Availability Guide for Change Management

Change Control
Availability Guide for Change Management–125506
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Implementing Change Control Successfully
Implementing Change Control Successfully
Change control is most effective when the following prerequisites are met:
•
A single point of control exists in the form of a person or group with overall
authority to implement change. Making a person or group responsible for change
control prevents unauthorized personnel from accessing and changing the system.
•
The person or group responsible for implementing the change has received the
proper training. Change-control personnel are most effective when they:
•
Know how to evaluate software quality assurance test results
•
Are able to negotiate with people
•
Are able to solve problems
•
Understand how changes may affect all parts of the system and operating
procedures
•
All organizations necessary to support the change are committed to the plan and
clearly understand the change process.
•
Continual process improvement is an integral part of the change-control process.
Continual process improvement means applying what you have learned during one
cycle of change to the next cycle of change and making improvements to the process
accordingly. Some ways to make continual process improvement part of the
change-control process include:
•
Taking baseline measurements of your system and application environments
before you make changes, then measuring the impact of the change against your
baseline measurements after you have implemented the change
•
Keeping track of how long it takes to implement changes
•
Knowing the common changes in your environment and the reasons for them
The Change-Control Process
This subsection describes and recommends a four-phase change-control process. The
four phases are:
Phase 1—Definition and documentation. In this phase, the person or group
responsible for change control formally defines the proposed change, makes sure that all
requirements have been met, and documents the results of the change.
Phase 2—Change planning. In this phase, the person or group responsible for change
control assesses the impact of the change, creates a plan to implement the change, and
develops a recovery plan in case the change does not work.
Phase 3—Implementation. In this phase, the person or group responsible for change
control implements the change according to the change plan created during the change-
planning phase (phase 2).