Section 1 - Introduction

Welcome to the DSP Community, we offer award-winning IT consultancy and managed services for Oracle, Microsoft and Google technologies. We specialise in data platform management, application development, engineered systems and Cloud with a strong presence in Oracle RDBMS, OCI, Exadata, SQL Server, Azure, APEX, and GCP. DSP is a leading technology partner in the UK and has been recognised for that by our technology partners and industry through a wide range of awards and accolades.

As a DSP Managed Services Customer – DSP Offer a range of ITIL based processes to provide Customer Excellence and a standardised our approach to our IT Service Management offering. The following document is a brief overview of Change Management and how the Change Management Process works at DSP. 

If you are interested in learning more than this brief overview please contact your Account Manager. 

Section 2 - Change Management at DSP

ITIL Change Management is a crucial framework for customers seeking to optimise their IT service transitions. By ensuring a systematic approach to change, a Change Management Process minimises the risks to service and contributes to a more efficient and consistent ITSM practice.

Change Management can be defined as a structured process that aims to assess, plan, authorise, and implement changes in a controlled manner within the IT environment of an organisation. It involves evaluating the impact of changes, managing the associated risks, and ensuring that changes align with business objectives and timeframes. Organisations implementing ITIL Change Management benefit from improved service delivery, reducing unplanned outages and increased efficiency.

Adopting effective Change Management practices enables DSP to sidestep significant issues such as service interruptions (incident caused by change), extended downtime, compromised security, and reduced customer satisfaction.

However, DSP do not impose their Change Management process on customers and where customers have a mature Change Process will integrate into the customer’s pre-existing process.

Section 3 – Different Types of Change and Change Priority

 

1) A standard change represents routine and low-risk modifications. These alterations are well-defined, with established procedures for implementation. Typically minor in scope, they require minimal approvals due to their repetitive nature. Common examples tablespace and user account creations. Standard changes can in some cases, also be classed as “pre-approved change” whereby a customer accepts that certain low impact and routine changes do not require individual change governance and as such DSP or internal resources can be given permission to perform this modifications without the need for a Request For Change (RFC).

2) Normal or Minor Changes encompass alterations that are more substantial than Standard Changes but still manageable in terms of risk. They involve moderate complexity and require a formal review and approval process. These Changes demand careful planning, impact assessment, and coordination among different departments or teams. For both Minor / Normal and Standard Changes an organisation may choose electronic approval from an agreed change authority rather than convening a Change Approval Board (CAB).

3) Major Changes often impact multiple departments or the whole organisation and have a significant impact and necessitate extensive assessment, planning, and stakeholder engagement. The intricacy of these changes calls for a structured Change Management approach, often requiring a dedicated Change Approval Board (CAB) for approval processes.

Effective communication and thorough planning are crucial to minimise risks and enhance the positive effects of such fundamental changes.

 4) Emergency Changes are rapid-response modifications enacted to address critical situations, such as system failures or security breaches. Characterised by urgency, they aim to swiftly contain and rectify the issues at hand. While the approval process might be expedited, documentation remains essential to ensure accountability and future reference. Emergency Changes still require effective communication to keep stakeholders informed. The goal is to restore operational normality promptly while learning from the incident to prevent similar emergencies in the future.  

Section 5 - Change Advisory Board (CAB)

A Change Advisory Board or CAB is a group of Key Stakeholders within an organisation who meet at regular intervals and, with a high degree of visibility, to assess and approve planned change. They are also responsible for assessing the rate of concurrency for a planned maintenance or outage window. The CAB will often be chaired by a Change Manager who is responsible for confirming that changes are prepared for CAB.

During the meeting the CAB attendees will debate which changes are to be approved for enactment. The Change manager will record the outcome of the meeting and communicate to the relevant audience which changes where approved and rejected in the CAB and the required actions for rejected changes.

While there will be a default list of CAB attendees any change owner or Subject Matter Expert can be invited to the CAB to assist with presentation of a specific change.

NB – not all customers will distinguish between outage and maintenance windows. However, an outage window is where the service has to be taken down for a planned change. A maintenance window is where a change is to be deployed while the service remains up, but key stakeholders are aware that is an increased risk to service during that period. It is standard practice to indicate in a planned change template (or Request for Change) if the service is up or down for the duration of the change. The language is often blurred with organisations referring to both maintenance and outage windows collectively as change windows.