Scheduling Changes

[Inhisgrace]

In my company our CM practices have been pretty relaxed. Any department can submit a change and they must me approved, but scheduling has always been at the discretion of the submitter. I am moving our organization toward a scheduled Window for each group of systems. For example: Our Financial Developers will have a window on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with specific windows of time during those days. Other areas like system infrastructure will have different days/time all with the goal of lessing the risk associated with colliding changes. My challenge has been dealing with a department that has been spoiled with little constraints in the past and are now being forced to adhere to a predictable Forward Schedule of Changes. Has anyone implemented this recently who might have some helpful advice?

[swansong]

As an outsider looking into your organisation, I would ask why have you specified these change windows on these days? There must have been a sound business reason to do this....why not share these reasons with the business?

Secondly I would say you problem is one of governance. IT is implementing standards that the business either does not want, or does not adhere to. Raise this as an issue through your governance structure so that it either gets to the person in the business who will force the business to follow these rules...or get them to respond to you that this standard is not required.

[Inhisgrace]

Thanks for your response. The reason for grouping changes into scheduled windows is to give us a more predictable outcome and lessen downtime resulting for poorly scheduled changes that sometimes conflict technically. The business is not providing any objection, it's more the technical IT resources who are accustomed to implementing what they want and when. They are resisting a more structured predictable schedule in favor of the freedom to make production changes whenever they feel like it. I've managed to sell them on the concept, but not without considerable objection.

[swansong]

Hi

This should be easier to resolve. Either:-

1. Your IT colleagues are not following a decision you have the mandate to make.
2. You are trying to make a decision which you have no mandate to make.

Either way you need your governance structure to to sort this out. The easiest way of doing this is to go to your boss and ask them to:-

1. Back your decision in a tangible way.
2. To reset your expectations as to the scope and extent of your influence over the rest of IT.

Now excuse me, I have a glass of rather excellent Mosel white wine with my name on it.

Guten nacht!