Change types
Summarize
Summary of Change types
Change Management in ServiceNow supports the three ITIL-defined service change types: standard, emergency, and normal. Each type triggers a specific state model and process, ensuring appropriate governance and risk management for different types of changes.
Show less
Standard change
A standard change is a low-risk, pre-authorized change that is common and follows a documented procedure. These changes have repeatable steps and a proven track record of success. Because they are pre-approved, they bypass group-level or peer approvals and CAB authorization, streamlining the process. Standard changes can be predefined as templates in a catalog, enabling efficient access and control over authorized standard changes.
Emergency change
Emergency changes address urgent needs, such as resolving major incidents or applying critical security patches. They require immediate implementation, bypassing group and peer reviews, and go directly to the Authorization state for CAB approval. Emergency changes cover:
- Fix on fail or retroactive fixes after service impact
- Fail or fail situations where service impact is imminent
These changes skip the normal lifecycle stages due to urgency. If unplanned configuration item (CI) changes occur during emergency changes, unauthorized change requests are created and routed for approval.
Normal change
Normal changes encompass any service changes that are neither standard nor emergency. They follow a comprehensive, prescriptive process requiring multiple approval levels, including peer or technical approvals, Change Management, and CAB authorization. These changes undergo full assessments to minimize service disruption and are usually scheduled outside blackout windows or within maintenance windows. Normal changes enable beneficial service improvements with controlled risk.
Change Management supports the three types of service changes ITIL describes — standard, emergency, and normal. The change type determines which state model is invoked and the change process that must be followed.
Watch this eight-minute video for an overview of Change Management in ITSM.
- Standard change
A standard change is a pre-authorized change that is low risk, relatively common and follows a specified procedure or work instruction.
A standard change is one that is frequently implemented, has repeatable implementation steps, and has a proven history of success. As Standard changes are pre-approved, they follow a stream lined process in which group level or peer approval and CAB authorization steps are not required.
Approved standard change requests can be predefined in a catalog of templates to make accessing and requesting a standard change more efficient. This ability also enables the Change Management team to control the changes that are authorized as standard.
- Emergency change
A change that must be implemented as soon as possible, for example to resolve a major incident or implement a security patch. This change is of such a high priority that it bypasses group and peer review and approval and goes straight to the Authorization state for approval by the CAB approval group.
Emergency changes cover the following types of emergencies:
- Fix on fail or retroactive situations where the impact to service has already been experienced.
- Fail or fail situations where the impact to service is imminent if action is not taken.
During an emergency change, there are chances that an unplanned CI change activity occurs. During such a case, an unauthorized change request is created and sent for approvals. For more information, see Unauthorized change request.
- Normal change
Any service change that is not a standard change or an emergency change.
Normal change requests follow a prescriptive process which requires two levels of approval before being implemented, reviewed, and closed. These changes require a full range of assessments and authorizations such as peer or technical approval, change management, and Change Advisory Board (CAB) authorization, to ensure completeness, accuracy, and the least possible disruption to service. These changes are most often scheduled outside of defined change blackout windows or during defined maintenance windows. The normal type is used to implement beneficial change for any change to a service that is not a standard or emergency change.