Should not Implement change request before Planned start date

[dipak_thakor]

In ITIL change management, a change record should only move to the “Implement” state from a preceding state (e.g., “Scheduled”) after the Planned Start Date has passed. Transitioning before this date violates ITIL best practices, which stress structured scheduling and coordination to reduce risk.

Why This Is Important

• Risk Reduction – Implementing early increases the likelihood of conflicts, environment instability, and unplanned disruptions.

• Operational Readiness – The pre-implementation period ensures all preparations—resources, approvals, and tasks—are complete.

• ITIL Compliance – The ITIL Change Enablement process depends on disciplined, structured execution; early changes undermine this control.

How to identify change records:

To identify change records, that have been implemented before the planned start date. Navigate to the  change request table list view, use filter conditions that look for any Change Request where state is Implemented and Planned Start Date is after, current minute e.g.

https://<instancename>.service-now.com/change_request_list.do?sysparm_query=state%3D-1%5Estart_date%3Ejavascript%3Ags.endOfCurrentMinute()&sysparm_view=

Preventative measures

Rule enforcement in ServiceNow. Identify the UI action that transitions a change record to “Implement.” Use a

Validation Script  i.e. insert logic that checks if the current date is earlier than the Planned Start Date. If so, prevent the transition and display an appropriate message. Finally remember to test thoroughly, after adding the script, test it to ensure it correctly blocks the transition and that the error message appears when attempting to move the change to "Implement" too early.