Change Management Lab

Task 1: Request for Change (RFC)

Change Title *

Change Type *

Business Justification *

Requested By *

Department *

Implementation Plan *

Rollback Plan *

Proposed Date *

Maintenance Window *

Task 2: Impact & Risk Assessment

Systems Affected *

MAIL-SRV-01 (Exchange) AD-DC-01 (Domain Controller) SQL-SRV-01 (Database) All Outlook Clients Mobile Email (ActiveSync) Web Server

User Impact *

Risk Level Assessment *

Click to select the appropriate risk level:

Low Impact

Med Impact

High Impact

High Likelihood

Medium

High

Critical

Med Likelihood

Low

Medium

High

Low Likelihood

Low

Medium

Mitigation Measures

Full backup before change Test in sandbox first Notify users in advance On-call support during window Documented rollback procedure

Task 3: Detailed Rollback Plan

Every change must have a rollback plan. Create a detailed procedure for reverting this change if something goes wrong.

Why Rollback Plans Matter

If the Exchange patch causes issues (email outage, data corruption, service failures), you need to restore service quickly. The rollback plan must be clear enough for any team member to execute.

Rollback Trigger Criteria *

Rollback Steps (in order) *

Estimated Rollback Time *

Rollback Decision Authority *

Backup Verification *

Full system backup verified before change Exchange database backup tested for restore System state backup created Backup stored on separate media/location

Task 4: CAB Presentation

Present your change request to the Change Advisory Board. Answer their questions to demonstrate readiness.

CAB Meeting Agenda

The CAB needs to understand the business justification, technical approach, risk assessment, and rollback capability before approving any change.

Sarah Chen (IT Manager)

Can you explain why this change cannot wait until the next scheduled maintenance window in 3 weeks?

Question 1: Why is this urgent?

"Microsoft told us to patch immediately."

"This CVE has a CVSS score of 9.8 (Critical) and allows remote code execution. Active exploitation has been observed in the wild. Delaying 3 weeks significantly increases our risk of compromise. The vulnerability affects our internet-facing Exchange server."

"We usually patch right away. It's just standard procedure."

Task 6: Sandbox Testing

Execute the change in the test environment before production deployment.

Test Environment

Server: MAIL-TEST-01 (Staging)

Status: Ready for testing

1. Create system backup

2. Download security patch

3. Install patch on test server

4. Verify services restart

5. Run functional tests

6. Verify patch version

SANDBOX TERMINAL - MAIL-TEST-01

C:\> Ready to execute test procedures...

Task 7: Execute Change in Maintenance Window

It is now the scheduled maintenance window. Execute the change on the production server.

Maintenance Window Active

Window: Saturday 2:00 AM - 6:00 AM (4 hours)

Pre-change notification: Sent to all users via email

Pre-Implementation Checklist *

Full backup completed and verified Change freeze confirmed (no other changes) On-call team notified and available Rollback plan printed and accessible User notification sent Monitoring dashboards open

Implementation Log *

Issues Encountered During Implementation

Task 8: Verify Change Success & Document Lessons Learned

Verify the change was successful and document lessons learned for the change record.

Post-Implementation Verification *

Exchange services running normally Users can send/receive email Mobile devices syncing (ActiveSync) No critical errors in Event Logs Patch version confirmed: 15.2.1118.26 OWA (Outlook Web Access) functional Calendar and contacts sync working

Change Status *

Actual Downtime *

Lessons Learned *

Follow-up Actions

Change Management Lifecycle

Hint

Change Request Background

Your Task

Task 1: Request for Change (RFC)

Task 2: Impact & Risk Assessment

Task 3: Detailed Rollback Plan

Why Rollback Plans Matter

Task 4: CAB Presentation

CAB Meeting Agenda

CAB Feedback: Presentation Approved

Task 5: CAB Approval Voting

Task 6: Sandbox Testing

Test Environment

Task 7: Execute Change in Maintenance Window

Maintenance Window Active

Task 8: Verify Change Success & Document Lessons Learned

Lab Complete!

Change Management Lab - A+ Core 2

Change Management Lifecycle

Hint

Change Request Background

Your Task

Task 1: Request for Change (RFC)

Task 2: Impact & Risk Assessment

Task 3: Detailed Rollback Plan

Why Rollback Plans Matter

Task 4: CAB Presentation

CAB Meeting Agenda

CAB Feedback: Presentation Approved

Task 5: CAB Approval Voting

Task 6: Sandbox Testing

Test Environment

Task 7: Execute Change in Maintenance Window

Maintenance Window Active

Task 8: Verify Change Success & Document Lessons Learned

Lab Complete!