ITIL 4 Change Enablement key terms

The practice that maximizes the number of successful service and product changes by ensuring risks are properly assessed, changes are authorized to proceed, and a change schedule is managed.

The addition, modification, or removal of anything that could have a direct or indirect effect on services, products, or the organization's ability to deliver value.

A documented set of rules describing how changes are categorized, assessed, authorized, and recorded in an organization, including who may approve each type of change.

A category assigned to a change, commonly standard, normal, or emergency, that determines which model, assessment depth, and authority apply to it.

A repeatable, defined approach for handling one type of change, describing the steps, roles, timescales, and criteria to apply from request through to closure.

A low-risk, well-understood, and repeatable change that is pre-authorized by the change policy and follows a documented procedure, so no individual approval is needed each time.

A change that is not pre-authorized and must be scheduled, assessed, and authorized through a defined process whose rigour matches the level of risk.

A change that must be implemented as soon as possible, for example to restore service after a major incident or close a security vulnerability, and which uses an expedited assessment and authorization path.

The activity of assigning each change to a change type and change model according to its assessed likelihood and impact, so that effort and authority match the risk.

The effect a change may have on services, users, components, and other changes, used together with likelihood to judge risk and decide how much control is needed.

The person or group accountable for deciding whether a particular change may proceed, with the level of authority set by the change policy and the change's risk.

A group, often including technical and business representatives, that assesses higher-risk normal changes and recommends or makes the authorization decision within its delegated authority.

A small, empowered group that can meet at short notice to assess and authorize emergency changes, so urgent work is not delayed by the full advisory board's schedule.

The evaluation of a change's likelihood of failure and potential impact, together with its expected benefits, so that decision-makers can judge whether the risk is acceptable.

Authority to authorize changes that has been formally passed from a higher level, such as a CAB, to a named individual or team, with agreed limits on scope and risk.

The formal record raising a proposed change, capturing what is to change, why, the desired outcome, and the initial details needed for assessment and scheduling.

A log holding every change record with its details, status, assessment, authorizations, and outcome, giving a single view of changes in progress and completed.

A calendar showing planned changes, their timing, and the components and services affected, used to plan work, communicate with users, and avoid clashes.

The review of a change's risk, impact, expected benefit, resource needs, and readiness, producing the information authorizers need and any conditions for implementation.

The formal decision, taken by the appropriate change authority, that a change may proceed; it may be given with conditions and is recorded against the change record.

Carrying out the approved change according to plan, including build, test, and deployment steps, with the agreed back-out plan available if the change does not succeed.

The final stage of the change lifecycle, confirming the change was implemented and its outcome recorded, updating logs, and capturing lessons for future changes.

A documented procedure describing how to restore the previous state if a change does not succeed, including the steps, timeframe, and who decides to invoke it.

A situation where two or more changes affect the same components or services at overlapping times, creating risk of conflict, disruption, or failed implementation.

A defined period, such as a peak trading time, during which normal changes are restricted or prohibited so that stability of critical services is protected.

A check after a change is live that confirms the expected outcome was achieved, identifies unintended effects, and records lessons to improve future changes.

The six connected activities of plan, improve, engage, design and transition, obtain and build, and deliver and support, through which the organization turns demand into value.

A sequence of activities, practices, and resources that together create value for a stakeholder in response to a specific demand, such as delivering a change.

The practice of making new and changed services and features available for use, working with change enablement to confirm what is authorized to go live.

The practice of moving new or changed hardware, software, documentation, or data to live environments, typically executed under an authorized change.

The practice of ensuring accurate, reliable information about configuration items and their relationships is available, which supports impact and risk assessment of changes.

The practice of minimizing the negative impact of incidents by restoring normal service as quickly as possible, sometimes requiring emergency changes to achieve this.

The management of the people side of change, covering stakeholder engagement, communication, training, and support so that changes are adopted and sustained.

The proportion of changes that are implemented without causing an incident, requiring a back-out, or failing to deliver their intended outcome.

The recurring activity of identifying and acting on opportunities to improve products, services, and practices, applied to change enablement through metrics, reviews, and lessons learned.

Identifying the people and groups affected by or interested in a change, and communicating with and involving them appropriately so the change is understood and accepted.