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Iterating on IT Service
July 2007 - Posts
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Winning the Whack-A-Mole Change Game
In a previous blog entry, “Winning the Whack-A-Mole Support Game,” I compared IT support to a Whack-A-Mole arcade game, with issues popping up like moles from holes, two or more issues popping up for each one solved. I said that ITIL® was the best mallet to use for this game, and discussed Incident and Problem Management. Now, I’d like to continue the analogy with Change Management.
Ask support managers what causes more incidents than anything else and they’ll answer “change.” Ask support technicians what question solves more problems than any other and they’ll answer “what changed?”
There is a saying among system administrators, “Change is evil.”
It’s surprising, but many support teams dread solutions. Why? Because solutions are implemented with changes and changes cause more incidents. Whack one mole and two others pop up. One uncontrolled and poorly managed change leads to two more and the whacking never ends.
Many organizations begin their ITIL journeys with Incident Management and follow with Problem Management. But when I see sites struggling with an onslaught of incidents and problems brought about by changes, I’m not surprised that they’re jumping to Change Management as their second big ITIL project.
The risks involved in changes to the infrastructure are hard to avoid. IT systems are complex. Tightly-coupled and highly-distributed IT systems are efficient but they can propagate errors unpredictably because changes ripple erratically through the system. No wonder the troops on the IT frontline hate change. They know full well that when you bend an otherwise robust IT system, it may break.
But change in the infrastructure is desirable, if not inevitable.
Problems have to be solved and the system has to grow with new requirements and new technologies. An IT system that cannot evolve as rapidly as the business it serves is a drag on the enterprise.
Change Management has evolved to reduce the risks of change endemic to this complex environment. Change Management forces the examination of each change from many viewpoints to proactively identify risks. Not only does Change Management control what changes, it controls when a change takes place and who is informed of the change. By placing the changes under this 360-degree microscope, the unexpected and undesirable side effects of changes are curtailed.
Change Management is difficult to implement. Incident Management often can be implemented with the current support team learning some new practices, but still relying on the people and problem solving skills they developed before ITIL. But Change Management shakes up the whole IT department. Technicians and managers can be frustrated with new procedures that at first may seem to be extra work without any return. The commitment to Change Management has to be solid. The effort must be championed vigorously on a high level to overcome initial resistance.
Nevertheless, Change Management is mighty attractive as an ITIL practice.
Those organizations that see beyond the difficulties and zero in on the benefits of Change Management are making a decision that shows extraordinary foresight. For them, the payback is enormous. They are on their way to winning the Whack-A-Mole Change Game.
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