The fast-paced nature of the IT world poses several issues for IT service workers, not the least of...
Can you picture going to a brand-new location without a map or GPS, and having no idea what to expect when you arrive? That’s what it’s like to deploy a change in an IT company without following ITIL best practices.
In this article, we’ll look at why the trip is just as essential as the goal and how change management may help you stay on course.
Basic and Benefits of ITIL Change Management and Change Enablement
Between ITIL v3/2011 and ITIL 4, change management has been enhanced. For the sake of this article, we’ll talk about both.
According to the ITIL 2011 Glossary, the change management process is defined as follows:
“The process responsible for controlling the lifecycle of all changes, enabling beneficial changes to be made with minimum disruption to IT services.”
There are 5 steps in the ITIL v3/2011 change management process flow:
- Request for Change (RFC)
- Change Assessment and Planning
- Change Approvals
- Change Implementation
- Post Implementation Review
The basic goal of ITIL change management is to implement changes without causing any business interruption or downtime, whether they are caused by internal or external reasons.
In the end, change management is a balancing act between the demand for speed and the management of the change’s inherent hazards. After all, no company wants its newest change to cause problems for its customers and/or staff, and no IT service desk wants to be swamped with change-related events. The requirement for a change management strategy is based on this unwelcome disturbance and associated cost.
ITIL 4
The concept of change management was relocated to the change enablement practice in ITIL 4. The decision to abandon the term “change management” reflects the extent of ITIL’s scope having been expanded with the introduction of ITIL 4.
The change enablement practice’s goal is defined as follows:
“To maximize the number of successful service and product changes by ensuring that risks have been properly assessed, authorizing changes to proceed, and managing the change schedule.”
ITIL 4 acknowledges the application of service management and best practices to other business processes, whereas prior editions of ITIL focused on IT service management (ITSM). As a result, the risk of miscommunication with the people-focused form of change management has to be taken into account.
When is it necessary to Change Management and Change Enablement?
There are several sorts of change that will necessitate diverse delivery systems. This is because, in terms of complexity and/or business effect, some changes are substantial and others are little. Some are riskier than others, and some must be completed right away.
The change management guideline in ITIL v3/2011 contains a variety of change kinds, or models, that are managed differently depending on how an organization views them in terms of risk and business effect, which is likely to be based on prior experiences.
These are some of the models:
- Pre-approve changes (commonly called standard changes) – Low risk and performed regularly using well-established protocols. Changes may be made quickly and with a light touch using this model type. Multiple change model versions may exist to represent the various levels of risk and complexity associated with modifications to various infrastructure domains. The installation of commercial software on a PC is an example of a pre-approved alteration.
- Emergency changes (commonly called exceptional changes or urgent changes) – Need must be handled as soon as feasible, frequently with some of the standard change management process rigor applied retroactively to expedite the process. Changes in reaction to large occurrences are one example, but this might also be another change type/model if appropriate. Importantly, because of the possible hazards, emergency modifications should be limited to a bare minimum, and this change model should not be utilized as a “get out of jail free card” for poor preparation on the side of change requesters.
- Normal changes (also called non-standard changes) – These are the modifications that don’t fit into any of the previous categories. These modifications must be evaluated on their own merits, and they are usually brought to a Change Advisory Board (CAB) for evaluation – as stated below. Major changes are a distinct form of change that may be separated from routine changes.
These scenarios are similar to ITIL 4, however, they now contain more people-focused situations, such as team member changes. Even if changes can be made without a formal change management process, there may be additional procedures to consider.
ITIL Change Management Best Practices
There are a few best practices to consider that apply to both change management and change enablement, whether your ITSM strategy follows ITIL v3/2011 or has completely converted to ITIL 4.
1. Don’t Treat ITIL as Law
You realize that the map isn’t the only route to reach where you need to go if you’re on a journey. There may be a few side roads to take or pauses to make along the route that your GPS does not recognize right away. Similarly, you should think about ITIL as a framework rather than a set of hard-and-fast rules to follow. It’s fine to deviate from the rules in areas where it’s not beneficial to your company.
This all links to the idea that change enablement is a spectrum of complexity. Not every change will necessitate a CAB, and the amount of complexity will determine which approaches to use.
Change comes in various forms, as indicated in the picture, ranging from everyday tasks, where normal changes may be performed, to business-continuity-related demands, which will almost certainly necessitate emergency-change procedures.
2. Use the Agile Methodology to Consider Smaller or Releases Over Time
When your IT department is implementing a large change, it may be helpful to split it down into smaller, more manageable portions. This might assist your team in adhering to the agile methodology.
For example, by delivering smaller modifications over time, your team may constantly implement input from consumers and on the processes from stakeholders.
To further simplify things, you may split down the processes in the ITIL 4 service value chain into smaller chunks that you can enhance over time, such as:
- Design and transition – changes are typically the outcome of new or updated services, with change enablement a major contributor to service transition.
- Obtain/build – Changes to infrastructure components, whether produced or delivered by third-party suppliers, are subject to change enablement.
- Deliver and support – Changes generally influence service delivery and support operations, thus these functions must participate in reviewing and approving them.
- Improve – Usually, improvements will necessitate adjustments that have been examined and accepted.
3. Revise the Cab’s Role and Encourage Collaboration
When it comes to making changes, there’s a common misconception that what’s being done has come down from high and is fixed in stone. However, to achieve successful change, you’ll need to promote cooperation and openness.
You may achieve this by altering the way the Change Advisory Board interacts and their role in giving input during the change’s implementation. You can also add stakeholders that aren’t explicitly identified in the ITIL CAB rules.
The most essential thing is to involve individuals who will bring the greatest value, as well as to create opportunities for cooperation and avoid duplication of work.
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