Change Management Process
Process Owner: Manager, IT Performance Achievement
Note: An owner must be a PCES-level manager or higher.
This process establishes standard tools and processes for change management within the Postal Service Technical Environment.
The Change Management Process applies to all Postal Service employees, contracted vendors, and organizations that introduce or implement changes to technology solutions within the Postal Service Technical Environment. It ensures technological changes occur in a uniform and predictable manner which maintains the integrity of the Postal Service Technical Environment.
This process includes:
The Postal Service change management life cycle consists of the following phases:
The stakeholder or executive sponsor (customer) will request a change subsequent to CCB approval of work request. The stakeholder is responsible for defining the business need/requirements, securing funding, and communicating the change impact to the affected business organizations.
The requesting manager or project team leader creates an initial change record in the corporate change management system. The following information is a sample of the information captured by the system: Summary of the Change, Description, Category/Type, Class, Priority, Status of Request upon Review, Requester Information, and Date Requirements for Completion.
The requesting manager is responsible for assessing and coordinating the change plan, and the design and creation of the new or changed architectural component. The plan includes tasks for implementation of the change, backout (if necessary), and dependencies for executing the change. The scheduling of the change must be mutually agreed upon between the requesting and implementing organizations. Scheduling of production changes must additionally adhere to any temporary restrictions as outlined in the Change Management Escalated Approval Process.
The change plan is submitted for approval along with information regarding the business risks, user impact, justification statements, and related cases.
The Change Control Board (CCB) and affected stakeholders review and approve/disapprove the change for implementation from their business perspective. The role of the CCB is to confirm the completeness of the information provided by the Requestor and to ensure that the change is ready for implementation.
Upon approval, notice is sent to the affected parties, and the change is assigned to the implementing group.
The change and all associated tasks are implemented and tested. Upon successful implementation the change record is documented and closed in the system. If there are issues with implementing the change, the backout plan is executed and the change record is updated to reflect the issues, and marked with the appropriate change status.
USPS policy generally requires that a Change Record (CR) for an implementation that fails should be closed with a resolution code of unsuccessful and a new CR opened. The Failed CR Exception Standards allow the implementing organization flexibility to allow a Change Request for a failed implementation to be kept open if certain conditions are met.
Upon successful completion of the change, the status of the record is marked as “Resolved.” Notification is sent to the affected parties, and the change record is closed.
Inputs
Outputs
Defined roles and responsibilities are key elements to the effective execution of the change management process. Roles reflect a functional group of logical responsibilities for a given process. Responsibilities reflect the assignment of a set of duties to be implemented to complete a change request. Employees may be assigned one or more role(s).
Change Control Board (CCB): A management entity that decides what changes will be made to the Postal Service Technical Environment, the priority of changes, and the targeted production date. CCBs include formal executive boards (e.g., Board of Governors), organizational governance committees (e.g., ITK Committee), and operational management teams addressing functional changes to production applications.
Change Management Board (CMB): A Change Management Board is made up of the stakeholders with oversight responsibility to ensure the change process is followed.
Change Process Owner: Accountable to senior management for the proper design, execution, and improvement of the process. Ensures that the process is being carried out, but does not run the day-to-day operation of the process. The Change Process Owner receives regular updates concerning the performance of the process and represents this process concerning all decisions being made by senior management. The Change Process Manager is accountable to the Change Process Owner.
Change Process Manager: Primarily responsible for the overall quality of the Change Management process. Acts as the main coordinator within this process and is the focal point regarding changes for both the customer and the IT organization. All managers in the IT organization must support this role.
Change Analyst: Uses technical knowledge and subject matter expertise to understand business and technical issues and impacts regarding proposed change. Analysis involves the understanding of causes and effects. The analyst uses the knowledge gained from analysis to make recommendations or resolutions.
Change Approver: Responsible for assessing a Change Request and assigning it to one of the approval statuses. Approvers are typically representatives of groups directly involved in or impacted by the change.
Change Implementer: Responsible for implementing the changes (including execution of back out procedures if available and needed).
Change Requester: The Change Requester proposes changes to the IT Postal Service Technical Environment. The Requester is the person responsible for proposing and submitting a Change Request. A Change Request will also have an author, who creates the change in Change Management for the Requester, but is not responsible for proposing or submitting the change.
For access to the following documents, contact the US Postal Service. See Publication 5, Let's Do Business for further information about local US Postal Service contacts.
Version #1.0
Section(s) Revised: N/A
Revision Description: Baseline
Revision Date:
Version #2.0
Section(s) Revised: Supporting Documentation
Revision Description: Removed the “Change Quick Reference Guide” link from Quick Reference Materials as requested.
Revision Date: 07/20/2010