Changes and windows

A change names the affected service and describes the proposed work. Its risk, scheduled start and end, rollback plan and state let the Change Manager decide whether the work is ready to proceed. A draft can be prepared before the team has chosen a window. Review is the point where those controls must be present. When risk, both ends of the window and rollback instructions are recorded, eligible work can move to approved. An incomplete entry stays in review.

The window should describe when technicians expect to perform the work. It is not a substitute for their actual incident or rack and cable observations. Keep the change summary plain enough for the service owner to understand what will happen and the rollback text specific enough for the technician to use if the change must be reversed.

The Change Manager reviews the plan; the Service Manager checks the effect on the service; the Service Technician carries out approved work.

• Risk and service. The risk choice belongs to a named service change.
• Scheduled window. A start and end date make planned work visible in the schedule.
• Rollback instruction. The plan states how the team will respond if implementation fails.

Agree who prepares the change and who checks its risk before it enters review. Decide the minimum useful rollback detail for routine and high-risk work. Set a convention for scheduled dates and what happens if the window moves. Rehearse one complete review and one with a missing control. Decide who marks implementation, verification, rejection or rollback after work is observed.

A technician proposes moving a service asset during a maintenance window. The Change Manager reads the service, summary and risk, checks the scheduled start and end, and reads the rollback plan. With those controls recorded, the change can become approved. The technician then starts implementation in the agreed window. If the work fails, the team follows the recorded rollback plan and marks the change rolled back; if it succeeds, verification captures the outcome.

Now remove the rollback plan from a second review. It must stay in review. The manager can then ask for a workable plan before the physical work is scheduled. This check prevents a status change from standing in for a real plan.

• Change review — Entries awaiting a complete risk, window and rollback review.
• Change schedule — Approved and implementing work with start and end dates.
• Change board — The status of planned work across the service portfolio.

Review change and problem work and see implementation phases.