Information Technology Services (ITS)
New ITS-wide change management process will streamline information-sharing
Published on: February 18, 2025
ITS is launching an IT change management (CM) process to increase transparency and awareness when specific IT changes are forthcoming, as well as to streamline the process by making it consistent across ITS teams and to help other IT@UofT staff gain greater visibility into ITS changes and their impacts.
The Enterprise Applications & Service Integration (EASI) team is leading this rollout, which will see ITS staff entering proposed IT changes into the Enterprise Service Centre (ESC) as a central hub for tracking, evaluation and approval as needed.
“This is really the next phase of IT excellence at U of T,” says Brian Whelan, IT Service Management Coordinator, EASI.
“We’re excited about this critical step in modernizing our IT processes, ensuring smoother updates, minimizing risks and enhancing the reliability of our services.”
Whelan and his colleagues have been working diligently to lay the groundwork for this new process, including drafting training materials and resources so that staff can quickly and easily adapt to the new workflow. The entry of new changes into ESC will begin on February 19, 2025, with information and training sessions following. Staff can expect invitations to training sessions via Outlook calendar invitations, or can join any upcoming session via the following links:
“The new change management process will help us achieve key objectives in portfolio management under the refreshed Strategic Plan,” says Swetlana Signarowski, Executive Director, EASI. “This process is an important part of our overall goal to continually foster transparency, communication and trust across the University community.”
What’s a “change” and why manage it?
The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) defines a “change” as the “addition, modification or removal of anything that could have an effect on IT services.”
The new CM process will give IT@UofT staff greater visibility into changes happening across various ITS projects and teams. Moreover, in the case of moderate, high-risk or emergency changes, the new process will centralize responsibility to the Change Advisory Board (CAB), a group of reviewers who will approve these changes as needed. This means that in higher-stakes or more urgent updates, individual staff are alleviated of sole responsibility for the potential downstream effects of changes. Responsibility distributed across the CAB is a safety measure to ensure minimal impact and give staff support and assurance about critical changes.
“This process is really going to empower us to work smarter and more effectively across teams,” says Gary Raposo, Assistant Director, Enterprise Shared Services and ITS CAB Chair. “Reviewers will know what their colleagues are up to, and we’ll all be able to plan for after-effects on our own operations. Not only will this improve workflow and service delivery within ITS, we’ll also keep our colleagues across the IT@UofT community apprised of changes as needed.”
How does it work?
Any ITS staff members with ESC Fulfiller access will be able to initiate a new change. Once approved, the change will be visible and communicated to others who may be impacted—giving them the necessary information and awareness to anticipate effects on their own systems, projects and teams.
The new CM process will, among other things, identify different types of changes (e.g. normal, emergency) which will determine a particular process to be followed. When a record of a planned change is created, there is opportunity to provide information about factors such as: the reasons for the change; plans for testing, implementing or cancelling the change; aspects of communicating the change; dates and deadlines associated with the change; and potential conflicts or impacts regarding the change.
Stay in the know: Share info
“And if you’re a staff member who is involved in requesting, approving or implementing changes, rest assured that this system is designed to simplify your work while reducing the risk of unexpected issues. It’ll make submitting and approving changes faster, clearer and more secure.”
Visit the change management landing page for more details and the answers to frequently asked questions. Staff are also requested to subscribe to the change management LISTSERV in order to stay informed about approved changes. Keep an eye on your inbox for Outlook calendar invitations to training sessions soon.
Have more questions? Submit a help request through the ESC.