
"Emergency" Service manager
"Normal" "Minor" Change owner
"Normal" "Significant" Service manager
"Standard" Change owner

Process

As for all workflows, new changes can be created by using the self service portal, accessible by means of Self Service menu.

The following requests which trigger a new instance of the change management process are configured and available to all organizational roles in the self service portal:

Self service topic Self service category Self service request Authorized roles
"Applications" "itmCLOUD" "Change" (open a change) Requesters
"Personal Devices" "Personal Computers" "Change" (open a change) Requesters
"Personal Devices" "Peripherals" "Change" (open a change) Requesters
"Personal Devices" "Telephony" "Change" (open a change) Requesters
"Network" "Networking Management" "Change" (open a change) Requesters
"Technical Services" "Server Management" "Change" (open a change) Requesters

A change may also be automatically opened during the execution of other processes by the resources dealing with them.

A workflow is configured to support the change management process. The workflow is characterized by workflow statuses and workflow transitions. The figures below illustrate the process.

Change management process (1 of 3).
Change management process (2 of 3).
Change management process (3 of 3).

The table below explains the meaning of each workflow status.

Workflow status Description
"Default" A preliminary status which is displayed when a change is created.
"Opened" The change has been recorded.
"Requested" The change is confirmed and has been requested (it is a request for change).
"In Analysis" The change assessment and planning is ongoing.
"Implementation Approval Requested" The change approval request for implementation is submitted to the change authority.
"Approved" The change is approved for implementation.
"Not Approved" The change is not approved for implementation.
"In Progress" The change implementation is ongoing.
"Ready for Test" The change is ready for testing.
"In Test" The change testing is ongoing.
"Deployment Approval Requested" The change approval request for deployment is submitted to the change authority.
"Deployment Approved" The change is approved for deployment.
"Completed" The change is completed.
"Change Review" The change review is ongoing.
"Cancelled" The change is not confirmed and, therefore, cancelled.
"Suspended" The change execution is temporarily suspended. In this status service levels calculation are suspended too.
"Aborted" The change execution is aborted.
"Closed" The change closure has been confirmed.

And finally the table below explains the roles authorized to execute the workflow transitions.

Source status Destination status Authorized executors Comment
"Default" "Opened" Requesters See the self service portal configuration previously described.
"Opened" "Requested" Requester, service manager.


"Opened" "Cancelled" Requester, service manager.
"Requested" "Opened" Requester, service manager..
"Requested" "Cancelled" Requester, service manager, chabge owner.
"Requested" "In Analysis" Service manager, change owner.
"Deployment Approved" "Aborted" Service manager, change owner.
"In Analysis" "Requested" Service manager, change owner.
"In Analysis" "Approval Requested" Service manager, change owner.
"In Analysis" "Cancelled" Service manager, change owner.


"Approval Requested" "Approved" Change authority. Depending on change classification (see roles for more details).
"Approval Requested" "Not Approved" Change authority. Depending on change classification (see roles for more details).
"Approval Requested" "In Analysis" Service manager, change owner.
"Not Approved" "Cancelled" Service manager, change owner.
"Approved" "In Progress" Service manager, change owner, technical team member.
"Approved" "Suspended" Service manager, change owner.


"Approved" "Aborted" Service manager, change owner.
"Suspended" "In Progress" Service manager, change owner.
"In progress" "Suspended" Service manager, change owner.
"In progress" "Aborted" Service manager, change owner.
"In progress" "Ready for Test" Service manager, change owner, technical team member
"In progress" "In Test" Service manager, change owner, technical team member.
"In progress" "Deployment Approval Requested" Service manager, change owner.
"In progress" "Completed" Service manager, change owner. Only for changes with Change Type "Standard" or with Change Type "Normal" and Change Category "Minor".
"Ready for Test" "In Test" Service manager, change owner, technical team member.
"Ready for Test" "Suspended" Service manager, change owner.
"Ready for Test" "Aborted" Service manager, change owner.
"In Test" "Deployment Approval Requested" Service manager, change owner.
"In Test" "Suspended" Service manager, change owner.
"In Test" "Aborted" Service manager, change owner.
"Deployment Approval Requested" "Deployment Approved" Change authority.
"Deployment Approval Requested" "Suspended" Service manager, change owner.
"Deployment Approval Requested" "Aborted" Service manager, change owner.
"Deployment Approved" "Completed" Service manager, change owner.


