Change Management Functional Spec - Summer 2013
Process Definition
Change Management Process Diagrams
https://www.blueworkslive.com/scr/processes/10000cb3e430e03#bpmn
Actors
Actor | Definition | Functions Performed |
---|---|---|
Change Requester |
| Submits a request for a Change |
Change Owner Assignment Unit |
| The assignment unit responsible for overseeing and coordinating the change |
Change Owner Manager |
| The manager of the assignment unit responsible for overseeing and coordinating the change |
Change/Task Owners |
| Persons responsible for carrying out the tasks associated with the change |
Configuration Item (CI) Owner |
| The owner of the Configuration Item being changed |
Change Advisory Board (CAB) |
| Approves significant, major and some minor changes, |
Emergency Change Advisory Board (eCAB) |
| Approves emergency changes, oversees the emergency change process |
ITSM Tool |
| The system used to track Changes |
Use Cases/User Stories
Change created by the Change Owner
Change created by someone other than the Change Owner
Change requested by a client who only has ESS access to ServiceNow
Change created from an Incident
Change created from a Problem
Create pre-approved Change
Create normal Change
Create emergency Change
Create an Outage Incident from a Change
Data Dictionary
Name | Functional Use | Field Type | When Required | Change Type Used | Derivation/Rules | Map to current field |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Open Date/Time | The date/time the Change is opened | formatted string | auto-generated when Change ticket is opened | All | auto-generated | Same |
Close Date/Time | The date/time the Change is closed | formatted striing | auto-generated when Change is closed | All | auto-generated | Same |
Short Description | Provide a brief description of the change. Also used in email notifications and queues/views | string | Acceptance | All | user supplied, or sourced from template or pre-approved change | |
Description | Provide a full description of the change. | multiline text | Acceptance | All | user supplied, or sourced from template or pre-approved change | |
Requested Implementation Date | The date which the requester would like the change to be implemented. | formatted string | Acceptance |
| user supplied | |
Change Source | The source of the Change (e.g. Incident, Problem) | drop down | Acceptance |
| user supplied | |
Planned Start Date | Provide the date/time when the implementation of this change will begin. Together with the Planned End Date will show the Change on the Change calendar. | formatted string | Before Change can be moved to Approval Phase | All | user supplied | |
Planned End Date | Provide the date/time when the implementation of this change will end. Together with the Planned Start Date will show the Change on the Change calendar | formatted string | Before Change can be moved to Approval Phase | All | user supplied | |
Actual Start Date | Provide the date/time when the implementation of this change actually began. | formatted string | Before change can be closed | All | user supplied | |
Actual End Date | Provide the date/time when the implementation of this change actually ended. | formatted string | Before change can be closed | All | user supplied | |
Submission Priority | Provides information on when the change was requested versus when the Change was implemented. | string | Auto-generated | All | formula derived from planned start date and open date; available options are Planned, Latent and Emergency; Emergency is not an option for pre-approved changes | |
Option for CAB Approval | This option should be used for when a Change is Minor but would still require CAB approval | TBD | Never | Minor | user supplied | |
Option for Advisory Change | This lets the CAB know about the Change, even though it is a minor Change that does not require CAB approval. | Check Box | Never | All | user supplied | |
Change Requester | Provide the name of the person who is requesting the Change | user object reference | Acceptance | All | derived from logged-in user but changeable | |
Change Type | Provide the type of change request | string | Upon assessment | All | Pre Approved, Normal, Emergency | |
Change Scope | Provides the scope of change request. | string | Upon assessment | All | Minor, Major, Significant. These changes are all change type of 'normal'. | |
Change Owner | The person responsible for coordinating the Change | user object reference | Upon assessment | All | derived from logged-in user but changeable | |
Change Owner Assignment Unit | The assignment unit responsible for coordinating the Change | user object reference | Acceptance | All | derived from logged-in user's default assignment unit but changeable | |
Work Notes | Provides information on Work performed on the Change | multiline text | Never | All | user supplied | |
Back out Plan | Provides the back out plan for the Change | multiline text | Before Change can be moved to Approval Phase | All | user supplied | |
Test Plan | Provides the test plan for the Change | multiline text | Before Change can be moved to Approval Phase | All | user supplied | |
