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Project ReportOn
Change Management
(with an IT perspective)
As a part of partial fulfillment of MBA (IT) IV semester
Prepared by:
Rituraj Saikia
MBA200422
MBA (IT), semester IV
IIIT-Allahabad
Project Guide:
Mr. Vijay Chourasia
MBA200422Faculty Member, IIIT-Allahabad
Acknowledgement
Success of every project depends largely on the encouragement and
guidance of many others. I take this opportunity to express my
gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful
completion of this study project.
I am highly obliged and grateful to Mr. Vijay Chourasia (Faculty
Member & Internal Guide) for providing me with valuable advice and
endless supply of new ideas and support for this project.
I would like to thank Mr. Abhay Kumar Raja (Change Management
Team, CSC) for providing practical exposure of software-system
supporting change management and his valuable guidance during the
project work.
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MBA200422My special thanks to Ms. Anurika Vaish (Co-ordinator, MBA program,
IIIT-A) for her priceless guidance, and it goes without saying that
without her support this project would not have been possible.
Rituraj Saikia
Table of Contents
STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE..................................................................................................................5
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................................6
CHANGE MANAGEMENT.........................................................................................................................8
STAGES OF CHANGE PROCESS......................................................................................................................9CONCEPTS OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT......................................................................................................10MANAGEMENT'S ROLE................................................................................................................................11CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY..........................................................................12CHANGE MANAGEMENT (ITIL).................................................................................................................13
What is ITIL..........................................................................................................................................14ITIL framework.....................................................................................................................................14
CHANGE MANAGEMENT (AN IT PERSPECTIVE)............................................................................15
CHANGE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.........................................................................................................16ORGANIZATIONAL INVOLVEMENT..............................................................................................................18CHANGE MANAGEMENT OUTPUTS..............................................................................................................23CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS CONTROL.............................................................................................24ROLE OF A CHANGE MANAGEMENT TEAM................................................................................................24
REMEDY CHANGE MANAGEMENT SUITE........................................................................................25
HIGH VISIBILITY CHANGE PLANNING........................................................................................................25SIMPLIFIED CHANGE PROCESS MANAGEMENT..........................................................................................26ABOUT REMEDY, A BMC SOFTWARE COMPANY.......................................................................................27
BORLAND CHANGE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS..........................................................................28
BENEFITS OF USING BORLAND CHANGE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS........................................................28CHANGE MANAGEMENT – A BUSINESS IMPERATIVE................................................................................29MANAGING REQUIREMENTS CHANGES......................................................................................................30MANAGING PROCESSES AND METHODOLOGY CHANGES...........................................................................33MANAGING TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION CHANGES.......................................................................................34ABOUT BORLAND.......................................................................................................................................35
CSC - CHANGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: GCARS..........................................................................36
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MBA200422GCARS (GLOBAL CHANGE ACTIVITY REQUEST SYSTEM).......................................................................36SCOPE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT USING GCARS....................................................................................37WHY USE GCARS......................................................................................................................................37HOW DOES GLOBAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT HELP..................................................................................38WHAT ARE THE CHANGE MANAGEMENT TOOLS.......................................................................................39CHANGE REQUEST TYPES AND TIMELINE..................................................................................................40ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES...................................................................................................................41HOW GCARS SOFTWARE WORKS..............................................................................................................42GCARS VIEWS..........................................................................................................................................46CREATING A CHANGE REQUEST.................................................................................................................50CHANGE DETAILS.......................................................................................................................................52RISK ASSESSMENT.....................................................................................................................................55
Immediate E-Mail Notification.............................................................................................................57Hourly E-Mail Notification...................................................................................................................57
GCARS SEARCH FUNCTION......................................................................................................................59Simple Search........................................................................................................................................60Structured Search..................................................................................................................................60
SPECIAL FEATURES IN GCARS..................................................................................................................61Same Server Record Locking................................................................................................................61Automatic Record Time-out..................................................................................................................62GCARS Record Archiving.....................................................................................................................62Dynamic Change Form.........................................................................................................................63Close Compliance.................................................................................................................................63
ABOUT CSC...............................................................................................................................................64
RECOMMENDATION...............................................................................................................................65
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................66
APPENDIX...................................................................................................................................................67
REFERENCES...............................................................................................................................................72
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MBA200422
Statement of Objective
The object of undergoing this study-project is to develop an understanding
and orientation towards the process of Change Management; and how can we
make use of Information Technology as a leveraging factor. I took this study-
project with a view point of getting a practical exposure of how an enterprise
can use IT-supported procedure to conduct Change Management
successfully.
One of the biggest challenges faced by corporate throughout the world,
providing consultancy services, is to implement required changes effectively
as well as efficiently. Since I would be pursuing my career as an Associate
Consultant in Wipro, it was felt that understanding the process and
philosophy of managing change in the industry, preferably by studying a live
example of a company pursuing Change Management, would enhance my
capability to plan, implement and control the process of optimization and
change.
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MBA200422At the same time, being a student pursuing MBA (IT) from IIIT-Allahabad,
centre of excellence in Information Technology, it was important that I study
Change Management with an IT perspective.
Therefore, the focus of this study project was directed towards how software-
system and information technology can be used and is being applied for
planning change management; and implementing it in a minimal risk and
productive way.
Introduction
Change Management is the process, tools and techniques to manage the
changes in processes and technological implementation, to achieve the
required outcomes, and to realize the change effectively within functional
domains and enterprise wide systems.
It is a procedure to ensure that proposed changes are merited and will not
adversely affect other elements of the plan or interdependent plans. Change
must be realistic, achievable and measurable.
There are a multitude of concepts on Change Management and it is very
difficult to distil a common denominator from all the sources that are
applying the phrase to their mental maps of organizational development. But
obviously there is a tight connection with the concept of learning
organizations. Only if organizations and individuals within organizations learn,
they will able to master a positive change.
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MBA200422
Change is happening everywhere; its speed and complexity are increasing;
and the future success of organizations depends on how successfully
organizations manage change.
Organizations are spending tens of millions of dollars on change efforts such
as reengineering and information technology installations. “Transformation”
is the new type of change that has emerged, and it is by far the most
prevalent and complex type occurring in organizations today; which is
causing virtually all of the change-related problems. These struggles have
given rise to the field of change management.
Over the past few decades, organizations have put tremendous resources
into turning their managers into leaders. Now, they must dedicate even more
resources to turning those leaders into change leaders who can successfully
lead the transformation of their organizations. Organization development
consultants must be there to assist. However, to play this critical coaching
role, consultants must also deepen their own understanding of
transformation.
Here technology comes as a leveraging factor. The consultants must take a
larger view of what is needed in the organization- a whole-systems, long-
term, process perspective.
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MBA200422
Change Management
Change management is the process of developing a planned approach to
change in an organization. Typically the objective is to maximize the
collective benefits for all people involved in the change and minimize the risk
of failure of implementing the change.
