What is the Use of Outside maintenance schedule field in Change request form

[Atik]

Hello,

As I am working on the change management form I can see there is a check box field named 'Outside maintenance schedule'.

Can anyone help me to understand the use of that checkbox, i guess it is related to the schedule of the change but not able to understand the exact structure.

Please help me with this.

Thanks,

Atik Bagwan

[Deepak Shaerma]

Hi  @Atik 

Purpose of “Outside maintenance schedule” Checkbox:

1. Maintenance Windows: Organizations often designate specific time frames, known as “maintenance windows,” during which IT maintenance activities and changes are allowed to take place. These windows are scheduled during off-peak hours or times when the impact on business operations and users is minimized.

2. Scheduling Changes: When planning and scheduling changes, Change Managers or IT personnel aim to fit these activities within predefined maintenance windows to ensure minimal disruption and to adhere to established best practices.

3. Identifying Exceptions: Sometimes, a change needs to be implemented outside of these standard maintenance windows. This could be due to the urgency of the issue being addressed, such as a critical security patch, or because the change needs to be implemented at a specific time to align with business requirements or external factors.

### How “Outside maintenance schedule” is Used:

- Flagging Exceptional Changes: The “Outside maintenance schedule” checkbox is used to flag changes that are scheduled outside of these predefined maintenance windows. It serves as a clear indicator that the change is an exception to standard practices.

- Review and Approval Processes: Changes flagged as being outside the maintenance schedule may require additional levels of review or different approval processes. Since these changes carry a higher risk of impacting business operations, they might need scrutiny from higher-level management or specific committees.

- Communication and Coordination: Marking a change as outside the maintenance window also signals the need for enhanced communication and coordination efforts. Stakeholders and affected parties may need to be informed about the potential for disruption or downtime, and additional measures may need to be taken to mitigate impact.

### Implications:

- Risk Management: Implementing changes outside maintenance windows can introduce higher risks and potential for disruption. Organizations must weigh the necessity and urgency of the change against these risks.

- Audit and Compliance: Tracking which changes were implemented outside standard maintenance windows is important for audit purposes and for evaluating the change management process. It can provide insights into the frequency of exceptions and help in refining scheduling strategies or maintenance window definitions.


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Thanks & Regards 
Deepak Sharma 

[Dr Atul G- LNG]

Hi @Atik 

As the field said, outside maintenance schedule, means the this change is going to deploy outside the maintenance , means the change is not going as per maintenance schedule.

maintenance schedule means, where changes are allowed to deploy in prod. So if you dont want to run the conflict then you can use this field or on basis of conflict you can set the value.

[Atik]

@Dr Atul G- LNG is it the only indicator or any workflow process will be triggered based on checked and unchecked the checkbox of the Outside maintenance schedule field???

[Dr Atul G- LNG]

Hi @Atik 

No, currently OOTB there is no impact / affect of this value as true/ false , you can use this in workflow / flow as per your requirement.