Communication Plan | Provides the communication plan for the Change | multiline text | Before Change can be moved to Approval Phase | All | user supplied | |
Operational Support Plan | Provides the operational support plan for the Change | multiline text | Before Change can be moved to Approval Phase | All | user supplied | |
Implementation Plan | Provides the implementation plan for the Change | multiline text | Before Change can be moved to Approval Phase | All | user supplied | |
Related Records | Used to link the Change to the Problem it's trying to solve | object reference | Never | All | user supplied or derived when a Change is created from an Incident or Problem | |
Maintenance Window | The maintenance window for the CI. This field is auto-populated from CMDB data for the CI. | object reference | Never | All | auto-populated from the CMDB | |
External Reference | Provides a place to log a reference to an item in an outside system such as a YNHH change ticket number or a reference to a ticket in another vendor's system. | text | Never | All | user supplied | |
Phase | Provides the phase or stage in which the Change currently sits | string | Acceptance | All | derived from system workflow. Phase options are draft, acceptance, pre-implementation, approval, implementation, post implementation review and closure | |
Risk | Provides the risk associated with the change | string | Before Change can be moved to Approval phase | All | derived from CI; this field helps to determine the Change Type | |
Impact | Provides the impact associated with the change | string | Before Change can be moved to Approval phase | All | derived from CI; this field helps to determine the Change Type | |
Confidence | Provides the confidence level of the change (needs better definition) | drop down | Before Change can be moved to approval phase | All | user supplied; this field helps to determine the Change Type | |
Closure Code | Provide information regarding the outcome of the change and whether or not if was successful or unsuccessful. Also provides information regarding the outcome of the change and whether or not if was fully implemented. | drop down | Before Change can be closed | All |
| |
Change Tasks | Change tasks are used when work needs to be sequenced or coordinated between assignment units on a Change. | task | TBD | All | TBD | |
Change Task - Start Date | Provide the date/time when the implementation of this change will begin. Together with the End Date will show the Change on the Change calendar. | formatted string | Before implementation begins (how to enforce in SN?) | All | Before the implementation this is the planned date. After implementation this should be updated to reflect the actual date. | |
Change Task - End Date | Provide the date/time when the implementation of this change will end. Together with the Start Date will show the Change on the Change calendar. | formatted strinig | Before implementation begins (how to enforce in SN?) | All | Before the implementation this is the planned date. After implementation this should be updated to reflect the actual date. | |
Change Task - Short Description | The short description of the Change Task | text | When created | |||
Change Task - Description | The description of the Change Task | text | When created | |||
Change Task - Work Notes | Provides information on Work performed on the Change | multiline text | Never | All | user supplied | |
Change Task - Open data/time | The date/time the Change Task is opened | formatted string | auto-generated when Change Task ticket is opened | All | auto-generated | Same |
Change Task - Close data/time | The date/time the Change Task is closed | formatted string | auto-generated when Change Task ticket is closed | All | auto-generated | Same |
Change Task - Assignment Unit | The assignment unit to which the Change Task is assigned | user object reference | When opened | All |
| |
Change Task - Assignee | The person to which the Change Task is assigned | user object reference | Unsure | All |
| |
Change Task - Parent Change | The parent change of the Change Task | object reference | When opened | All | ||
Change Task - Stage | Provides the stage in which the Change Task currently sits | drop down | When opened | All | Build, Test, User Acceptance. This should default to Build. | |
Change Task - Environment | Provides the environment to which the changes in the Change task are being made. | drop down | When opened | All | Development, Test, Staging, Production | |
Change Task - Risk | Provides the risk associated with the change task | string |
| All | derived from CI | |
Change Task - Impact | Provides the impact associated with the change task | string | All | derived from CI |
| |
Change Task - Closure Code | Provide information regarding the outcome of the change task and whether or not if was successful or unsuccessful. Also provides information regarding the outcome of the change task and whether or not if was fully implemented. | drop down | Before Change Task can be closed | All |
| |