It is the practice of administering changes with the help of tested methods
and techniques in order to avoid new errors and minimize the impact of
changes.
Many technical disciplines (for example Information technology) have
developed similar approaches to formally control the process of making
changes to environments.
Change management can be either 'reactive', in which case management is
responding to changes in the macro environment (the source of the change is
external), or proactive, in which case management is initiating the change in
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MBA200422order to achieve a desired goal (the source of the change is internal). Change
management can be conducted on a continuous basis, on a regular schedule
(such as an annual review), or when deemed necessary on a program-by-
program basis.
Change management can be approached from a number of angles and
applied to numerous organizational processes. It’s most common uses are in
information technology management, strategic management, and process
management. To be effective, change management should be multi-
disciplinary, touching all aspects of the organization. However, at its core,
implementing new procedures, technologies, and overcoming resistance to
change are fundamentally human resource management issues.
Stages of Change Process
Attitudes towards change result from a complex interplay of emotions and
cognitive processes. Because of this complexity everyone reacts to change
differently. On the positive side, change is seen as akin to opportunity,
rejuvenation, progress, innovation, and growth. But just as legitimately,
change can also be seen as akin to instability, upheaval, unpredictability,
threat, and disorientation.
An early model of change developed by Kurt Lewin (1951) described change
as a three-stage process.
The first stage he called "unfreezing". It involved overcoming inertia
and dismantling the existing "mind set". Defense mechanisms have to
be bypassed.
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MBA200422 In the second stage the change occurs. This is typically a period of
confusion. We are aware that the old ways are being challenged but
we do not have a clear picture to replace them with yet.
The third and final stage he called "refreezing". The new mind set is
crystallizing and one's comfort level is returning back to previous
levels.
An individual's attitude toward a change tends to evolve as they become
more familiar with it. It is management's job to create an environment in
which people can go through these stages as quickly as possible, gradually
evolving into a program that supports compliance, acceptance, and
internalization.
Concepts of Change Management
There are many schools of thoughts and tools that are related to Change
Management. Most of them converge into three principles: The constructivist
paradigm, the systems approach and the quantum principle.
The constructivist principle: Human beings create reality through
language – this is what we call mental maps. Our mental maps are a product
of the individual life experiences and are constantly reinforced by
unconscious filters determining the information we process. No two mental
maps are identical. Communication between people can be enhanced when
people acknowledge this principle and try to explore other people’s maps.
The systemic principle: Have you ever thought about why a flock of birds
can instantly change its direction although biologists have found out that the
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MBA200422reaction time of the individual birds is much quicker than any signal that
could potentially pass through the group? Have you wondered why the stock
market skyrockets one day and plunges another day? Emerging evidence
from complexity science indicates that larges systems show a different
behaviour than their single parts. We try to apply this new science to
organizational development.
The quantum principle: Most of our day-to-day assumptions are still based
on classical Newtonian mechanics, which usually are applied in the work with
organizations. For example, most people would assume that if A is true, B is
false. We base our work on quantum mechanics which teaches us that if A is
true, B is equally true, and that A could not exist without B. Observers (or
consultants, or leaders) are always part of a field, which they influence but by
which they themselves get influenced instantly.
Management's role
Management's first responsibility is to detect trends in the macro
environment so as to be able to identify changes and initiate programs. It is
also important to estimate what impact a change will likely have on
employee behaviour patterns, work processes, technological requirements,
and motivation.
Management must assess what employee reactions will be and craft a
change program that will provide support as workers go through the process
of accepting change. The program must then be implemented, disseminated
throughout the organization, monitored for effectiveness, and adjusted where
necessary.
In general terms, a change program should:
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MBA200422
Describe the change process to all people involved and explain the
reasons why the changes are occurring. The information should be
complete, unbiased, reliable, transparent, and timely.
Be designed to effectively implement the change while being aligned
with organizational objectives, macro environmental trends, and
employee perceptions and feelings.
Provide support to employees as they deal with the change, and
wherever possible involve the employees directly in the change
process itself.
Change management in Information Technology
From Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute (SEI)
Software Capability Maturity Model (SW-CMM):
The purpose of Software Change Management is to establish and
maintain the integrity of the products of the software project
throughout the project's software life cycle.
Software Change Management involves identifying the configuration of
the software (selected software work products and their descriptions)
at given points in time, systematically controlling changes to the
configuration, and maintaining the integrity and traceability of the
configuration throughout the software life cycle.
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MBA200422
The work products placed under software configuration management
include the software products (such as, the software requirements
document and the code) and the items that are identified with or
required to create these software products (e.g., the compiler).
From United Kingdom's Office of Government Commerce (OGC)
Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL):
Change Management is the practice of ensuring all changes to
Configuration Items are carried out in a planned and authorized
manner.
This includes ensuring that there is a business reason behind each
change, identifying the specific Configuration Items and IT Services
affected by the change, planning the change, testing the change, and
having a back-out plan should the change result in an unexpected
state of the Configuration Item.
Change Management (ITIL)
ITIL Change Management is one of the eleven IT Service Management
disciplines in ITIL. The object of Change Management in this context is to
ensure that standardised methods and procedures are used for efficient and
prompt handling of all Changes, in order to minimise the impact of any
related incidents upon service.
Changes in the IT infrastructure may arise reactively in response to problems
or externally imposed requirements, or proactively from seeking imposed
efficiency and effectiveness or to enable or reflect business initiatives, or
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MBA200422from programs, projects or service improvement initiatives. Change
Management can ensure standardised methods, processes and procedures
are used for all changes, facilitate efficient and prompt handling of all
changes, and maintain the proper balance between the need for change and
the potential detrimental impact of changes.
Change management is responsible for controlling change to all configuration
items within the live environment. It is not responsible for change within
ongoing projects, which are controlled by the project change process.
However, close liaison between development project managers and the
Change Manager is expected. Change Management would typically comprise
the raising and recording of changes, assessing the impact, cost, benefit and
risk of proposed changes, developing business justification and obtaining
approval, managing and co-ordinating change implementation, monitoring
and reporting on implementation, reviewing and closing RFCs.
What is ITIL
(Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a customizable
framework of best practices that promote quality-computing services in the
information technology (IT) sector. ITIL addresses the organizational structure
and skill requirements for an IT organization by presenting a comprehensive
set of management procedures with which an organization can manage its IT
operations. These procedures are supplier independent and apply to all
aspects of IT infrastructure.
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MBA200422ITIL framework
Change Management (an IT perspective)
Change management is an IT service management process that makes
changes in IT environment more orderly and less disruptive. It is a carefully
controlled process for planning and executing changes in information
systems. Companies that implement change management minimize the
negative impact of IT changes on the quality of service delivered to users of
companies’ information system.
