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 ScopeProvides the scope of change request.stringUpon assessmentAllMinor, 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
Used to link the Change to a Problem is has caused
Used to link the Change to an Incident it's trying to solve
Used to link the Change to an Incident it has caused

object reference

Never

All

user supplied or derived when a Change is created from an Incident or Problem

 
Maintenance WindowThe maintenance window for the CI.  This field is auto-populated from CMDB data for the CI.object referenceNeverAllauto-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

  • user provided;
  • Items in this drop down:
    • Implemented-As Planned
    • Implemented-Not as Planned
    • Implemented-Partially
    • Not Implemented-Backed Out
    • Not Implemented
    • Successful
    • Partially Successful
    • Unsuccessful-Backed Out
    • Unsuccessful-Not Backed Out
    • Cancelled
    • Rejected
 

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 DateProvide 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 stringBefore implementation begins (how to enforce in SN?)AllBefore the implementation this is the planned date.  After implementation this should be updated to reflect the actual date. 
Change Task - End DateProvide 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 strinigBefore implementation begins (how to enforce in SN?)AllBefore the implementation this is the planned date.  After implementation this should be updated to reflect the actual date. 
Change Task - Short DescriptionThe short description of the Change TasktextWhen created   
Change Task - DescriptionThe description of the Change TasktextWhen 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 ChangeThe parent change of the Change Taskobject referenceWhen openedAll  
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 - EnvironmentProvides the environment to which the changes in the Change task are being made.drop downWhen openedAllDevelopment, 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

  • user provided; will need info here about what to include in the drop down; This is combined with the old implementation code.
 
Change Task - Task TypeThe type of task.drop downAt creation of taskAllsome 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

 

Normal Change

 

Emergency Change

 

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 TasksWhen 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 ChangePre-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.

GeneralAny 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.
GeneralAll 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.
GeneralAll 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

GeneralWhen the change source is a new service or modification to a service a change task should be created for Service Introduction.
ApprovalsNeed to have a backup or delegate if the CI Owner is not available.  This is mostly concerned with the Emergency Change process.
GeneralOnce a Change is submitted for approval the fields should be locked down and unchangeable.
GeneralWhen 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

7/25/2013

How the Change process will interact with Deployment Manager (Kintana) and how will the Release and Change processes intersect?

 

7/29/2013

How will we integrate Business and Provider Services into the Change Process?

 

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?

 

10/9/2013Should time tracking (like in Incident/Request Task) be part of Change/Change Tasks?  Is there value in adding the tracking for this here? 
10/9/2013Is 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
11/13/2013We would like to combine the implementation code and closure codes.  How can we do this and what options should be available? 
11/15/2013Is there a reason for rolling back changes?  If yes we need use cases and specific conditions on when this can happen. 
11/18/2013Should 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. 
11/27/2013Need to come up with a process for creating an outage incident from a Change. 
12/18/2013Should we be able to create Changes from Incidents?  Need to follow up with Mark Kovacs about this. 
1/17/2014What 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. 
1/17/2014Who 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