Change Task - Task Type | The type of task. | drop down | At creation of task | All | some of these tasks would be system generated that were created by the change workflow. we will also need other options for people creating tasks to accompany changes. Options in the drop down box still need to be determined. |
Glossary
Change Process Term | Definition |
---|---|
Change | The addition, modification or removal of anything that could have an effect on IT services. The scope should include changes to all architectures, processes, tools, metrics and documentation, as well as changes to IT services and other configuration items. |
Change Task | One of the logical blocks of work that affect a Configuration Item required to complete a Change. Change tasks are used when there is a need to sequence work or coordinate work between persons or teams. |
Pre-Approved Change |
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Normal Change |
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Emergency Change |
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Requirements
Requirement Area | Functional Requirement |
---|---|
Approvals | Need to balance the amount of approvals needed with the ability to move work forward without getting hung up in the tool. |
Approvals | Change tasks need to be accepted by the manager of the assignment group or their delegate and then assigned to a person to work on the task. Change tasks should not be assigned directly to a person, they should be first assigned to an assignment group and then the manager or their delegate will assign the change task to the appropriate person. The goal of this is to ensure that when a task is assigned to an assignment group that there is acceptance by the manager (or their delegate) that someone in their group will complete this task at or by the specified date. |
Approvals | Minor changes can be approved by the manager or a delegate of the assignment unit manager. Significant and major changes need to be approved by the assignment unit manager and also the CAB. |
Scheduling | Changes are not allowed during blackout periods |
Scheduling | When submitting a Change the requester needs ability to review that they are not selecting planned start/end dates that are outside of times the CI Owner has designated as approved change times (e.g. they are not selecting a time during a blackout date) |
Scheduling | Pre-Approved changes are allowed only during the times when the CI Owner and Business Service Owner allow these pre-approved changes. It can be maintenance windows or other times. |
General | When assigning the change for assessment the Change Owner Group should be auto-filled based upon the CI but allowed to be updated if the need arises |
Emergency Change | Regardless of the origin of an emergency change, a business justification will be required for eCAB approval and should be obtained from business representation early. |
Emergency Change | Emergency changes must all have an after action review of the Incident/Problem that caused the change. |
Emergency Change | Both the Business Owner and the eCAB need to be notified of an emergency change and involved and approve emergency change |
Emergency Change | Emergency changes are all significant or major changes. If a Change would normally be a minor change it would be considered a significant change if it were an Emergency. |
Emergency Change | An emergency change needs to be invoked due to an Incident or Problem. If no Incident or Problem exists an emergency Change should not happen. |
Emergency Change | An emergency change needs to be completed as soon as it's determined an Emergency Change is needed. |
Post Implementation Review | There needs to be a way to determine if a post implementation review needs to be done on a pre-approved or a minor change. Major and significant changes would always have a post implementation review. |
Change Tasks | Change tasks need the ability to be sequenced and have dependencies. The can be sequenced manually or automatically by the system. |
Change Tasks | When the system manually sequences change task dependencies it should know to sequence the environments in the order of Development, Testing, Staging, Production. |
Change Tasks | All pre-implementation change tasks must be completed before the Change is submitted for approval |
Change Tasks | All implementation change tasks must be completely filled out before submitting Change for approval |
Pre-Approved Change | When creating a pre-approved change the user should be able to select from the library of pre-approved changes that have been vetted by the CAB. |
Pre-Approved Change | Pre-Approved changes should be reviewed once a year to ensure everything in the template is still accurate and that this change is still OK to be pre-approved. |
General | We need the ability to create templates for Changes that also include the creation of tasks when the template is applied. |
General | Need a text field where we can add an external reference to a ticket outside of ServiceNow. For example a change record that lives in YNHH system or a reference to an item that lives in a vendor system. |
General | Change tasks can be added to the change at any time before the Change is submitted for Implementation approval. |