Change management helps a company prepare for changes. The effect of
planned changes on the overall IT environment is carefully evaluated. Planes
for implementing changes are thorough and precise. As a result, fewer
changes fail. When changes fail, the change has to be backed out, which
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MBA200422means the change is removed and the system is restored to its previous
state.
Change management examines how well proposed changes support a
company’s business mission. Changes that offer a better coordination of IT
services with the company’s business mission receive top priority.
Change management provides important benefits to companies’ that
implement it. When one understands how the process works, one can play his
part in delivering those benefits to the company.
With the support of IT employees contribute to a more orderly and less
destructive change process. Change management is a central process to an
overall improvement using IT services and support. Technology support
effective interaction and communication enhancing change process
effectiveness.
Well planned and supported change management process in less likely to
encounter unforeseen problems during changes. Enhanced IT infrastructure
helps reducing the risk and uncertainty associated with implementation of
changes in the organization. When changes are carefully planned and
communicated, the office works more smoothly. Change management
applies that thinking to IT systems.
Change Management Activities
When one puts too much effort into simple changes it results in wastage of
time and other resources. The goal of change management is to control the
process of implementing changes. However, not all changes are treated
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MBA200422equally. Change management distinguishes between change request and
service request.
A change request seeks a significant and usually unplanned
alteration in one or more configuration items. The change typically
affects many users.
Service request seek minor alteration too information systems.
Service request calls for action that follows routine procedures and
affects a small number of users.
The change management process controls the significant changes to the IT
infrastructure, not routine requests for service. Change management
establishes fixed procedures, or change models, to allow others to handle
service requests. However, each change request requires individual attention
from change management. Important changes receive close examination.
Before the change, planners look at the current situation and decide what
needs to be done. After the change, the results are checked to see whether
the plan was successful.
Five steps in Change management process:
1. Filtering requested for change
2. Assessing the impact of changes
3. Authorizing changes
4. Reviewing changes
5. Closing change requests
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MBA200422The steps of the change management process ensure that the most
important changes are selected, prioritized and completed. The, the results of
each change are evaluated before the change request is set to close status.
Filtering requested for change
Some change requests are impractical and others may be duplicates of
change requests earlier. In the first step of the change management process,
duplicate changes and requests that are impractical are filtered out.
Assessing the impact of changes
Change management should allocate resources to change with the greatest
potential benefit to the company. Change requests are prioritized. To make
sound decisions about the priority of changes, an assessment of the impact,
cost, and benefits of each change must be performed.
Authorizing changes
Proposed changes may have far reaching within a company. For that reason,
a cross section of users and managers evaluate proposed changes. A Change
Advisory Board (CAB) advises the change manager before changes are
approved and scheduled.
Reviewing changes
With every change implemented the change management teams gain
experience. After the changes have been implemented, a careful evaluation
of lessons learnt is used to improve change process in future.
Closing change requests
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MBA200422The users who substitute a RFC should have an opportunity to test and
accept the result of a change. After users accept the results, change
management finally takes the final step and closes the RFC that instigated
change.
Organizational Involvement
Change management doesn’t act in isolation fro rest of the company. Each of
the major activities of change management interacts with the other parts of
company.
The first major activity is logging and filtering change requests. Change
management may receive changes requests from anywhere within the
company. Some change result from an incident in which IT services are
interrupted or configuration items fail to work properly. Other requests may
simply ask for improved or additional service.
All proposed changes should be submitted to change management in a
standardized request for change (RFC) document. When an RFC is received,
change management logs the request and allocates a unique identification
number for the document.
An RFC document provides definitive information about the changes that’s
being requested. Automated change tracking system may enforce a specific
format for RFC. Many companies tailor the contents to suite their needs.
However, there are some elements that are common to RFC documents in a
wide variety of companies.
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MBA200422
RFC
Identification Number
Related Documents
Affected Configuration Items
Reason for Change
Name of Requester
Identification Number
Each RFC is assigned a unique identification number, which is recorded in the
in configuration management database (CMDB). The RFC retains the same
number throughout the life of request.
Related Documents
The problem and incidents that are addressed by a change request are cross–
referenced in the request for change and in the configuration management
database.
Affected Configuration Items
Identifying the configuration items (CI) affected by a change makes it easier
to assess the impact of change accurately. The identification numbers of
configuration items that will be affected by a change are listed in RFC.
Reason for Change
The main purpose of an RFC document is to provide the rationale for a
proposed change. The reason for request is listed in RFC. Changes that
enhance a company’s ability to achieve its goals are more likely to be
implemented.
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MBA200422Name of Requester
The name of the person requesting the change is included in the RFC. The
person who proposes a change is considered the owner of change. Requests
for additional information are usually sent to the owner.
The second activity in change management is assessment and clarification of
changes. This activity prioritizes pending changes and places them into
groups according to their importance.
Change management allocates resources to changes that have an impact on
the company’s ability to conduct business. Changes with more impact have
higher priority. The urgency of change is the time available to perform the
change without creating negative consequences. An approaching deadline
increases urgency. The urgency of a change is lessened by the availability of
temporary solution or workaround. Changes that have high impact and high
urgency will receive the highest priority. A typical company may classify
change as high, medium, low, or emergency priority. However, every IT
department may create its own system for classifying the priority of changes.
The third activity of change management is approval of changes. The
authority to approve or reject proposed changes is what gives change
management the ability to make the change process more effective. The final
decision to approve or reject changes rests with the manager in charge of
change management. However the change manager does not make approval
decisions independently. The manger consults with the change advisory
board (CAB) that includes user and managers from throughout the company.
The Change Advisory Board members examine each proposed change from
three perspectives:
Financial
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MBA200422 Technical
Business
The board evaluates the changes from a financial perspective to determine
whether the benefits of each change are justifying the cost of completing it.
Evaluation from a technical perspective assures that each change is feasible
and will not have a negative effect on infrastructure. Business evaluation
ensures that changes support the company’s business object.
The fourth activity of change management is planning and coordinating
changes. Change management does not actually implement the requested
changes. However, change management team members help plan the
implementation and then monitor the progress of changes to be sure the
plans are being carried out.
While planning and coordinating changes, Change manager plays a role in
each of the following tasks:
Scheduling
Building
Testing
Implementing
After a change has been scheduled, change management forwards the
approved RFC to the support team that will build and test the change. The
team chosen to actually build and test a change depends on the type of
change. The team must include people with skill needed for specific building
and testing tasks. Every change has to be tested thoroughly to ensure that
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MBA200422the new or altered components work properly and don’t affect other areas of
the infrastructure.
Change Management monitors the implementation of a change to make sure
adequate resources are available and the change happens on schedule. IN,
addition, its change management’s responsibility to make sure back out
plans are created to return the infrastructure to its previous condition if a
change fails.
Finally, after the change has been completed, the change management team
and the members of Change Advisory Board/Team review the change to
determine what went right and what went wrong. Experience and learning
improves the change process for the future.
