Using the Lab for Change Management

A change management lab is where you test any proposed change to your environment before implementing it in production, even as a pilot. When you use the lab to manage change, it becomes part of a larger process. This process identifies the flow of information and the sequence of activities from the time a change is proposed to the time it is implemented. The process you develop depends on the types of changes you perform, the teams involved, and the corporate culture.

Many resources are available to help you put together a change management process in an IT environment. The first step is to write a change management plan. To begin writing your plan, consider the following issues:

• Who authorizes changes?
• How to document and submit a proposal.
• Who analyzes the proposal to determine its importance and impact?
• What role do methods and procedures play (including the lab)?
• How to document and report the status of a change.

Testing in the lab is one step in the process of making changes to your production environment. Many enterprises test every patch and service pack until it is certified before they set up a pilot or limited rollout. When you test changes in a variety of scenarios and situations, you greatly reduce the risk of encountering problems during implementation.

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