Formal Change Lifecycle

A change order (CO) manages the change process that defines, evaluates, and implements changes to existing items.

Note: A CO with the formal change policy can have child change orders that have either the fast track or formal change policy.

The formal Change lifecycle governs change orders and includes these states:

This page discusses:

Draft

Once created, a formal change CO begins in the Draft state. The CO initiator is the CO owner in this state and can view all change actions (CAs) connected to it. Proposed changes can be added. The CO owner with a Configuration Engineer license can define and edit applicability in this state. The Change Coordinator must be assigned before promoting the CO to the Evaluate state.

Evaluate

Once a CO is promoted to the Evaluate state, its ownership is transferred to the Change Coordinator, who assesses the CO and defines the reviewer list. Proposed changes can be added or split. The CO owner with a Configuration Engineer license can define or edit applicability in this state. The CO can also be canceled while in the Evaluate state.

Before you can promote the CO from the Evaluate state to the Review state, these requirements must be met:

  • At least one proposed change must be attached.
  • A parent CO can be promoted to Evaluation Review if none of its child COs are in the Canceled state.
  • All Assignees and Senior Assignees must be assigned for each CA.
  • The reviewer list must be assigned.
  • No controlled documents can be attached to the CO as candidate items. To promote the CO, either remove the controlled document as a candidate item or attach the controlled document as proposed changes.

After all requirements are met, routes and their appropriate tasks are started and placed between the Review and In Work states. Reviewer list users are notified regarding route and task assignments.

If the CO is demoted to the Draft state, the CO originator resumes ownership.

Evaluation Review

The Evaluation Review state acts as a transition where the evaluation ends and implementation starts. When the CO is in the Evaluation Review state, all stakeholders must approve the CO before it can be implemented. Review route tasks must be completed and proposed changes cannot be added.

These users can define and edit applicability for a CO while it is in this state:

  • CO owner
  • Change Coordinator
  • Leader
  • Owner
All related objects assigned to attributes in a Conditional Questionnaire that match the CO's attributes are automatically added to the CO when it is promoted to Evaluation Review.

In Work

The In Work state starts the implementation, which enables Assignees to begin work on their changes actions.

Note: The Assignee is notified when the CA is either promoted or demoted from the In Work state.

Candidate Items cannot be added. Once the last CA is promoted to the Completed state, the CO automatically promotes from the In Work state to the Approval state. The CA then and starts a route between In Approval and Completed states. Notification is sent to all users on the approval list. If the CO has at least one child CO, any child CO that is either not approved or is canceled will prevent the parent from being promoted to “In Approval”. In Work is the last state for a CO in which a child CO can be added to it.

These users with a Configuration Engineer license can define and edit applicability for a CO while it is in this state:

  • CO owner
  • Change Coordinator
  • Leader
  • Owner

In Approval

The CO can be promoted to the In Approval state only after all the CAs connected to the CO are in the Approved state. When the CO is in the In Approval state, an approval route starts and is placed between the In Approval and the Approved states. This approval is just a formality and does not impact completed CAs. All prerequisites must be in the Completed state. Review route templates cannot be used to approve the CO. If a review template has already been applied to the CO, an approval route template is automatically generated for users to approve the CO. If the CO does not have a child CO, completing the route promotes the CO to the Completed state and all members of the distribution list are notified. If the CO has a child CO, completeting the route promotes the CO to the Approved state. The CO can only be manually demoted from this state (the Demote command is disabled). The CAs are moved to Completed only when their governing CO is in the Completed state. A parent CO will be automatically promoted to “In Approval” when the last child CO or CA is promoted to the Approved state. Promoting the parent to “In Approval” is blocked if one or more of its children is not approved or is canceled.

In Approval is that last state in which applicability for a CO can be defined. Users with a Configuration Engineer license and any of these roles can define the applicability for a CO:

  • CO owner
  • Change Coordinator
  • Leader
  • Owner/Administrator

Approved

The Approved lifecycle state is shown for all COs but only COs that are children of other COs are held at this state.

  • A CO without a child CO is automatically promoted from In Approval to the Completed state and is not held in the Approved state
  • A child CO can be promoted up to the Approved state regardless of the state of its parent CO.
  • Once approved, a child CO cannot be demoted from the Approved state until the parent CO is demoted to In Work or earlier.
  • If one or more child COs cannot be promoted, the parent CO will not be promoted.

Completed

When the CO reaches the Completed state, the Change Coordinator, distribution list members, originator, and approval list members are notified. Decisions cannot be created or added to a CO that is in the Completed state. A CO in the Completed state cannot be added as an agenda item under a meeting nor can it be added as an applicable item under a decision. Once the CO is in the Completed state, proposed changes and candidate items are promoted to their final state.

If one or more child COs cannot be promoted, the parent CO will not be promoted. A CO without a child CO is automatically promoted from In Approval to the Completed state. The parent CO and its COs must be promoted separately.

  • If one or more child COs cannot be promoted, the parent CO will not be promoted.
  • A CO without a child CO is automatically promoted from In Approval to the Completed state.
  • Promoting the parent CO to the Completed state promotes all of its child change orders and associated change actions to Completed.
  • A child CO cannot be promoted to Completed before its parent CO is promoted to Completed.

Change objects that have dependent change objects cannot be completed until the dependent change objects are completed. Dependent change objects can be promoted to any state before the Completed state.