Change management outputs
Change management produces outputs that enable members of other IT
service management teams to execute changes. The outputs from the
change management process include:
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MBA200422 Forward schedule of changes (FSC)—Upcoming changes must be
scheduled and communicated to other IT service management
processes and to the rest of the company. The forward schedule of
changes shows the changes that have been approved and given a date
for implementation.
Requests for change—RFCs are submitted to change management
as an input for the process. After RFCs are approved, change
management forwards them to release management, the IT service
management process responsible for implementing the changes.
Change advisory board decisions—The deliberations of the change
advisory board provide the basis for the change manager's decisions to
approve or reject proposed changes. The members of the advisory
board help determine if changes make sense from technical, financial,
and business viewpoints.
Change management reports—Change management produces
reports that are sent to senior IT and business managers. Change
management reports allow managers to evaluate the effectiveness of
the process in the past and its direction in the future.
Proposed changes may have far-reaching effects within a company. For that
reason, a cross section of users and managers should evaluate proposed
changes.
Change Management Process Control
Start—The life cycle begins when requirement for a change is first
noticed by the customer or by the IT staff via monitoring. This is
considered the incident start time.
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MBA200422 Detection—The detection time is when the organization is made
aware of the issue.
Diagnosis—At the incident diagnosis time, the diagnosis to determine
the underlying requirement for change is completed.
Repair—The failure is repaired at the incident repair time.
Recovery—The recovery time is the time at which component
recovery has been completed.
Restoration—The life cycle ends when normal business operations
resume. This is considered the restoration time.
Role of a Change Management Team
The team makes sure that employees are aware of an organization’s
new direction through ongoing conversation.
During the change process, many task forces and action teams may be
created. The team co-ordinates the activities of these groups to avoid
overlap and promote communication.
The team needs to be sure that messages coming from leadership are
consistent. If a manager demands more responsibility from a team
member, then necessary support and training must be provided.
The team needs to ensure that protocols are followed and information
is communicated efficiently and effectively to the parties involved.
Remedy Change Management Suite
Remedy Change Management, an integral part of the Remedy IT Service
Management suite, helps you meet the challenge. Remedy Change
Management enables you to assess the impact, risk, and resource
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MBA200422requirements associated with changes, and then use your assessment to
create plans and automate approval functions to implement those changes
effectively and efficiently. The application’s sophisticated tools facilitate
scheduling and task assignment, specification and assessment of all incident
costs for each change request, and enable performance review and change
process improvement. Remedy Change Management eliminates unnecessary
costs by synchronizing and automating change-related activities across the
organization, increasing efficiency and eliminating unnecessary steps.
High Visibility Change Planning
Remedy Change Management gives you a comprehensive picture of the
global impact of IT changes. You can readily see which IT infrastructure
components or business services are impacted by the planned changes and
determine the availability of the required people to implement the changes.
You can also use the change management database to scope the effort
required to implement the planned changes by reviewing the statistics of
similar changes performed in the past. By identifying in advance the impact
of change on the IT infrastructure and staff, as well as on business services,
IT and business managers can work together to maintain a smooth change
process that ensures efficient utilization of the IT staff and minimizes
disruption to the business.
Simplified Change Process Management
With Remedy Change Management, you can create, track, and manage task
dependencies for controlled, orderly deployment of changes. You can
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MBA200422manage and track individual tasks within a project for dependency, due
dates, time spent, and status. Task sequencing and task dependency
enforcement functions generate automated alerts and notifications, ensuring
that all related tasks are completed in the right order.
Unique approval processes can be defined in which a series of people must
review and approve a proposed change request. Only after approval is
granted can the change request be scheduled. Everyone affected by a
change is informed in advance and can make the necessary preparations to
minimize risk. Escalations, audit trails, and other automated approval process
features keep the change approval process moving forward on a fast track.
The application maintains views of all associated requests and service
requirements, showing the full business context of change operations at all
points in the progression of change tasks. It automatically tailors views to the
user’s role, enhancing usability and productivity.
In addition, Remedy Change Management automatically gathers a variety of
data that permits you to monitor service levels, perform comprehensive post-
mortem analysis of changes, and continually improve change processes.
Users can initiate, approve, and monitor changes from the Remedy Change
Management native client, from a Web browser, or from a wireless device.
This flexibility permits users to participate in the change management
process regardless of where their jobs take them.
Remedy Change Management delivers time-proven out-of-the-box best
practices and workflow guidelines as defined by the IT Infrastructure Library
(ITIL) Service Support Processes.
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MBA200422
About Remedy, a BMC Software company
Remedy delivers Service Management software solutions that enable
organizations to automate and manage internal and external service and
support processes. With more than 7,000 customers worldwide and over 10
years of product development and investment, Remedy, a BMC Software
company, delivers out-of- the-box, best-practice applications that help
customers align service and support with business objectives, improve
service levels, manage assets, and lower costs. All Remedy applications,
including Help Desk, Asset Management, Change Management, Service Level
Agreements, and Customer Support, are built on the highly flexible Action
Request System, empowering customers to easily adapt their Service
Management solution to unique and changing requirements.
http://www.bmc.com/remedy/
Borland Change Management Solutions
Borland Change Management Solutions help organizations establish a
systematic approach to managing change, enabling a higher return on
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MBA200422existing software development investments through lower costs, accelerated
time to value, and reduced risk.
The software-suite enables the enterprises to leverage Borland Change
Management Solutions to transform their ability to anticipate, plan for, and
accommodates changes in requirements, software processes, and
technology.
Benefits of using Borland Change Management Solutions
Reduced Costs
Rework typically accounts for 40% of the total spend of a development
organization with most of the effort focused on correcting
requirements defects. Borland Change Management Solutions deliver
effective requirements practices and infrastructure, enabling
organizations to eliminate much of this IT waste.
Faster Time to Value
Software development teams will experience immediate benefits from
implementing change management, shortening time-to-value for the
solution and accelerating business impact from your software
initiatives.
Lower Total Cost of Ownership
Integrated Borland Change Management Solutions extend and
seamlessly integrate with existing technology solutions. Deployment is
easy, further reducing total cost of ownership.
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MBA200422 Global Impact
Whether the organization operates at a single location or across the
globe with distributed development, offshore or outsourced teams,
Borland Change Management Solutions provide a consistent approach
to harnessing change.
Increased Business Efficiencies and Agility
By improving a development team’s responsiveness to change,
Borland Change Management Solutions help corporations respond
more quickly to changing market dynamics, and better leverage
information for competitive advantage.
Change Management – A Business Imperative
Software is increasingly emerging as a source of competitive advantage for
large, global enterprises. Yet, software organizations are unable to respond in
a timely and effective manner to changes stemming from competitive and
customer pressures. This inability to quickly respond hampers business
opportunity and decreases shareholder value.
