Change Management
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The structure of Change Management
TOPdesk’s Change Management module is the ideal tool to process all planned big or small changes within your organization. A good example of a small, functional change is the addition of extra functionality to an application, or altering the layout of your organization’s website.
A good example of a big, infrastructural change is replacing a mail server because extra capacity is required. Another good example is getting a new employee started. In this case, many departments have to do things, such as setting up accounts (IT), getting the new employee on the payroll (HR) and making sure his desk is complete (FM).
Simple and extensive changes
Change Management has two types of changes to process the changes mentioned above: the simple change (
) and the extensive change (
). A simple change can be registered and processed quickly. It is of low complexity and can be carried out by one person. In contrast to simple changes, an extensive change is more complex and requires multiple people to carry out. That is why extensive changes comprise multiple activities, possibly being processed by multiple departments.
Change phases
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In TOPdesk, changes comprise the following phases:
Preliminary request for change phase: a preliminary request for change (PRfC) can be submitted either by users via the Self-Service Portal or by operators via the Operator’s Section. It generally needs to be approved by the requester’s manager. If you want to enable users to directly submit requests for change, this authorization step may be skipped.
Request for change phase: in this phase, it is decided whether the request for change (RfC) will be processed as a simple change or an extensive change with multiple activities. Once a PRfC has been approved, the RfC needs to be approved by an operator. Also, if the request has not already been linked to a premade change template, this can be done in this phase as well.
In progress phase: after authorization, the simple change or first activity of the extensive change will appear in the applicable operator’s to-do list. When the deadlines of the change cannot be met, the planning can always be adjusted. Activities, or the change itself, can also be rejected at any time. This can be done via optional authorization activities in the Self-Service Portal, for example.
Evaluation phase (only for extensive changes): when an extensive change includes an evaluation phase, this phase is started after the in progress phase. This phase is mostly used for activities not directly required for the implementation of the change, such as setting up backups.