"Completed" "Change Review" Service manager, change owner.
"Completed" "Closed" Service manager, change owner. Not allowed for changes with Change Type "Emergency" and Change Type "Normal" and Change Category "Significant"
"Change review" "Closed" Service manager, change owner.
"Not Approved" "In Analysis" Service manager, change owner.

Related processes

Several other IT Service Management processes are related to the change management one. Some basic interfaces are provided. The tab Related Items of the change and, in particular, the sub tab Tickets of it allows to view all the existing relationships between the change and other processes (managed through tickets).

Incident management

It is possible to create a change from the incident management process or to relate an existing change to an incident and vice versa.The change usually implements the resolution of an incident.

Problem management

It is possible to create a change from the problem management process or to relate an existing change to a problem and vice versa.The change usually implements the resolution of a problem.

Asset management and configuration management

It is possible to relate configuration items to a change by using the tab Related Items and, in particular, the sub tab Configuration Items. The ASM and/or CMS modules features are made available here (e.g. view of configuration item details, configuration exploration or impact analysis).

Release and deployment management

A release may include one or more changes. The relationship between a release and and change can be created from the change but is is more frequently created working from the release. In any case, the relation from the change can be created from the tickets tab Related Items and, in particular, the sub tab Configuration Items by using the ADD EXISTING or SELF SERVICE commands.

Services

Different services are configured for different change domain areas as illustrated in the following table.

Incidents domain areas Service Service manager
Application management Only one application, and the related service ("itmCLOUD") is configured. The user "servicemanager" is configured as service manager.
Personal devices management "Personal Device Management". The user "personalmanager" is configured as service manager.
Network management "Network Management" The user "netmanager" is configured as service manager.
Server management "Server Management" The user "servermanager" is configured as service manager.

Management information

Many management information are available as fields in the change management configured form. The following table illustrates the intended use of key information and its behaviour. NOTE: information are available (visible) and can be modified according to a specific configuration which is meant to be suitable for the organizational roles involved in the process.

Information group or tab Field Purpose Comments
General Information Ticket Op Status To show the operational status of the change, see workflow statuses in Process section of this page. Status changes are performed by means of the Save&Next command.
General Information Request Name To show the SRCS request invoked
General Information Short Description To provide a short description of the change. Always visible.
General Information Requester To identify the name of the requester (who has requested the change). A list is presented, influenced by.... TBC
General Information Creation Date To show the date and time the change was created. This information is automatically recorded and cannot be manually changed. See History tab for more detailed tracking information.
General Information Edit Date To show the date and time the change was last updated. This information is automatically recorded and cannot be manually changed. See History tab for more detailed tracking information.
General Information Creation User To show the user who created the change. This information is automatically recorded and cannot be manually changed. See History tab for more detailed tracking information.
General Information Edit User To show the user who updated the change last. This information is automatically recorded and cannot be manually changed. See History tab for more detailed tracking information.
Ticket Classification Project/Service To show the service (or project) to which the change is related. This is automatically set at open time and can't be modified.
Ticket Classification Ticket Type To show the type of workflow executed. This is automatically set at open time and can't be modified.
Ticket Classification Chage Area Change Objective Change Type Change Category To set the change key classification information.This is used for statistic reasons but the Change Category may also be configured to drive the change authorization. Change Area, Change Objective and Change Type are independent fields. Change Category is available only if Change Type is set to "Normal": In such a case, its value is influenced by the change assessment fields (see below). The classification information initially provided can be changed.
Ticket Classification Change Scope To set the change scope.This is typically used for statistic reasons. The classification information initially provided can be changed.
Ticket Classification Service impact Capacity impact Security impact Cost estimation Performance impact These fields are the change assessment elements. The values given will influence the Change Category value. The classification information initially provided (number and content of fields) as well as the rules to influence the Change Category can be changed.
Prioritisation & Planning Required Solution Date To provide the date of change implementation required by the Requester.
Prioritisation & Planning User Priority To provide the priority given to the change by the Requester. A four level scale is set but it can be changed.
Prioritisation & Planning Forecasted Solution Date To provide the date of change implementation forecasted.
Prioritisation & Planning Forecasted Solution Date To set the forecasted resolution date and time for the change.
Ownership and Groups Master SG To define the supervising team. This is set by the service manager and mandatory from the Ticket Op Status "In Analysis".
Ownership and Groups Solution Group To define the team to which the change is assigned for analysis and/or implementation. This is set by the service manager and mandatory from the Ticket Op Status "Approval Requested".
Ownership and Groups Owner To define who is the change owner who should monitor the lifecycle of the change. This is set by the service manager and mandatory from the Ticket Op Status "In Analysis". He/she can be changed by the service manager and the Owner him/herseilf.
Ticket Details Description To provide a more detailed description of the change. An auto tracking field is used enabling to view the user who has updated.
Ticket Details Analysis To provide a detailed analysis of the assessment of the change. An auto tracking field is used enabling to view the user who has updated.
Ticket Details Solution To describe the required implementation for the change. An auto tracking field is used enabling to view the user who has updated.
Ticket Details Comments To provide helpful comments. An auto tracking field is used enabling to view the user who has updated.

