Process for managing change within an enterprise

• US 6,996,601 B1
• Filed: 07/26/2001
• Issued: 02/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Smith, H. Winnfred
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, THONG H
• Application Number:
  US09/915,846
• Time in Patent Office: 1,657 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/223, 709/204, 709/219, 709/224, 709/250, 709/203, 709/220, 707/1, 707/101, 707/10, 707/204, 707/4, 345/751, 715/511, 715/762, 378/22, 713/167, 713/100, 711/145, 705/36, 705/38, 705/10, 717/103, 717/124, 717/174, 700/83, 370/255, 370/466, 714/4
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

The present invention is a Change Management Procedure that enables businesses and other enterprises to effectively manage, record, and communicate changes by employing a centralized control agency to review, approve, document, and communicate changes taking place within an enterprise. While the Change Management Procedure is applicable to any type of change, in the preferred embodiment the procedure manages changes in electronic computer systems including but not limited to architecture changes, outages (e.g., hardware, software or facility), replacement of hardware, upgrading of software, and rebooting of devices. By requiring that all changes be formally requested and approved, the Change Management Procedure prevents unauthorized changes. The Change Management Procedure also creates an audit trail that keeps a record of all changes for future reference. Another advantage of the Change Management Procedure is the communication of changes to operating units within the enterprise that are potentially interested in the change. At any step within the Change Management Procedure, entities that might be affected by a change may be notified of the change. Thus, potentially interested operating units can be aware of changes before they occur and can be informed of all changes that have occurred.

Claims

1. A method for managing change to protect the integrity of an enterprise'"'"'s computer operating environment comprising the steps of:

(a) submitting a change request document by a change requester to a change manager for validation, wherein the change requester and the change manager are separate entities;

(b) broadcasting notice of a proposed change described ill a valid change request document to at least one potentially interested operating unit within the enterprise, wherein the potentially interested operating unit is an organization comprising a plurality of individuals, and wherein said change consists of modifications to hardware, software, or both in an electronic computing system of the enterprise;

(c) reviewing said proposed change by a review team comprising said change manager and a representative of each potentially interested operating unit receiving notification of said proposed change and choosing to participate in said review team, said review team recommending a course of action regarding said proposed change, wherein the representative of the potentially interested operating unit is one of the individuals; and

(d) notifying said change requester of said review team'"'"'s recommended course of action regarding said proposed change;

wherein the implementation of said change is unsuccessful and the method further comprises the steps of;

(e) leaving in place any partial successful steps taken in the implementation of said change;

(f) rescheduling any remaining steps to be taken implementation of said change;

(g) notifying all potentially interested operating units of the status of said change; and

(h) updating said change request document with the status of said change.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of said change requester revising and resubmitting a change request document rejected by the review team.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of said change requester canceling a change request document rejected by the review team.

4. The method of claim 1 farther comprising the step of said change manager, with input from said review team, scheduling implementation of a change described in a change request document approved by the review team.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising the step of said change manager notifying each potentially interested operating unit of the schedule for and details of implementation of said change.

6. The method of clam 5 further comprising the step of said change requester or a designee of the change requester or change manager implementing said change.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of updating said change request document with the status of said change.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of said change manager notifying each potentially interested operating unit that said change has been implemented.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein at least one potentially interested operating unit is an asset management organization responsible for maintaining an inventory of the enterprise'"'"'s assets.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of performing an analysis of the effectiveness of the change management method after implementation of said change.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of generating a written report describing the effectiveness of said change management method with regard to said change.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of assigning each change requester a security clearance level corresponding to an approved set of operations that the change requester may perform with respect to a change request document.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the set of operations further comprises viewing, editing, and submitting a change request document.

14. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of implementing said change management method on an electronic computing system.

15. A method for managing change to protect the integrity of an enterprise'"'"'s computer operating environment comprising the steps of:

(a) submitting a change request document by a change requester to a change manager for validation, wherein the change requester and the change manager are separate entities;

(b) broadcasting notice of a proposed change described in a valid change request document to at least one potentially interested operating unit within the enterprise, wherein the potentially interested operating unit is an organization comprising a plurality of individuals, and wherein said change consists of modifications to hardware, software, or both in an electronic computing system of the enterprise;

(c) reviewing said proposed change by a review team comprising said change manager and a representative of each potentially interested operating unit receiving notification of said proposed change and choosing to participate in said review team, said review team recommending a course of action regarding said proposed change, wherein the representative of the potentially interested operating unit is one of the individuals; and

(d) notifying said change requester of said review team'"'"'s recommended course of action regarding said proposed change;

wherein the implementation of said change is unsuccessful and the method further comprises the steps of;

(e) reversing all steps taken in the attempted implementation of said change;

(f) notifying all potentially interested operating units of the unsuccessful implementation of said change; and

(g) updating said change request document with the status of said change.

16. A method for managing change to protect the integrity of an enterprise'"'"'s computer operating environment, when said change is necessitated by an emergency situation, comprising the steps of:

(a) evaluating the severity of said emergency situation by a change requester;

(b) notifying a change manager by said change requester that said emergency situation exists, wherein the change requester and the change manager are separate

(c) determining by said change manager that said emergency situation requires immediate remediation;

(d) granting immediate approval to change requester by said change manager to implement said change wherein said change consists of modifications to hardware, software, or both in an electronic computing system of the enterprise;

(e) implementing said change by said change requester or a designee thereof; and

(f) creating and completing, by said change requester after implementation of said change, an emergency change request document to describe and record said change;

wherein the implementation of said change is unsuccessful and the method further comprises the steps of;

(g) leaving in place any partial, successful steps taken in the implementation of said change;

(h) rescheduling any remaining steps to be taken in the implementation of said change;

(i) notifying all potentially interested operating units of the status of said change; and

(j) updating said change request document with the status of said change.

17. A method for managing change to protect the integrity of an enterprise'"'"'s computer operating environment, when said change is necessitated by an emergency situation, comprising the steps of:

(a) evaluating the severity of said emergency situation by a change requester;

(b) notifying a change manager by said change requester that said emergency situation exists, wherein the change requester and the change manager are separate entities;

(c) determining by said change manager that remediation of said emergency situation can be deferred;

(d) notify said change requester by said change manager that an emergency change request document must be submitted prior to approval;

(e) submitting an emergency change request document by said change requester to said change manager;

(f) approving of a change described in said emergency change request document by said change manager or a designee thereof wherein said change consists of modifications to hardware, software, or both in an electronic computing system of the enterprise;

(g) scheduling of said change by said change manager with collaboration from at least one potentially interested operating unit;

(h) notifying each potentially interested operating unit of the schedule for and details of implementation of said change; and

(i) implementing said change by said change requester or a designee thereof;

wherein the implementation of said change is unsuccessful and the method further comprises the steps of;

(j) reversing all steps taken in the attempted implementation of said change;

(k) notifying all potentially interested operating units of the unsuccessful implementation of said change; and

(l) updating said change request document with the status of said change.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising the step of updating said emergency change request document with the status of said change.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of said change manager notifying each potentially interested operating unit that said change has been implemented.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein at least one potentially interested operating unit is an asset management organization responsible for maintaining an inventory of the enterprise'"'"'s assets.

21. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of performing an analysis of the effectiveness of the change management method after implementation of said change.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising the step of generating a written report describing the effectiveness of said change management method with regard to said change.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising the step of implementing said change management method on an electronic computing system.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein said change requester or a designee thereof reverses any actions taken in an unsuccessful implementation of said change.

25. The method of claim 22 wherein said change requester or a designee thereof reverses any actions taken in an unsuccessful implementation of said change.