#1 #ServiceNow #Change #Management | A Complete Tutorial for #ServiceNow Admins and IT Users
Science & Technology
Introduction
Welcome to the comprehensive tutorial on ServiceNow Change Management! If you're an ITIL user, ServiceNow administrator, or developer looking to understand how change management applications function within ServiceNow, you’re in the right place. By the end of this article, you’ll be well-equipped to implement the change management application effectively and understand its various features.
What is Change Management?
A change is defined as an addition, modification, or removal of any authorized, planned, or supported service or component that could affect IT services. Change management refers to the systematic approach for managing requests regarding these changes. Its goal is to minimize risks and impacts that changes may have on business operations.
A well-structured change management process not only facilitates beneficial changes but also provides a framework to manage risks associated with such changes.
Change Management Process
The change management process follows several distinct activities:
- Create and Log Change Request: Initiated by individuals or groups to implement specific changes.
- Review Change: Change requests are reviewed and prioritized by change authorities.
- Change Evaluation: Assessing the impact, risks, and benefits linked to IT services to avoid disruption.
- Change Approvals: All change requests require authorization from concerned approvers before implementation.
- Implementation: The change is carried out according to the scheduled plan.
- Validation: Ensuring that the change has been precisely implemented without affecting other service components.
ServiceNow Change Management Application
ServiceNow's Change Management application provides tools to manage the entire lifecycle of changes effectively. The application is structured to support various activities involved in the change management process and facilitates efficient tracking and automation.
Key Features
- Create New Change: Quickly create new requests.
- Change Overview: Track open, closed, and emergency changes through dashboards.
- Standard Changes Configuration: Preapproved templates for routine changes.
- CAB Workbench: For Change Advisory Board activities.
- Approval Policies: To define conflict resolution and risk assessment strategies.
Change Types
ServiceNow supports three types of changes as defined by ITIL:
- Standard Change: Low-risk changes that follow pre-approved procedures requiring no CAB approval.
- Emergency Change: Changes that need to be implemented urgently to resolve high-priority issues, often requiring expedited CAB approval.
- Normal Change: Planned changes that necessitate a full assessment and approval cycle before implementation.
Change Form and Fields
When you create a change request in ServiceNow, a detailed form will present various fields, including:
- Change Number
- Reported By
- Category
- Service
- Configuration Item
- Priority
- Risk Assessment
- Impact
- Description and Justification
Workflows
Different workflows govern the state of changes:
- New: The initial state of a new change request.
- Authorized: Indicates that the change is under review.
- Scheduled: Change is approved and awaiting implementation.
- Implement: The stage where the implementation is in progress.
- Review: Validation steps occur post-implementation.
- Closed: The change request is finalized and closed.
- Canceled: If a change decision reverses, it can be canceled.
Change Creation
Users can create changes through various means, including existing incidents or problems, CI records, and standard change catalogs. The tutorial walked through creating normal, emergency, and standard changes.
Implementation of Changes
The tutorial demonstrated the detailed steps involved in creating and implementing each type of change, along with their specific workflows.
Introduction
ServiceNow, Change Management, ITIL, ServiceNow Administrators, Change Types, Standard Change, Emergency Change, Normal Change, Change Request, CAB Workbench, Change Process, Change Approval, Change Workflow, Change Form.
Introduction
Q1: What is ServiceNow Change Management?
A1: It is a systematic approach to managing change requests to minimize risk and impact on business operations.
Q2: How many types of changes does ServiceNow support?
A2: ServiceNow supports three types: Standard Change, Emergency Change, and Normal Change.
Q3: What are the key stages in the change management process?
A3: The key stages include creating a change request, reviewing, approving, implementing, validating, and closing the change request.
Q4: How can changes be created in ServiceNow?
A4: Changes can be created directly from the change application, incidents, problems, configuration items, or standard change catalogs.
Q5: Is a CAB approval necessary for Standard Changes?
A5: No, standard changes are pre-approved and do not require further CAB approval.
This tutorial serves as an introduction and foundation for further exploration of the Change Management application within ServiceNow. Stay tuned for more in-depth tutorials!