Fields can be mandatory to save the change in some workflow statuses. These fields are highlighted with a red asterisk.

Views

The following views are made available in the Tickets area of the home page:

View Content Requester Change owner Technical team Service manager Change authority
Changes completed Changes in statuses "Completed", "In Review". X
Changes requested Changes in status "Requested". X
Changes owned Changes in all the statuses but "Opened", "Cancelled", "Aborted", "Closed" where Owner is the logged resource. X
Changes routed to my team Changes in all the statuses but "Opened", "Cancelled", "Aborted", "Closed" where Solution Group is the solution group to which the logged resource belongs to. X
Changes assigned to me Changes in all the statuses but "Opened", "Cancelled", "Aborted", "Closed" where the Ticket Worker is the logged resource. X
Changes suspended Changes in status "Suspended". X X
Changes to review Changes in status "Completed" where Change Type is "Emergency" or where Change Type is "Normal" and Change Category" Significant".. X X
Changes to authorize for implementation Changes in status "Implementation Approval Requested". X
Changes to authorize for deployment Changes in status "Deployment Approval Requested". X
Changes evaluated by Change Authority Changes in status "Approved" or "Not Approved". X X
Changes approved for deployment Chnages in status "Deployment Approved". X X


Additionally, the following views are made available in the Change menu for all the organizational roles:

View Content
Changes active Changes in all the statuses but "Cancelled", "Aborted", "Suspended", "Closed"
Changes suspended Changes in status "Suspended
Changes closed Changes in status "Closed"
Changes cancelled Changes in status "Cancelled"

Notifications

The following notifications are configured:

Trigger Recipients Purpose
A change is requested Service manager Alert that there is a change to manage.
A change is assigned a owner Change owner Alert that the change was assigned to him/her.
A solution group is assigned or changed for the change Solution group manager Alert that there are resource(s) to allocate to manage the change.
A change review shall be executed (the change is in workflow status "Change Review") Change owner, service manager Alert that a change review is to be done.
A change is completed The change creator, the requester Alert that the change is implemented.
A ticket worker is assigned The assigned ticket worker Alert that there is work to be done.
A change is suspended The change creator, the requester, the service manager, the change owner Alert that the change is suspended.
An change is closed The change creator, the requester, the service manager, the change owner Alert that the change has been closed.
A change is cancelled The change creator, the requester, the service manager, the change owner Alert that the change has been cancelled.
A change implementation approval has been requested Change authority Alert that a change implementation request has to be examined.
A change implementation approval request has been examined Change owner, service manager Alert that the change authority has given a feedback on a change implementation request.
A change deployment approval has been requested Change authority Alert that a change deployment request has to be examined.
A change deployment approval request has been examined Change owner, service manager Alert that the change authority has given a feedback on a change deployment request.

Reporting

A set of standard reports are made available for the change management process. It is not required to have the REP module to use them, however the module is required if new or changed reports are needed. The available reports are placed under Change/Reporting menu.

The following table lists the reports available by default and their visibility:

Report name Content Access
Change per category - trend An histogram showing the change volumes per category monthly trend. Service managers and technical team members.
Change per category - volume A pie containing the split of changes per category. Service managers and technical team members.
Change per service - trend An histogram showing the change volumes per service monthly trend. Service managers and technical team members.
Change per service - volume A pie containing the split of changes per service. Service managers and technical team members.
Change per service/category - volume An histogram showing the changes volume per service and category. Service managers and technical team members.
Change - analysis time A pie showing the percentage of changes respecting the target defined for the "Analysis time"* objective (the time elapsed from the "Requested" to the "In Analysis" workflow status. Service managers and technical team members.

* "Analysis time" is defined within the OCE module.

A basic form of reporting is also provided by views. Views basically allow to list changes and their attributes but may also be configured to calculates sums, averages on some of them. The available views are illustrated in the dedicated section of this page.

Examples of use

In this section some examples of use of the configured change management process are given.

