Change/Release Policy documentation

[Ines]

Hi all, (Apologies for length of post)

Going through a process of reviewing the documentation that we have in place at the moment for Change and Release. I haven't had any exposure to Change Management except for the organisation I currently work for, so don't feel I have the most objective view as to whether the doco is up to scratch or not. There are also two documents that share "common themes", but each document does contain unique info as well, leading to a sense of "WTF am I supposed to do?" Also, whilst a Change/Release document, it concentrates mainly on Change, with about 5 lines dedicated to a generic definition of Release.

I ask for some guidance around the content - not the detail of the content, obviously that varies from org to org. Below are the Table of Contents (TOC) of each document - are there any obvious gaps? Any areas, in your experience, that require greater attention to detail than others? Also, I feel it necessary that there be a high level policy, 10-or-so dot points listed on our intranet, with a link to the 50+ page "bible" to have explicit, detailed information available to those that choose to read it, whilst allowing others the opportunity to get their head around change without being overwhelmed. Good approach?

First TOC (format is "Section Number", "Title", "Page Number"):
1. About this Document 1
1.1. Purpose of the Document 1
1.2. Audience 1
1.3. Scope 1
1.4. Contents Description 2
2. Definitions & Grouping 3
2.1. Change Vs Release 3
2.2. Change Impact , Change Prioritisation and Change Type Items 3
3. Purpose of Change & Release Management 4
4. Principles of Change and Release Management 4
5. Process 5
5.1. Process Overview 5
5.2. Process Steps 5
5.2.1. Register Change Request 5
5.2.2. Assess Impact of Change 6
5.2.3. Approve Change 6
5.2.4. Schedule Change 7
5.2.5. Implement Change 8
5.2.6. Conduct Post Change Implementation Review 8
5.2.7. Change Closure 9
6. Additional Release Management Considerations 9
6.1. Service Management Plans 9
6.2. Release Specifics 10
7. Roles and Responsibilities 11
7.1. Overview 11
7.2. Roles & Responsibilities In Detail 11
8. Reports 14
9. Service Levels 14
10. Change & Release Audits 15
Attachment A. IT Change Post Implementation Review 16
Attachment B. Reports 18
Attachment C. Glossary 19

Second TOC:
1. ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT 2
1.1 DOCUMENT REFERENCES 2
2. INTRODUCTION 6
2.1 BACKGROUND 6
2.2 AUDIENCE 6
2.3 SCOPE 6
2.4 RESPONSIBILITIES 6
3. CHANGE MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW 8
3.1 OBJECTIVE 8
3.2 KEY CHANGE DEFINITION 8
3.3 SERVICE MANAGEMENT TOOLS 8
3.4 PROCESS FLOWS 8
3.5 CHANGES AND CONFIGURATION ITEMS 9
3.6 RELEASE MANAGEMENT 9
3.7 RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER SERVICE MANAGEMENT PROCESSES/FUNCTIONS 10
3.8 REQUIREMENTS OF A CHANGE 10
4. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 11
5. CHANGE CATEGORIES, PRIORITAZATION AND TYPES 15
5.1 CHANGE CATEGORIES 15
5.1.1 Operational BAU Changes 15
5.1.2 Informational Change 15
5.1.3 Pre-approved Changes 16
5.1.4 Minor Changes 17
5.1.5 Medium Changes 17
5.1.6 Major Changes 18
5.2 CHANGE PRIORITIES 18
5.2.1 Emergency Changes 18
5.2.2 Urgent Changes 19
5.2.3 Standard 19
5.3 CHANGE TYPES 19
6. CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS 20
6.1 PRE-APPROVED CHANGE PROCESS 20
6.2 MINOR AND MEDIUM CHANGE 20
6.3 MAJOR CHANGE PROCESS 21
6.4 ADDITIONAL STEPS REQUIRED FOR PRIORITY CHANGES (EMERGENCY AND URGENT) 22
6.4.1 Emergency Changes Process 22
6.4.2 Urgent Changes Process 22
7. IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF CHANGES 24
8. TESTING OF CHANGES 25
8.1 PRE IMPLEMENTATION TESTING (PIT) 25
8.2 USER ACCEPTANCE TESTING (UAT) 25
8.3 POST VERIFICATION TESTING (PVT) 25
9. CHANGE CLOSURE 26
9.1 CHANGES NOT CLOSED WITHIN LEAD TIMES 26
10. TRACKING CHANGES THROUGH THEIR LIFECYCLE 27
11. RELEASE MANAGEMENT 28
12. PROJECT CHANGE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES 29
13. CAB/CHANGE APPROVALS 30
13.1 BUSINESS APPROVAL 30
13.2 URGENT CHANGE APPROVAL 30
13.3 TECHNICAL APPROVAL 30
13.4 CHANGE COORDINATOR/MANAGER APPROVAL 30
13.5 CHANGE ADVISORY BOARD (CAB) 31
13.6 REJECTING A CHANGE 31
14. CHANGE WINDOWS 32
15. CHANGE CALENDER 33
16. CHANGE POST IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW 34
17. COMMUNICATION OF CHANGES 35
18. REPORTING AND SERVICE LEVELS 36
18.1 SERVICE LEVELS FOR CHANGE 36
18.2 CHANGE AUDITS 36
19. APPENDIX A – CHANGE RECORD REQUIREMENTS 38
20. APPENDIX B – SUMMARY OF LEAD TIMES 40
21. APPENDIX C - GLOSSARY 41

[UKVIKING]

The way I have developed / implemented change management documentation is as follows

Policy document first

this shoudl defien the scope of the process
the type and classificaion of changes

then the process document

then the procedure document

look in one of the other threads for the difference twix the 3
_________________
John Hardesty
ITSM Manager's Certificate (Red Badge)

Change Management is POWER & CONTROL. /....evil laughter

[Ines]

cool, thanks for your advise John.

[UKVIKING]

It was not much advice.

But trying to put everything in 1 document is WAY WAY gtoo difficult

With the global policy document, I can add addendums like regional policy documents that tightens up areas that are deliberately vague

I can add / remove change Freeze addendums w/o having to re-do the policy documents ..

all tha tis requried is the review / change in the change freeze addendum

same goes for each level
_________________
John Hardesty
ITSM Manager's Certificate (Red Badge)

Change Management is POWER & CONTROL. /....evil laughter