For enterprises to remain competitive, their software development
organizations must stay ahead of the continuous barrage of changes in
product requirements, technologies, development processes, and
deployment environments. This requires them to effectively address the:
Inadequate requirements development and management
infrastructure
Weak project management practices
Rapidly changing technologies, development, and delivery
platforms
Inadequate quality and configuration management practices
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MBA200422
By meeting these challenges with comprehensive solutions that address
process, technology, and people skills in an integrated manner, software
development organizations can begin to realize significant improvements.
Their success, in turn, translates into a strengthened competitive position for
the enterprise and, therefore, significant business value.
Borland solutions enable the transformation of software development into an
accelerated and disciplined approach that aligns people, process, and
technology to maximize the business value of software. Borland Change
Management Solutions address the three key types of change that
development organizations need to manage – requirements change, process
and/or methodology change, and technology change.
Managing Requirements Changes
The flexibility with which requirements are gathered and managed shows
how disciplined an application development process is, according to Gartner
analysts. Development organizations with automated requirements definition
and management environments will better support change control, gain
testing
Efficiencies, and reduce future maintenance burdens. The use of
requirements tools will amplify these savings and satisfaction benefits.
Borland Change Management Solutions incorporate best practices in
requirements definition and management (RDM) and software configuration
management to improve decision-making and take advantage of opportunity.
These solutions provide all of the capabilities that organizations need to
address the most critical changes to support business objectives, including:
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MBA200422
Elicitation and Specification: Borland works with software
development teams to establish an effective requirements elicitation
process. Borland® Analyst™ reinforces the process by providing a
dynamic, intuitive requirements capture and management
environment that supports rich content and editing and includes
reusable requirements design templates.
Analysis: Since the root cause of many issues surrounding all changes
(requirements, defects, and tasks) is ambiguity, robust analysis of each
requested change is critical to effective change management. Borland
helps enterprises to establish sound requirements analysis and
specification practices (e.g. use cases and message sequence charts)
as a proactive way to gain more complete requirements. With
Borland® Together™ modeling technology, use-cases can be modeled
and generated directly from requirements.
Validation: The process of validation is critical to surfacing disparities
in stakeholder perspectives and hidden assumptions. CaliberRM, used
in conjunction with Borland® StarTeam®, features customizable
workflows for approvals and electronic signatures to facilitate audit
trails. This documentation can be particularly important for
compliance.
Requirements and activity management: To ensure effective
change request management, each member of the development team
must be able to access and understand requirements based on their
areas of expertise, and then be able to act on them appropriately.
Borland helps enterprises leverage CaliberRM to enable requirements
management responsibilities across roles in the organization, including
Business Analyst, Architect, Developer and Tester. And with StarTeam,
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MBA200422teams can manage the other activities across key roles and throughout
the development lifecycle.
Estimation and impact analysis: Effective change management
includes the consistent capture and archival of historical information
for use in project planning. Borland® Tempo, ™ CaliberRM, and
StarTeam automate estimation and impact analysis activities by
allowing project managers to define multiple scenarios and then
perform simulations. The results are used to statistically analyze the
required effort and resulting impact to project schedule, cost, and
quality, and ultimately make the right business choices.
Software configuration management: Access to and version
control of project assets is most effective when development teams
can consistently store, modify, and build project information reliably
throughout the project lifecycle.
StarTeam software suite allows all roles to work together securely and
with confidence that artifacts will be managed according to overall project
goals and agreed to workflows. This results in more predictable software
application builds, lower overall project cost, and higher software quality.
Managing Processes and Methodology Changes
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MBA200422
Many software development organizations have traditionally lacked well-
defined methodologies for accomplishing day-to-day tasks. However,
organizations are now increasingly adopting formal development processes.
Some changes are sponsored internally by senior management in the form of
process improvement initiatives (e.g. CMMI). Others are mandated through
compliance with legislation such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Additionally,
competitive pressures are forcing organizations to accelerate “time to
market,” which requires the adoption of more modern development
methodologies.
Changes to processes and methodologies place significant burdens on an
organization already stretching to deliver against changing business
priorities. Most organizations respond by focusing a disproportionate share of
resources on defining the “end state” vision of the development processes.
Consequently, they do not spend nearly enough effort developing a robust
improvement plan. Not surprisingly, many of these initiatives fail.
Borland has more process improvement experience and the largest team of
SEI-authorized CMMI Lead Appraisers than any other company, due in large
part to its acquisition of TeraQuest in 2004. Borland consultants leverage
their expertise to help IT organizations craft comprehensive solutions that
synchronize changes to processes with appropriate technology and training
programs ensuring substantial and sustainable performance improvement.
These solutions determine and facilitate process changes, while enabling
teams to continue delivering against current initiatives.
Managing Technology Adoption Changes
34
MBA200422Software development is evolving rapidly. Where IT organizations used to
develop and maintain a monolithic application to run an entire operation,
today’s enterprises employ nimble software development teams to meet
dynamically changing market conditions. To achieve and maintain
competitive advantage, organizations are also adopting next-generation
technology paradigms (e.g. Service-Oriented Architectures designed around
services deployed inside and outside of the enterprise).
Building, integrating, and maintaining these composite applications require
an evolution of skill sets and techniques, enhanced with supporting tool sets.
Companies must provide more extensive education and process
improvement training in order to ensure the effective application of these
new techniques and technologies. Borland offers structured, role-based and
capabilities-based curricula for the experienced technology professional,
focused on overall team performance, not just individual proficiency.
Offerings include courses spanning the entire software development lifecycle,
and complementary topics surrounding the deployment of Borland Solutions
for Change Management.
With its proven, holistic approach, Borland is uniquely positioned to advance
change management strategies across industries and geographies. For
enterprises seeking software delivery that is on time, on schedule, and at
desired quality, Borland Change Management Solutions effectively align:
People (overcoming human issues and skills enhancement)
Process (repeatable steps)
Technology (collaboration, process instantiation, control, speed, and
efficiency)
Change Management Product
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MBA200422
Borland StarTeam® 2005 provides a complete range of software change
management and configuration management solutions designed to meet the
needs of all development teams according to size, geographical distribution,
and work style.
A robust platform for coordinating and managing the entire software delivery
process, StarTeam promotes team communication and collaboration through
centralized control of all project assets. Protected yet flexible access ensures
that team members can work whenever and wherever they like through an
extensive choice of Web, desktop, IDE, and command-line clients. StarTeam
offers a uniquely comprehensive solution that includes integrated
requirements management, change management, defect tracking, file
versioning, threaded discussions, and project and task management.
About Borland
Borland Software Corporation is the global leader in platform independent
solutions for Software Delivery Optimization. The company provides the
software and services that align the people, process, and technology required
to maximize the business value of software.
http://www.borland.com
CSC - Change Management System: GCARS
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MBA200422
GCARS (Global Change Activity Request System)
CSC has established a set of change management processes (software-
system) to promote the successful introduction of change, minimize risk
associated with change, and sustain a measurable operating quality. Change
management procedures are defined and implemented through the Global
Change Activity Request System (GCARS), a web based change toolset.
