Change authorities and the change schedule

Who authorises a change and what the change schedule is actually for — two things questions treat as one, and the distinction matters because only one of them grants permission.

Lesson 6 of 12 in objective 7. Seven ITIL practices in detail, part of ITIL 4 Foundation.

The change authority decides. The schedule only tells everyone. Change authority — What it is: The person or group that authorises a change; What it decides: Whether this change goes ahead; What it does NOT do: Plan the calendar or resolve clashes. Change schedule — What it is: A planning and communication tool; What it decides: Nothing — it records and informs; What it does NOT do: Authorise anything at all Change authority Change schedule What it is The person or group that authorises a change A planning and communication tool What it decides Whether this change goes ahead Nothing — it records and informs What it does NOT do Plan the calendar or resolve clashes Authorise anything at all
The change authority decides. The schedule only tells everyone.

The change authority

A change authority is simply the person or group that authorises a change. It is not necessarily a committee, not necessarily senior, and in a lot of modern arrangements it is a peer reviewer on the same team. What determines who it is for a given change is the change model that applies to that type of change.

The reason the exam bothers with the term is that candidates arrive expecting an advisory board sitting weekly. Assigning authority as close to the work as the risk allows is the direction ITIL 4 points in, so an option describing a single central board as a requirement is describing something the framework does not insist on.

The change schedule, and what it is not

The change schedule supports planning and communication: it helps avoid conflicts between changes, and it helps assign resources. That is the value being tested, and the three parts of it — planning, communication, conflict avoidance, plus resourcing — are worth being able to list.

What the schedule does not do is authorise anything. Being on the schedule is not permission, and permission does not come from the calendar. That separation is the whole point of the two terms being examined side by side, and it is also why emergency changes are normally ABSENT from the schedule when they are first raised: they are authorised through a compressed route and added to the record afterwards. Standard and normal changes are on it; emergency changes catch up.

What each phrase is really naming, and which of the three grants permission. Left column, The phrase in the option; right column, The term it names. Planning the calendar of changes, Telling everyone what is coming, Keeping two changes from clashing and Lining up who and what is needed all point at The change schedule (Standard and normal changes are on it, but it authorises nothing). Deciding this change may go ahead points at The change authority (Permission comes from here, not from the calendar). Absent from the schedule when it is raised points at An emergency change (Authorised by a compressed route, then written up). The phrase in the option The term it names Planning the calendar of changes Telling everyone what is coming Keeping two changes from clashing Lining up who and what is needed The change schedule Standard and normal changes are on it, but it authorises nothing Deciding this change may go ahead The change authority Permission comes from here, not from the calendar Absent from the schedule when it is raised An emergency change Authorised by a compressed route, then written up
What each phrase is really naming, and which of the three grants permission.

Emergency changes, handled properly

When a critical service has failed and a fix has to go in as fast as possible, change enablement does not step aside. Assessment and authorisation are compressed and expedited, frequently through a separate change authority constituted for exactly this, rather than being skipped. Documentation may be completed after the fact; the authorisation itself is not retrospective.

The wording of the wrong options is worth recognising in advance: "authorisation is not required", "the change is applied and reviewed later", "the normal process is bypassed". Each sounds like what actually happens in a crisis, which is why it is offered.

In an emergency the authorisation still comes first; only the record is late. In order: A critical service has failed (The fix has to go in at speed), then Routed to an emergency authority (Often a separate one, set up for this), then Assessment and authorisation compressed (Expedited, not skipped), then The fix is applied (Permission was granted before, not after), then The record catches up (Documentation and the schedule entry). A critical service has failed The fix has to go in at speed Routed to an emergency authority Often a separate one, set up for this Assessment and authorisation compressed Expedited, not skipped The fix is applied Permission was granted before, not after The record catches up Documentation and the schedule entry
In an emergency the authorisation still comes first; only the record is late.

Worth carrying in

Change authority
The person or group that authorises a change. Assigned by the change model.
Change schedule
Planning and communication: avoid conflicts, assign resources. Authorises nothing.
Emergency and the schedule
Normally absent when raised; recorded afterwards.
Compressed authorisation
Expedited assessment through a separate authority. Not an absence of authorisation.

What the exam does with this

Objective
7. Seven ITIL practices in detail
Share of the exam
47.5% (the whole objective)
Questions in this lesson
5
Signed for by a person
0

Partly checked. None of the 5 questions here has been read against the cited source by a person. 5 questions have been checked against their cited clause by an automated pass — which is not the same thing, and is not a signature.

Only questions a person has signed for are used in mock exams here. That is the whole difference between the two kinds of checking above.

How these questions are written — where each question comes from, what the verification ledger records, and what happens when one is found wrong.

Drill this lesson

A lesson is one sitting: the trainer draws a short run from these questions alone and spaces the ones you get wrong.

Practise Change authorities and the change schedule

Questions in this lesson

Practise Change authorities and the change schedule

The rest of objective 7