Change Management - Requests For Change (RFC)
To be frank, requests for changes need to be reviewed by the management team. Some requests simply are not practical or feasible. Some requests may be a duplication of efforts. So the first step of change management, is to review the requested changes and assure only practical realistic changes are setup to be given focus by the IT resources.
The Request for Change (RFC) is formal request for the implementation of a Change. A Request for Change is to be submitted to Change Management for any non-standard Change (a set of standard/ routine Changes is usually defined by Change Management; these are minor Changes which do not require submission to the Change Management process). A Change is backed by a Change Owner, holding a budget for its implementation. In many cases the Change Owner is identical with the RFC initiator. Typically Changes are owned by Service Management roles (e.g. the Problem Manager or Capacity Manager) or by IT management. The RFC is a precursor to the Change Record and contains all information required to approve a Change. Further information is added as the Change progresses through its lifecycle. The level of detail depends on the size and likely impact of the Change. Often there will be references to further documents containing more detailed information, e.g. a detailed Change proposal.
As major Changes are typically implemented as projects, the RFC often takes on the role of what is also known as a "Project Charter".
- Unique ID
- Date of submission
- Change Owner
- Initiator of the RFC (if not identical with Change Owner)
- Proposed Change priority (e.g. "Very High (Urgent Change)", "High", "Normal", "Low" - may be overruled by Change Management during Change assessment)
- Description of the Change being applied for
- Summary description
- Business case
- Reason for the Change to be implemented
- Costs
- Benefits
- Consequences if the Change is not implemented
- References (e.g. to a Problem Record triggering this RFC)
- Business areas on the client-side affected by the Change
- Services affected by the Change
- IT infrastructure components (CIs) affected by the Change
- Technology aspects (is a new technology being introduced?)
- Risks during the implementation of the Change
- Identified risks
- Counter-measures (e.g. reversion procedure)
- Back-out strategy for the case of a failed Change implementation
- Predicted/suggested time schedule for the implementation
- Estimate of resources for the implementation
- Required personnel resources (from which areas?)
- Estimated work effort for the required personnel resources
- Cost estimate (itemized for bigger Changes)
- Statement as to whether a budget is allocated and cleared for this Change
- If applicable, index of additional supporting documents (e.g. the Service Design Package for major additions or modifications to services)
- Approval or rejection
- Date
- Person/ body in charge of the approval (Change Manager/ CAB/ EC)
- Change reviewers
- Priority assigned by Change Management
- Restrictions
- If applicable, reasons for rejecting the RFC
Other ITIL Processes
In order to have a good understanding of ITIL and the importance of configuration management, we first define what ITIL is: ITIL is literally a collection of documentation.
This documentation can help IT organizations implement the best practices. The documentation grows and grows as more successful techniques are documented and guidelines established for what can make others successful. The latest ITIL resources are published by the UK Office of Government Commerce (OGC).
Integrated service delivery refers to the need for Configuration Management, Change Management, Incident Management, Problem Management and Release Management processes that are linked together in a meaningful manner. For example, the process of releasing components to the live environment (the domain of Release Management) is also an issue for Configuration Management and Change Management whilst the Service Desk is primarily responsible for liaison between IT providers and the Users of services. This section highlights the links and the principal relationships between all the Service Management and other infrastructure management processes.
ITIL processes fall under Operational Layer or Tactical Layer, as follows:
| Operational Layer: | Configuration Management - Service Desk Management - Incident & Problem Management - Change Management - Release Management |
| Tactical Layer: | Service Level Management - Availability Management - Capacity Management - Continuity Management - Financial Management |