The update that nobody asked about
On a Monday a technician at a law firm installs an update on the main file server. It seems small. By ten o'clock the finance team cannot open their spreadsheets.
Nobody checked what the update touches. Nobody told the finance team. Nobody had a way back.
A planned change would have avoided this.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can put the planning steps of a change in order and say why each one matters.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Change request | a form asking for a change to be made | |
| CAB | Change Advisory Board: a group that reviews and approves changes | |
| SMARTER | a way to write clear goals | specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound, evaluated, reviewed |
| Impact | the effect a change has | |
| Resources | what a change needs: money, time, people and equipment | |
| Stakeholder | a person or group affected by an organisation | |
| Compliance | following the laws and rules that apply |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
First: what kind of change is it?
A change is either a new system or an amendment to a system that already exists.
A new system needs more planning, because nothing is in place yet. An amendment is smaller, but it can still break things that depend on the old version.
The CAB reviews, approves and monitors
The Change Advisory Board (CAB) is a small group from IT and the business. It reviews each change request and gives it a priority. A request goes through stages of approval.
Then the CAB monitors the change. It collects and studies change data. It checks the change was done. It acts to speed up a slow change. It gives feedback.
Check: the CAB
Have a go
Check: the CAB
4 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.