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Standard Change Management Work Instructions in ServiceNow

Role: itil, change owner, change manager, change implementer, CAB
Available for Teams: All

This knowledge article will take you through the Standard Change Management process in ServiceNow tool for PayG users.

Standard changes are low-risk changes that follow an established procedure. These changes are pre-authorized and usually very low risk. Because they are pre-authorized, they may be easily automated. Examples of standard changes include software patching and updating, application product upgrades, and making new OS entries.

Working on Standard Changes

As we know, Standard change is pre-authorized and will go through less number of phases compared to Normal Change. Standard Change is divided into 2 sections:

Creating a Standard Change Template Proposal

Here a template is proposed and approved before it can be used in creating a standard change.
Note: A Standard Change record cannot be created without a template. So, the templates should be created first.

Any ITIL user can submit a proposal for Standard Change Template and they need to follow the steps to create a new Proposal:

  • From the ServiceNow Navigator, type “Change” and then select “Standard Change Template”.
  • In the next screen, you will be provided with available Standard Change Templates that are already available to use in Change Management, and an option for Template Management is visible.
  • Within Template management, you can Propose a new Standard Change Template. Modify an existing template or Retire an existing template. For now, click on “Propose a New Change Template”.
  • You will be presented with a form that you need to fill to capture all the details of your Standard Change Template Proposal.

Fill the following details in your Standard Change Template:

  • Template Description: Provide a one liner Template Description.
  • Category: Select Standard Changes.
  • Sample Change Requests: This is optional. If you wish, you can provide few sample CRs that were created in past using this template.
  • Short Description: Add Short Description of your Change that you want to implement.
  • Description: A detailed description of your Standard Change that you want to implement.

  • Implement Plan: Detailed step by step instructions required to implement Change.

    • Backout Plan: While you implement a change, there is a possibility that things may go wrong and you don’t get results as expected and you decide to rollback the Change. You should record the details as how you can restore the service back to a place the way it was working earlier.
    • Test Plan: Details of your test cases and testing plan that you would like to follow before, during and after the change is implemented.

  • Priority: Select an appropriate Priority based on the importance, impact and urgency of your Change.

  • Risk: Select an appropriate value based on the Risk and Impact Analysis you made for your Change.

  • Impact: Select an appropriate value based on the Impact of your Change.

    • Change Window: What will be impact of your Change? Might it bring some Major changes in organisation?

  • Configuration Item: The IT Service or IT Infrastructure (like Cloud App Server, Cloud Storage Account, Disk Volume Instance etc) undergoing Change or Change is going to impact for reporting purposes.

  • Assignment Group: The team that is going to Manage this Change. For example, Infrastructure Support or Information Technology.
  • Justification: A brief justification for this Change. Provide maximum details as how it is going to make a positive difference.
  • Planning: Mention what is going to happen during the Change, whether rollback option is required, testing plan, planning dates etc.

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