Scope of Change management using GCARS
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MBA200422The change management process is applicable to (but is not limited to) the
following changes to the environment:
Addition/Deletion of Servers
Network Changes (addition of routers, circuits, etc.)
Operating Systems (upgrades or significant configuration changes)
Associated Devices which are shared with other environments
All production application roll-outs and any upgrades to production
binaries
All facilities where the technology resides
Any emergency changes that are made in response to a problem ticket
Any introduction of new equipment, operating systems, in-house
applications or third party software into the production environment.
Why use GCARS
Change Management provides value to an organization as a global risk
management process around the IT environment. There are several reasons
for using GCARS to implement change management procedures in the
environment:
To define what has changed in the environment.
Track changes in the environment to ensure future problems
potentially brought about by change can be easily repaired.
Formulate contingency plans to be implemented in the case that
change has a negative impact on the environment.
Capture and qualify the business, technical, and financial risks
associated with change.
Capture appropriate levels of authorization for change.
How does Global Change Management help
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MBA200422With all the levels of detail in the change form (database), any activity is
protected by:
Ensuring the change itself is documented
Awareness in the business or technology groups is built
Any testing planned before or during the change is understood
Articulates the procedures which should be followed should the change
fail
Since we do not operate in a vacuum and there are so many plans at
different levels:
Locally, regionally, globally, externally (regulators or vendors)
You can protect your activity’s critical dates and see other people’s
activities
GCARS simplifies the notification process so everyone can be informed in
timely period:
The change form is e-mail enabled
Change owner
Business/department affected
Change assignee
Approvers - Application Mgr., Change Owner Mgr., Operations
Mgr., SDM, Senior Mgr.
Additional notification
What are the Change Management tools
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MBA200422GCARS (Global Change Activity Request System) is the Change Management
repository which is used to document and track change activity. GCARS has
the capability to:
Notify the parties involved or impacted by the change
Identify conflicts in the planning process by holding all changes from
around the world
Provide important change information to other groups:
Such as, account specific, e.g. Audit, ad quality team, business
continuity, problem management
The Change Management team monitors change quality to the technology
environment:
Change form data is analyzed for information quality
What type of change was approved or rejected
If the change was closed successfully and to plan
What changes are going on within the account - are they
planned or emergency
Change Request Types and Timeline
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MBA200422
Draft GCARS - to save information, does not show up on calendar and
will be removed when start date has passed
Provisional GCARS - are placeholder/heads-up documents and must
be upgraded to a GCAR minimally x weeks before start of activity
GCARS - must minimally be submitted within the account’s planning
rule days prior to their start date start
Approvals must minimally be completed within the account’s
planning rule prior to the change start date
Exception: Break/Fix with problem report number
Submit GCARS well in advance to complete process
Roles and Responsibilities
41
GCAR must be approved x business days prior to start date
Start Date
Idea formation,
Draft CGAR
Create Provisional CGAR
Submit GCAR GCAR must be submitted x business days prior to start date
MBA200422
Submitter
Person who must be authorized to view & submit GCARS
Performer/Staff
Person who does the actual work
Approvers
People who balance risk to business and drivers of change versus the
technical feasibility (cannot be submitter or assignee)
Change Management
Higher level which provides the extra layer of scrutiny and ensure the
change form quality
Optional Senior Approver
When a GCAR is not submitted within the account’s planning rule, the
senior approver accepts the risk of the technical exposure to the
environment that an unplanned change introduces.
42
MBA200422How GCARS software works
In CSC (Computer Science Corporation), change management is being
planned, managed and controlled by using GCARS software system which is a
web-enabled complete portal.
Various change management units of CSC, located throughout the world, are
integrated and function over the net using GCARS. The system is well
supported by robust servers, backed-up database and secured network.
CSC Staff logon
CSC staff use their Lotus Notes short name their CSC Global Pass
password to logon to GCARS.
CSC Customer Logon & Password Change Procedure
CSC customers can be assigned a web logon username and password that
may be used to access CSC web applications. These CSC customer
usernames (Eternal IDs) follow the same security rules as CSC staff
usernames and cannot access GCARS unless they are included in the GCARS
security tables. If they have questions about a CSC External ID, they need to
contact their local change manager.
Accessing GCARS
To access GCARS enter the URL http://gcars.csc.com/ into the browser.
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MBA200422
You are prompted for a username and password.
After login, the Change Status Screen is displayed. This screen has links to
information regarding the status of all GCARS for the accounts, which you are
authorized to view. It is also used for planning and conflict analysis purposes.
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MBA200422In this screen all change requests for your accounts are categorized
according to their status.
The other standard screens (Start Date; Application; Change Owner; Risk, My
View, Approver View) may be viewed by placing your cursor on the VIEW tab
in the left-side navigation pane.
Change requests may be in one of the following statuses
Cancelled: submitted change that has been cancelled by the
submitter.
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MBA200422 Changes Needing Approval: submitted change that is pending
review.
Closed: change that has been completed by the GCAR owner and has
finished its verification period.
Completed: change that has been closed by the GCAR owner but has
not yet finished its verification period.
Draft: change writes up in progress and not yet submitted.
Provisional: planning document with a proposed start date that
others can plan around.
Rejected: Approver or Change Management or the system has
rejected change.
Rejected by System: Automatically rejection has been enabled.
Reviewed: authorized Approvers have approved change.
Pending: the local change manager has temporarily taken the change
out of the approval cycle.
Scheduled: change has been approved by the Change Control Board
and is awaiting implementation.
Verification Period
As per the GIS Change Process, a period of verification occurs to allow for the
reporting of any post implementation problems or incidents linked with the
change. Low and Medium Risk GCARS remain in Completed status for a
verification period of seven consecutive days; and High Risk GCARS remain in
Completed status for a verification period of fourteen consecutive days. The
GCARS system automatically moves the Completed GCARS to Closed status
once the verification period has concluded.
GCARS Views
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MBA200422
Start Date View
The Start Date view displays GCARS sorted by Start Date.
Application View
The Application view displays GCARS sorted by application.
Change Owner View
The Change Owner View displays GCARS sorted by Change Owner.
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MBA200422
Risk View
The Risk View displays GCARS sorted by Risk.
GCARS calculates Risk using values from the pick list items that are selected
for Scope, Impact, Complexity, Severity, Users, and Location Affected. Risk
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MBA200422values are automatically calculated when the GCAR is submitted, saved, or
previewed. Risk is designated as High, Medium or Low.
Assessment is automatically calculated using Risk and the client’s lead-time
rules. Assessment values are Normal, Alert, and Emergency. Dynamic is an
additional Assessment category and refers to change activities that follow the
Dynamic Change Process.
