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There’s been a great deal of discussion recently about the phrase “Change Control” – especially  with ITIL4 switching from Change Management to Change Control in the initial release of the foundation book. I wrote about it in What’s with Change Control in ITIL4. But shortly thereafter, it somewhat unceremoniously changed to Change Enablement. Akshay Anand …

“IT is becoming more integrated into the business of organizations, and more integrated with the work of their staff and customers. As a result, the pace and frequency of change – changing requirements and IT service changes to address the requirements – is increasing. We are also in a period of rapidly changing technology. At …

IT has been calling Change Management by that name for decades. In the latest update to the de facto ITSM framework – ITIL®, the practice has unceremoniously been renamed to Change Control. A move that some feel hearkens back to the worst elements of bureaucratic, command-and-control that many attribute to ITIL to this day. Nothing …

Everyone knows a Configuration Management Database ( CMDB ) is a good idea. We’ve known that for years. And yet, in many years of ITSM practice, I’ve rarely seen a good one.  CMDB and Change Management There’s a big difference between the ability to automatically scan for devices and a functional CMDB (or the broader …

Every year there’s a flurry of predictions for the coming year. This year, I decided to make my own list, from the neutral vantage point of an ITSM practitioner. I have no ulterior motive, or financial stake in these predictions – they’re simply my perspective at this point in time. 1 – Year of the …

This year I accepted a CIO position at a state (government) agency. It’s been a great year of learning and growing, not the least of which being that the organizational landscape looks a lot different from this altitude. What a difference one level makes! “They” You know how there’s always a “they” – those anonymous …

Ever see a “low risk” change cause major issues? “We’ve done it before and never had any problems” doesn’t cut it in the aftermath of a business-impacting incident caused by a “low risk change”. Let’s be clear – all IT changes have risk. Some more than others. Effective Change Management ensures change risks are analyzed …

In this third and final installment in the Killing CAB series, I’ll be talking about Change Models – perhaps the most widely overlooked method of streamlining IT Change Management. It’s only a model (If you landed here, consider going to the first article in the Killing CAB series.) Many IT people hate ‘traditional IT Change Management’ …