If you get lost, any time use the EXPLORE WORKFLOW command of the change management form. This enables to view the status of the workflow as shown in the figure below. By clicking on a relationship between workflow statuses, roles and users enabled to perform it are presented.

Explore Workflow window

NOTE: the EXPLORE WORKFLOW command is available only if the ticket is first saved.

For more information on how to use any workflows, including incident management, please refer to the workflow execution guide.

Create and request a new change as a final user

  1. Login as "finaluser" user
  2. Activate the Self Service menu
  3. Choose a self service topicself service category and finally "Change" as self service request (this determines the creation of a new change)
  4. Fill the change form, at least with mandatory fields, and save with the SAVE command (the change is now in workflow status "Opened")
  5. Set the change in workflow status "Requested" with the SAVE & NEXT command

You have now saved the change, take note of the ticket number for further reference and use.

Assign a change for analysis as a service manager

  1. Login as "servicemanager"
  2. Open the the desired change; you can do it quickly either by
  3. Assign the key roles
    • Fill the change form with Owner, Solution Group and, may be, Master Solution Group, Ticket Worker,
    • Pressing the SAVE & NEXT command, choose the "1. Assign ticket" workflow transition

The change is now in workflow status "In Analysis".

Perform analysis and request change implementation authorization as a change owner

  1. Login as a user owning a change (see assign a change for analysis as a service manager described previously)
  2. Open the desired change; you can do it quickly either by ................................................... TO BE CONTINUED
    • Access the viewsin theTicketsarea of the home page and pick aproblemamong those listed inworkflow status"Problem Assigned", "Problem in Analysis", "Problem in Resolution" where theuseris owner
    • Access theProblem/Problems activemenu and pick aproblemamong those listed inworkflow status"Problem Assigned", "Problem in Analysis", "Problem in Resolution" where theuseris owner
    • Insert the reference number of aprobleminworkflow status"Problem Assigned", "Problem in Analysis", "Problem in Resolution" where theuseris owner inQuick Search, after selecting thesearch context" Ticket"
  3. Update some fields (e.g.AnalysisorSolution)
  4. Pressing theSAVE & NEXTcommand, choose a transition to update theworkflow status

Authorize change implementation as change authority

Monitor and control a change as change owner

  1. Login as a user owning a problem (see assign a problem for resolution as a service manager described previously)
  2. Open the desired problem; you can do it quickly either by
    • Access the views in the Tickets area of the home page and pick a problem among those listed in workflow status "Problem Assigned", "Problem in Analysis", "Problem in Resolution" where the user is owner
    • Access the Problem/Problems active menu and pick a problem among those listed in workflow status "Problem Assigned", "Problem in Analysis", "Problem in Resolution" where the user is owner
    • Insert the reference number of a problem in workflow status "Problem Assigned", "Problem in Analysis", "Problem in Resolution" where the user is owner in Quick Search, after selecting the search context" Ticket"
  3. Update some fields (e.g. Analysis or Solution)
  4. Pressing the SAVE & NEXT command, choose a transition to update the workflow status

Implement a change as a technical team member

  1. Login as a technical team member working on the problem (see assign a problem for resolution described previously)
  2. Open a problem in status "Problem in Analysis"; you can do it quickly either by
  3. Optionally update problem information (for example Analysis and Solution fields)
  4. Save the problem by pressing SAVE command
  5. Send a message to the problem owner to notice the progress you made (use the tab Messages of the ticket).

Request change deployment as a change owner

Authorize change deployment as change authority

Perform a change review as a service manager

  1. Login as "servicemanager"
  2. Open the the desired problem; you can do it quickly either by
    • Access the view "Major Problem to Review"in the Tickets window of the home page and pick a problem
    • Access the Problem/Problems active menu and pick a Problem among those listed in workflow status "Major Problem Review"
    • Insert the reference number of a problem in workflow status "Major Problem Review" in Quick Search, after selecting the search context "Ticket"
  3. Update some fields (e.g. Comments, or add a review report as attachment)
  4. Pressing the SAVE & NEXT command, choose the "1. Close" workflow transition

The problem is now in workflow status "Closed".

Close a change as a change owner

  1. Login as a user owning a problem (see assign a problem for resolution as a service manager described previously) which is not major
  2. Open the the desired problem (one which is not major); you can do it quickly either by
    • Access the "Problems resolved" view in the Tickets area of the home page and pick a problem among those listed where the user is owner
    • Insert the reference number of an problem in workflow status "Resolved" where the user is owner in Quick Search, after selecting the search context "Ticket"
  3. Close the problem by

The problem is now in workflow status "Closed".