Emergency Change Authorization Request

In the event of an urgent issue or service outage, IT changes may need to be implemented outside of the normal change management process. This helps restore services as quickly as possible while minimizing business impact and risk.

When to Request an Emergency Change

An emergency change request should only be submitted for high priority incidents when one or more of the following conditions apply:

• There is a critical system or application outage impacting multiple users
• There is a security vulnerability that creates significant risk and exposure
• A temporary workaround or fix is required to restore service while a permanent change is pending

Emergency changes should be the exception rather than the norm. All efforts should first be made to follow the standard change management process for non-emergency changes.

How to Request an Emergency Change

To request an emergency change, please follow these steps:

1. Open a high priority ticket in the IT Service Desk describing:
   • The issue, outage, or vulnerability
   • Why it requires an emergency change
   • Proposed change details (rollout plan, downtime, test plan, backout plan)
2. The IT Change Manager will review the request urgently
3. If approved, follow instructions to schedule and implement the emergency change
4. The emergency change advisory board (CAB) will convene to evaluate next steps

Emergency changes require final approval from the IT Director and business stakeholders based on criticality and risk assessment.

Rules for Emergency Changes

When implementing an approved emergency change, all teams must adhere to the following rules:

• Assemble a team qualified to execute the change quickly
• Have rollback and backout plans vetted in case of issues
• Provide detailed communication about impacts and downtime
• Follow standard operation procedures like peer review and testing to the fullest extent possible
• Document everything during and after the change

Emergency changes are still subject to audit, so meticulous records are required. Don't hesitate to request an emergency change when a qualifying situation arises - the IT team will work diligently to resolve the issue.