My View
My View displays all GCARS that contain your name regardless of your role in
the GCAR. My View only displays GCARS in active statuses, which means that
Cancelled, Completed and Closed status records will not be visible in your My
View.
Need To Be Closed View
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MBA200422The Need To Be Closed view displays all the GCARS that you have created
and that are on or past their end date. Once you close or cancel or re-submit
a GCAR in the view, it will no longer appear in your Need To Be Closed View.
Approver View
The Approver displays all GCARS that are awaiting approval and that contain
your name as an approver. Once you approve a GCAR in the view, it will no
longer appear in your Approver View.
Additionally, when there is more than one designated approver (e.g. primary
and back-up approver), then either designee’s approval will remove the GCAR
from the other designee’s Approver View.
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MBA200422
If there are no GCARS awaiting your approval, then the message No
documents found will be displayed.
Creating a Change Request
Selecting the name of the account from the drop down menu will open a New
GCAR Form
Below is the first section of the form in which some of the fields are already
populated by the system:
The name of the account
The current status of the GCAR
The unique GCAR authorization number
The name of the person who created the GCAR and the create date &
time stamp
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MBA200422
Here the person initiating the change provides the following information:
The start date/time and end date/time for the change. The dates can
either be selected from the calendar or entered manually using the
MM/DD/YYYY format.
The time zone where change will occur. GCARS will remember the last
time zone you requested.
Implementation duration and Risk assessment are automatically filled in by
the system when the Change is submitted.
A Provisional GCARS is a planning document with a proposed start date that
others can plan around.
Based on information contained within the GCAR, the Preview link will
calculate and display values for the Implementation duration, the
duration with back out and the Risk assessment fields.
Change Duration includes the total time for the change including time
to back out.
Risk Assessment is automatically calculated based on information you
provided in the Risk Assessment section of the form.
Change Details
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MBA200422
Short Description should be a brief summary of the change being
performed.
Change owner area is the technology group responsible for the change. You
can select the appropriate area from the drop down menu. This field is
mapped to the Technology Manager approval.
Type of activity is related to the component being changed. Select the
appropriate activity from the drop down menu.
Reason for change specifies the reason the change is being performed.
System / Device Name is the system or device affected by the change.
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MBA200422Department/Business of the Change Owner affected should be the group(s)
impacted by the change. This can be selected from the drop down menu and
can include multiple selections. Client and Senior Manager approvals are
mapped to this selection.
Cost Code field is used for account specific reference to project or billing
numbers. Cost Code is not a required field.
Requested by is the person responsible for the technical coordination of the
change. The Requested by field defaults to the person who is creating the
GCAR. This is a free text field and is a required field.
Requestor’s e-mail This field defaults to the person who is creating the
GCAR Click the drop down menu to change the default name or to add
additional Requestors from the address book. Names can only be added by
using the address book pull down. Any names that appear in this field have
rights to edit and close the GCAR. This is a non-required field.
Requestor department is a free format field and designates the area in
which the Requestor works.
Requestor phone number is the number where the Requestor of the
change can be reached. Include all applicable phone numbers: office, pager
and cell phones.
Change to be performed by is the name of the person(s) who will actually
implement the change. The field defaults to the person who is creating the
GCAR. This is a free text field and is a required field.
Assignee e-mail This field defaults to the person who is creating the GCAR
Option to click the drop down menu to change the default name or to add
additional assignees from the address book is available. Names can only be
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MBA200422added by using the address book pull down. Any names that appear in this
field have rights to edit and close the GCAR. This is a non-required field
Assignee contact number is the number where the person performing the
change can be reached while implementing the change. Include all applicable
phone numbers: office, pager and cell phones.
Detailed implementation plan This field is a Free Form text field. An
explanation should be provided of how the implementation will be performed
and tested.
Backout Plans/Procedures This field is Free Form text field. This field
should include pertinent information regarding how to backout a change if
something goes wrong.
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MBA200422Risk Assessment
GCARS calculates Risk using values from the pick list items that are selected
for Scope, Impact, Complexity, Severity, Users, and Location Affected. Risk
values are automatically assigned when the GCAR is submitted or saved.
Risk is designated as High, Medium, or Low.
Assessment is automatically calculated using Risk and the client’s lead time
rules. Assessment values are Normal, Alert, Emergency and Dynamic. is an
additional Assessment category and refers to change activities that follow the
Dynamic Change Process.
Normal
Submitted or Re-submitted within Low lead time rule
(e.g. 3 weekdays)
Submitted or Re-submitted within Medium lead time rule
(e.g. 5 weekdays)
Submitted or Re-submitted within High lead time rule
(e.g. 10 weekdays)
Alert
Low, medium or high risk not submitted within the lead time rule
Emergency
Change request submitted on the same day or after the change
planned start date.
Dynamic
Refers to change activities that follow the Dynamic Change Process.
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MBA200422
Scope - this field contains responses that identify the type of component
that is being affected.
Impact - this field contains responses that identify the level of impact to
systems or networks.
Complexity - this field provides responses that identify the intricacy of the
change.
Severity - this field provides responses that identify the potential outage the
change may cause.
Users - this field provides responses that identify the number of users that
will be affected by the change.
Location - this field provides responses that identify the impact to the CSC
or clients sites affected by the change.
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MBA200422Immediate E-Mail Notification
When submitting or re-submitting a GCAR, there is an option to send an
immediate e-mail. If the immediate e-mail button is pressed, then a single e-
mail message will be sent to all the names that are contained within the
GCAR. The immediate e-mail message is sent in addition to any system
generated e-mail messages.
Here is an example of a GCARS immediate e-mail:
Hourly E-Mail Notification
At the request of your local change management team, GCARS can be
configured to automatically send an hourly e-mail notification for newly
Submitted/Resubmitted or Rejected GCARS.
If the feature is enabled for your GCARS account, the hourly e-mail function
sends one e-mail message per GCAR to each individual associated with the
GCAR for any newly submitted/re-submitted or rejected changes that have
been input into GCARS since the last hourly e-mail. The GCAR account, the
GCAR number & short description, the recipient's role and a link to the GCAR
itself is contained within the body of the e-mail message.
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MBA200422Additionally, the Change Manager will receive notification of any GCARS that
have moved to Reviewed status since the last hourly e-mail.
The subject line of the hourly e-mail notification contains the recipient’s
GCAR role, the GCAR number & short description and the account name. The
From: portion of the e-mail message is the GCARS system name GCARS
Administrator.
