You know change is going to happen, and since change is going to happen, you have two choices — manage it or let it happen on its own. Changes that are left to happen on their own never come out anywhere as good as ones that were properly managed. The credibility of IT Services across the university begins with offering stable, predictable services and consistent experiences for all stakeholders involved.
A solid change management process enables us to:
- Minimize disruption and protect the production environment.
- Exert some control over the schedule as well as the change.
- Reduce the overall pain of the change.
- Getting affected stakeholders involved in planning and executing the change, which leads to better adoption.
Establish a foundation for change management that will make future changes easier.
Change management is not magic, nor is it impossibly difficult. It requires careful planning, involving everyone affected; frequent communications, with all stakeholders; clearly defining the goal, including a way of measuring success; and finally, executing the plan with appropriate safety measures in place.
The change management process the Service Excellence Release 2 team is building will enable us to achieve the beneficial outcomes. For more information about this process, our timeline, and various design documents, visit our google site at https://sites.google.com/a/miamioh.edu/service-excellence-project/