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Limited risk assessment
In most cases, the amount of risk assessment done in an emergency situation is directly
proportional to the scope of the change, and inversely proportional to the effect of the network
outage. For example, the scope of changing a Communication Manager release is much
greater than that of changing a protocol address. Similarly, the same change would go through
increased scrutiny if a single user is unable to access the network rather than if an entire site
loses connectivity.
Ultimately, risk assessment is the responsibility of the support person who implements the
change. For this, the engineer should rely on personal experience, as well as that of associated
support personnel. Many of the ideas given in the section on Planned Change Management can
be adapted to the emergency change environment, but on a more limited scale. For instance,
you can use the Avaya Support Centre Web site (support.avaya.com/), or even use a limited
test bed simulation, depending on your situation.
Finally, as part of the limited risk assessment, you should determine which users might be
affected by the change.
Communication
Although it is not always be possible to notify all users of all changes (especially in emergency
situations), the users certainly appreciate any warning that you can provide. You should also
communicate the details of any emergency changes with the change manager, and allow the
change manager to maintain metrics on emergency changes and root causes. The information
may also affect the scheduling or the rollout of future changes.
Documentation
Updating documentation is critical to ensure valid, up to date information. During unplanned
changes, it can be easy to forget to make updates because of the frantic nature of emergencies.
However, undocumented change solutions often result in increased time out of service if the
solution is unsuccessful.
It helps to document changes before they are made in emergency situations from a central
location, perhaps at the change manager level. If a central support organization does not exist
to document changes before they occur, different individuals might make changes at the same
time, not knowing about each other's activities. The following types of documentation often
require updates during a change: drawings, IP/VLAN database, engineering documents, dial
plan, troubleshooting procedures, and server/application/user matrices.
High-Level process flow for emergency change management
Issue 3.4.1 June 2005
383
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