Because an individual can have many roles in a GCAR, the following hierarchy
is being used to identify the recipient's primary role:
If the recipient's name appears in any of the following roles, their primary
role is Change Implementer:
Change submitter/requester; change implementer; approver; change
manager; additional notification
If the recipient's name appears in any of the following roles, their primary
role is Change submitter/requester:
Change submitter/requester; approver; change manager; additional
notification
If the recipient's name appears in any of the following roles, their primary
role is Approver:
Approver; additional notification
If the recipient's name appears in any of the following roles, their primary
role is Additional notification:
Additional notification
If the recipient's name appears in any of the following roles, their primary
role is Change manager:
Approver; change manager; additional notification
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MBA200422
Here is an example of the hourly e-mail:
All categories of Approvers must be obtained for the change to be authorized
for scheduling. Changes may be modified and resubmitted for approval.
However, if changes are made after approval, the change must go through
the approval cycle again.
GCARS Search Function
The GCARS Simple and Structured Search functions provide a GCARS user
with the ability to locate records based upon specific criteria. Simple and
Structured search function results are governed by internal restrictions
designed to maintain system performance and effectiveness.
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MBA200422
Simple SearchThe Simple Search reporting function is used when you are looking for a word
or phrase that might appear anywhere in a GCAR ticket.
Structured Search
The Structured Search reporting function is used when you are looking for a
specific accounts, date ranges or specific field contents.
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MBA200422
The following GCAR fields are displayed:
Account Type Of Activity Attendee LocationGCAR Number Reason For Change Applications AffectedStart Date Department/Business Change Tested & CommentsStart Time Cost Center End User Test NeededEnd Date Requestor Additional CommentsEnd Time Requestor Department GCAR CreatorTimeZone Requestor Phone Close StatusChange Duration (mins) Implementer Close CommentsStatus Implementer Phone No Close Actual Start DateRisk & Risk Assessment Sites Affected Close Actual Start TimeChange Description Sites Performed Close Actual End DateChange Owner Area Attendance Required Close Actual End Time
Special Features in GCARS
Same Server Record Locking
When an individual puts a GCAR record in edit mode, GCARS locks the record
to other editors. If another individual attempts to edit the record, the follow
error message will be displayed:
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MBA200422
Automatic Record Time-out
If you do not save a GCAR within 30 minutes, the system will automatically
time-out your edit session.
When the system times-out your session, the following message is displayed
to the screen:
GCARS Record Archiving
If a record is 65 days past its end date, GCARS automatically moves the
record to the GCARS Archive database. If a record does not have an end-date
(e.g. Draft GCARS), the system uses the record’s start date for the 65-day
rule. Once a record is moved to the Archive database, it is deleted from the
production database. Archived records cannot be reopened or cloned.
To ensure that end-users do not inadvertently attempt to create a GCAR in
the Archive database, only the account’s GCARS change manager can access
the Archive database.
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MBA200422
Dynamic Change Form
A Dynamic change is a predefined subset of changes that is required for real-
time performance tuning or maintenance activities. A Dynamic change is
pre-authorized by the appropriate Change Owners in conjunction with the
Change Control Review Board. Although Dynamic changes are pre-
authorized, a change request must be submitted for each Dynamic change.
Dynamic changes are exempt from the pre-planning rules that have been set
up for your account. All Dynamic changes are assigned a planning
assessment of Normal. Dynamic changes only require Technical Manager’s
approval.
Close Compliance
If your local account is using the GCAR Close Compliance feature, special
rules will be automatically applied to changes that you have created and that
are more than one weekday past their end date.
The GCARS system will automatically monitor changes that you have created
and that are in the following status:
Submitted
Re-Submitted
Provisional
Reviewed
Scheduled
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MBA200422
If GCARS detects that one of the changes you created is in any of the above
statuses and that the change has not been closed within one weekday of the
end date indicated on the GCAR form, your name will be included on a close
non-compliance list. Once a day, GCARS will send e-mail to all individual’s
who appear on the close non-compliance list.
If your name is on the close non-compliance list, you will receive the following
screen prompt message when you submit a new GCAR:
About CSC
CSC (Computer Science Corporation) is a global leadership in the information
technology arena; founded on a 45-year record of delivering business results
to clients worldwide. Computer Sciences Corporation provides consulting,
systems integration and design, IT and business process outsourcing,
applications software and IT services. Mission of CSC is to put IT to work in
practical, bottom-line ways.
http://www.csc.com
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MBA200422
Recommendation
When a problem interrupts major services or will have an immediate and
severe business impact, an “emergency change” is needed. The change
management is concerned with the high-priority changes which are to be
implemented, but no consideration is given to changes to be implemented as
an act of emergency. The software suites and systems which I came across
(especially GCARS being used by CSC) follow stringent process of approval
and testing before implementation of change. This may not be appropriate in
case of critical situations.
Change management should therefore incorporate a different process to
handle emergency changes. The emergency process would differ from
standard process in three areas:
Approval
Testing
Failure
In emergency a company may not be able to wait for the change advisory
board to convene and approve a very urgent change. An emergency change
advisory board should be developed consisting of experienced and
competent members. The emergency committee should act rapidly when
needed. Such a management committee should be provided with flexible
guidelines and procedural steps.
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MBA200422The emergency change process must delay or eliminate testing of change.
When a change must be implemented immediately, there may not be time to
test the change. Testing may be conducted after the change is implemented
or could be skipped altogether.
Conducting the Testing after the implementation is required so that a back-
up plan can be formulated based on the test-results. The plan of action being
implemented can also be modified as per the requirement.
In the standard change process, failed changes are backed out, and previous
status is restored until a new change can be planned and implemented. In an
emergency, change management should allow repeated attempts to make a
successful change if the initial attempt fails. In an emergency restoring
service is the first priority.
Conclusion
The study project was fruitful in enhancing my understanding about the
various practices being followed towards change management. At the same
time I realized that change management is not just a guideline towards
controlling change, but a philosophy in itself.
Different organizations implementing change management and utilizing
change management software/ systems have a different view-point of how
they define change management. Based on the services being provided and
their respective domains of expertise, organizations focus on different
aspects of change requirement, planning and management.
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MBA200422
Appendix
GCARS screen-view with all the available Views and Options:
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MBA200422GCARS window displaying companies with pending “Change Needing
Approval” clause:
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MBA200422CGARS screen-view displaying “change requests” submitted by
change management staff of BHP Biliton:
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MBA200422Change Request screen-view with details regarding requirement of
change and proposed plan of action:
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MBA200422
GCARS screen-view of all options which result in closing a change
proposal:
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MBA200422
REFERENCES
Books: Breakthrough IT Change Management
- Bennet P. Lientz and Kathryn P. Rea
Project Manager’s Spotlight on Change Management
- Claudia Baca
Effective Change Management: Ten Steps for Technical
Professions
- David L. Goetsch, James R. Richburg
Making Change Irresistible
- Ken Hultman
Web-sites: http://www.bmc.com/remedy
http://www.borland.com
http://www.csc.com
http://www.change-management-toolbook.com
http://www.change-management.com
http://en.wikipedia.org
https://portal.amer.csc.com/wps/myportal
Change Management System:
GCARS (Global Change Activity Request System)
http://gcars.csc.com
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