Which approval is mandatory to proceed with a change implementation?

After a change is planned and scheduled, the change request is set to a status of Scheduled for Review. The change manager or change coordinator has the opportunity to review change plans and schedules, before moving the change to the Implementation Approval phase.

When a request is in the Approval phase, the following fields within the change record cannot be modified:

• Services CI
• Impact
• Urgency
• Priority
• Risk Level
• Status
• Class
• Change Location
• Change Manager details
• Change Coordinator
• Relationships
• Operation Categorization
• Product Categorization
• Financial Information
• Any Date fields

In the Approval phase, when the status of the change is set to Scheduled for Approval, you cannot add any ad hoc tasks or task templates to the change request.

To access functions involving approvers, use the Work Detail tab on the Change form.

The following buttons in the Change form control functions involving approvers:

Button

Action

Opens the APR:Non-ApprovalNotifications form so that you can view notifications in either Pending or Notified status. Notifications are listed in the table on the form.

For more information, see Notifying non approvers about approvals.

Important: The same forms allows you to add notifications for the change.

Creates a new individual or group to approve the change.

For more information, see Managing approvers.

Allows an approver or a change manager or coordinator defined as alternate approvers, to approve the change request. This button is enabled only if the user is a valid approver for the record.

For more information, see Adding alternate approvers.

Allows an approver or a change manager or coordinator defined as alternate approvers, to reject the change request. This button is enabled only if the user is a valid approver for the record.

For more information, see Adding alternate approvers.

Approval processes provided out-of-the-box for BMC Helix ITSM: Change Management

BMC Helix ITSM: Change Management is shipped with default approval processes designed out-of-the-box for global use. These best practice approval processes are already defined for you by default. These processes specify which status occurs next if a request is approved or rejected, or if no approvers are defined.

Approval Process (phase)

Definition

Review

In the Initiate stage, the out-of-the-box behavior for change requests is that when their status moves out of Draft to Request For Authorization, the Review approval phase starts.

• If the change request is approved, the request moves to the Business Approval phase and its status becomes Request For Change.
• If the change request is rejected, its status changes to Rejected.
• If there are no approvers defined for the request (that is, if no approvers are mapped to the Review approval phase), its status changes to Request For Change and it requires the change manager or the change coordinator to move the request forward.
• If the Class of the change is Latent, the status moves to Completed.

Business Approval - No Impact

The Change Ad Hoc approval process is used in the No Impact Business Approval phase with the change manager logging on as the first approver. By default, this ad hoc approval process applies only to changes with a Class setting of No Impact. No approver mapping is required to be configured for this phase.

When the change moves through the process flow and the change manager approves the change in the Business Approval - No Impact phase, it then moves to the Scheduled status. You use this process for pre-approved No Impact changes where the change is automatically scheduled after the approval phase is satisfied.

• If the change is approved, it moves to the Scheduled status.
• If the request is cancelled, it moves to the Cancelled status.
• If the request is rejected, its status changes to Rejected.

Business Approval

The Review & Authorize stage focuses on the risk assessment and impact analysis. The Business Approval Phase starts when the change request is placed in the Request for Change status. The Business Approval phase requires that the business case for the change be approved before it can move forward.

• If the change is approved, it moves to the Planning in Progress status.
• If no approvers are mapped to the Business Approval phase, the change moves to the Planning in Progress status and requires the change manager or change coordinator to move the change forward.
• If the request is cancelled, it moves to the Cancelled status.

Implementation Approval

In the Plan & Schedule stage, the out-of-the-box behavior for change requests is that the Implementation Approval phase starts when their status moves to Scheduled For Approval. At this phase, the system notifies you that the change must be approved before it can be implemented.

• If the change request is approved, its status becomes Scheduled.
• If there are no approvers defined for the change (that is, if no approvers are mapped to the Implementation approval phase), its status changes to Scheduled.
• If the change request is rejected, its status changes to Rejected.

Close Down Approval

In the Implement stage, the out-of-the-box behavior for change requests is that the Close Down approval phase starts when their status moves into Completed status (with a status reason of Final Review Required). At this phase, the system notifies you that the request must be approved before it can be closed down.

• If the change request is approved, its Status Reason becomes Final Review Complete. You can then move the request to the Closed stage.
• If the change request is rejected, its status changes to Rejected.
• If there are no approvers defined for the change (that is, if no approvers are mapped to the Close Down approval phase), its status is Completed. You can then move the request to the Closed stage.
• Approval Administrators can globally approve or reject the change request. This action may be required if approvers are not available or the CAB makes a decision the requires an urgent approval or rejection of a change request. If the change is globally approved or rejected, the approval status is changed to Closed.

The read-only Next or Current Approval Phase field displays what approval phase the change is in during its lifecycle. The Approvers tab also displays the following important information:

• Approval status
• Signatures of groups and individuals who must approve the change request
• Alternate approvers

Approvals can be generated automatically, based on information captured on the change request. They can also be generated manually on an ad hoc basis.

If needed, the application administrator can configure the change request approval workflow according to your organization's business model. This configuration determines which change requests require approval and what kind of approval process they undergo.

What is change management approval?

WHO approves change management?

Who can provide final approval for change request implementation?

What are the two types of approvals in request management?