Mastering IT change management step two: moving from ignorant anarchy to informed anarchy

Where does one begin to address the multitude of issues surrounding implementing a Change Management process from scratch? We take a look at one IT support organization's beginning steps.

Yesterday: Each different IT support group received, processed, and implemented change requests differently. End users never knew when a change was coming. Other support teams were surprised when systems suddenly acted differently. Many incidents were a direct result of the IT organization breaking their own systems.

Today: Create and implement a standard process flow, identify interdependencies among systems, recognize relationships within the organization, and set up lines of communication.

Tomorrow: Interested parties are aware of when changes are scheduled to be implemented. Improvements to Change Management procedures are made reactively. Incidents resulting from changes are identified quickly. Ready for Step Three: Moving from Informed Anarchy to using a defined process for managing changes.