As the economic recession slowly starts to recede, organizations must continue to effectively adapt to and deal with change brought about by everything from the altered competitive landscape to workforce reductions and workflow modifications. That's where IT change management comes in.
For example, when it comes to
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Scot Petersen, Editorial Director, SearchCIO-Midmarket
change
management in disaster recovery and business continuity planning, critical data must always be
current. IT change management can help minimize operation disruptions and ensure the cost-effective
use of resources when implementing new procedures. It can also help maintain critical information
updates and avoid potential problems, such as the failure to respond to an incident appropriately
because a plan was not up to date.
It's also important to revise existing strategies to accommodate new technologies in your organization. Virtualized servers, for instance, will not follow the same change management procedures as physical servers, so it's important to account for that when revising strategies. Potential problems associated with host hardware failure, an outlined procedure on how to move virtual servers to a new host during an outage, what is stored on each server and all server software changes should be included in the IT change management plan.
To help you build your strategy, we have compiled a sampling of free change management templates and resources from a range of organizations.
Change management tips and resources
SOURCE: SearchWinIT.com
OFFERING: Step-by-step instructions on how to install the Change Management Request template in Microsoft Office SharePoint
Server 2007.
SOURCE: Texas Department of Information Resources
OFFERING: A sample change
management security policy highlighting proper change request procedures, disciplinary actions
for violations in procedure and supporting security policy standards.
Change management templates and sample plans
SOURCE: Oregon Department of Human Services
OFFERING: A 10-page sample change
management template covering everything from project plans and goals, to change management
forms and tracking logs.
SOURCE: Commonwealth of Massachusetts
OFFERING: Sample
templates, including a change management plan, a change register and a change request form. The
templates address various change management processes such as analysis, documentation,
implementation and organization.
SOURCE: South Carolina Division of State Information Technology
OFFERING: An organizational
change management template addressing stakeholder management, project scope and step-by-step
plan objectives.
How do you manage change in your organization? Let us know; email editor@searchcio-midmarket.com.
This was first published in January 2010