Overview of the change management approval process
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 Approving-the-change-request-by-using-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 Approving-the-change-request-by-using-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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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How approvals are handled for emergency change requests
Depending on how the application administrator has configured the application, change requests that have been designated as emergencies can be allowed to bypass the approval process even if they normally require approval. In this case, the emergency change request is not held up waiting for approvals. For more information, see Creating-an-emergency-change-request.
The following possible configurations can occur for handling approvals for emergency change requests:
- The application administrator can configure emergency change requests to bypass the normal change states and approval process. To configure a new approval process for emergency changes, the application administrator must create a new approval process for your company. As a result, when a change manager or change coordinator creates a change and selects Emergency in the Class (Timing) field, the new approval process phase is then used. For more information, see Setting-up-an-emergency-change-process-that-bypasses-the-approval-process.
- The change manager or the change coordinator can choose to add approvers to the process. The Approval Status field is set to Approval Required.
- If the change manager assigns approvers, the approval process proceeds as usual.
- If the change manager does not assign approvers, the Approval status is set to Approved, and the change request can be implemented.
- If the change request is designated as an emergency and your organization uses the Change Management chain approval process, the manager of the Requested For user (in the Requester tab) is the first approver in the management chain. If the Requested For fields are empty, the emergency approval process is bypassed. Change managers can add more approvers if appropriate. They cannot delete approvers.
Alternate approvers
You can designate alternate approvers by using the Approval Administration Console in BMC Helix ITSM.
Like primary approvers, alternate approvers can also receive notifications about change requests requiring approval. These change requests appear in the Updates feed on the Dashboard. Alternate approvers can locate change requests that require approval by using filters in the Ticket Console.
If you are both a primary and alternate approver for a change request, of if you are an alternate approver for more than one person, your "signature" might be needed more than once. When you make your decision (approve, reject, and hold), it applies to all of the approvals under your name for that change request.