6. RFC Implementation

The responsibility for implementing a change usually falls in the realm of the Release Management team; however, the Change Management team remains responsible for overseeing and coordinating the implementation of the change. The Change Management team usually helps monitor that:

Schedules are met and the appropriate resources are assigned.
Software is developed and hardware is purchased according to specifications.
The test environment is realistic and simulates the live environment.
Back-out plans are created that will allow the last stable configuration to be recovered rapidly.

The default Change Management workflow is designed with the assumption that implementation steps vary between companies, and that the steps will be tailored according to the company's processes. By default, the Implementation Team members must be selected when the change is approved. The Implementer phase of the workflow contains only one state, Implementation, where the assigned implementer is the primary owner and the implementation team is the secondary owner.

Note: The implementation team provides backup in case the implementer cannot complete work. You can use the Update transition to assign the RFC to another implementer. For more information, see Group Queues.

This process can easily be enhanced to meet your needs. For example, you can:

Add additional states to the Change Management process to track the implementation steps.
Link the Change Management process to your existing Release Management process using Web services.
Use subtasks to track the implementation tasks, automatically transitioning the RFC when the subtasks are completed.

After the implementation is complete, the RFC moves to the Post Implementation Review state, where the Change Manager conducts a review of the RFC before closing it.