Hi Guys- -

We recently completed tabulating the results of our Q2 survey on Change Management maturity, and as I went through the findings, I was struck by one thought- the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The survey was designed to gauge the degree of commitment large companies are making to Change Management, assess their current operational maturity levels and identify primary challenge areas, as well as opportunities. One hundred IT managers from 77 companies weighed in from Healthcare, Financial Services, Technology and Insurance firms at several regional itSMF conferences.

Although growing numbers rate service quality with accompanying reduced costs and increased efficiencies as the strongest business driver of Change Management, these findings were at odds with the numbers of companies that still have no formal Change Assessment board governance processes. And the continuing number of short-term, emergency changes also point to the fact that there is still much work to be done by many companies in the area of formalizing their Change Management governance system.

The survey highlighted some important areas of progress:

• 49% are using a Change Management application as an IT workflow tool.
• 72% have 30% or more of their IT staff using a Change Management application daily.
• Almost half are using Change Management to plan and execute Release Management activities.
• 39% integrate Change Management into their portfolio of project management tools.
• 59% employ Change Management as a single, enterprise-wide IT Change Management policy and system.

On the other hand, some findings point to a continued ?reactive? approach to Change Management:

• Only 28% have a single Change Assessment Board review all planned changes prior to design.
• Still 40% report that more than 26% of their changes are emergency, short-notice changes.
• 44% are still using Change Management in an undisciplined fashion, as evidenced by having an informal risk assessment process.

So what are the numbers telling us? Even though service quality, cost reduction and enhanced efficiencies are our highest goals, and even though Change Management is being used increasingly as a tool to achieve these goals, we have still not properly engineered the Change Management governance process in a way that will slow the hemorrhage of short-term, emergency changes? Is that it, the more things change, the more they stay the same?

Also, Don’t forget to register for Evergreen’s change management webinar: Take Change Management from Firefighting to Fire Prevention

Don

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