General | Need to be able to audit the Change for any data changes and show them by area and the number of changes. |
Reporting | Configuration Manager needs to be able to report on any and all changes made to a particular CI. For example if the root password is changed on 500 servers he needs to be able to report that the password was changed on each server. |
Reporting | Change process needs to be able work with Configuration Management process to ensure that the system is able to report on unauthorized changes made to CIs. |
General | Any change to any field in the ticket (both Change and Change Task) should be logged in the ticket so that changes to the ticket can be viewed by what was changed, who changed it and when it was changed. |
General | All changes or activities (including emails and the opening/closure of Change Tasks) to the Change ticket or the Change Task ticket should be logged in the activity log. |
General | All fields should have help with information about the field, its purpose and how to select an option. Hover over help suggested. |
General | Change: Overlay Maintenance Schedule with Change Request Schedule. Need the ability to overlap maintenance schedules and blackout periods with Change Tickets in the Change Module. This would provide the ability to visualize changes that need to be rescheduled per finals week, commencement, or other major upgrades. Business Need: Ability to view change request and scheduled change against blackout, freeze and maintenance windows through one windows to help make decisions on execution of changes. Use Case #1: We would like to see changes being requested/schedule during an event like the R12 upgrade or commencement. The result may be to push off changes that would potential affect these events. Use Case #2: See change type Pre-approved & Minor change against Significant, and Major changes against events like commencement or mother maintenance event |
General | When the change source is a new service or modification to a service a change task should be created for Service Introduction. |
Approvals | Need to have a backup or delegate if the CI Owner is not available. This is mostly concerned with the Emergency Change process. |
General | Once a Change is submitted for approval the fields should be locked down and unchangeable. |
General | When the Change Requester is also the CI Owner the Change should automatically be accepted (since the CI Owner would be the one accepting the change). |
Open Questions
Date | Question | Answer |
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7/25/2013 | How the Change process will interact with Deployment Manager (Kintana) and how will the Release and Change processes intersect? |
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7/29/2013 | How will we integrate Business and Provider Services into the Change Process? |
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9/4/2013 | How will the Change process integrate with the other processes? What items will be carried over when creating a Change from an Incident or Problem? |
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10/9/2013 | Should time tracking (like in Incident/Request Task) be part of Change/Change Tasks? Is there value in adding the tracking for this here? | |
10/9/2013 | Is there any value in linking TAA to ServiceNow? | 12/17/13: Not at this time as there is a project in progress to replace TAA with Quickbase. - Chloe |
11/13/2013 | We would like to combine the implementation code and closure codes. How can we do this and what options should be available? | |
11/15/2013 | Is there a reason for rolling back changes? If yes we need use cases and specific conditions on when this can happen. | |
11/18/2013 | Should the 'Change Owner' be changeable at any point during the change? Who should be able to make this change? Queue Managers? Use Case: Staff Member leaves for emergency leave and has changes in various states including Implementation. The queue manager needs to reassign the ticket at any time up until closure to a responsible party. | |
11/27/2013 | Need to come up with a process for creating an outage incident from a Change. | |
12/18/2013 | Should we be able to create Changes from Incidents? Need to follow up with Mark Kovacs about this. | |
1/17/2014 | What happens when a CI is not in the CMDB? How is a Change created for a CI not in there? Idea is that there is a way to add it in unvalidated and have it reviewed for addition to the CMDB. There would need to be a loop back to the Change ticket and update it if necessary. | |
1/17/2014 | Who would sign off on the Operational Support Plan items (like the creation of KB articles, training, communications)? | |
1/17/2014 | Need to figure out a way to let CAB members review the changes up for CAB approval that week and have the ability add comments. This would be helpful if they were not able to attend the meeting. |
Decision Log
Date | Decision | Attendees |
---|---|---|
10/29/2013 | We will combine the closure code and implementation code to simplify as they are very much the same. | CB, MW, JS, AD, CT |
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