Change Management

Change Management (in the ITSM context) is the process that controls and coordinates all changes to the IT infrastructure or IT services in order to minimize risks and avoid disruptions. A change is, for example, the installation of a new software version, the replacement of a server or the modification of a configuration. Change Management ensures that such changes are planned, assessed, approved and carried out in a controlled manner. Typically, a change goes through a structured process: first, a change request is created and documented, including potential impacts and risks.

A Change Advisory Board (CAB) or the responsible managers then review the request – this includes a risk assessment and, where appropriate, tests in advance. After approval, the change is implemented and subsequently checked for success. This process is intended to avoid errors or outages resulting from changes as far as possible. Alongside Incident and Problem Management, Change Management is one of the core disciplines of ITSM.

Effective Change Management enables organizations to implement useful changes quickly without jeopardizing the stability of running IT services, thereby increasing the agility of IT while maintaining operational reliability. Suitable ITSM software helps to manage such processes centrally and document them traceably.

See also: Release Management.