Change Management in ServiceNow, including Emergency Change.

[Dinesh_Now]

1. What is a Change in ServiceNow?

A Change is any addition, modification, or removal of IT services, systems, or infrastructure that could impact the business.

• Managed through Change Management in ServiceNow.

• Helps ensure changes are planned, approved, tested, and documented.

• Reduces risk and downtime.

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2. Uses of Change Management

1. Control IT changes to minimize risk.

2. Ensure changes are approved before implementation.

3. Track change history and impact.

4. Maintain compliance and audit readiness.

5. Improve coordination between teams during changes.

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3. How to Create a Change in ServiceNow

Step-by-Step:

1. Go to Change → Create New in the Application Navigator.

2. Select Change Type: Standard, Normal, or Emergency.

3. Fill required fields:

   • Short Description

   • Assignment Group

   • Configuration Items (CI)

   • Planned Start/End Date

4. Set Risk and Impact.

5. Add Tasks if needed: Implementation Task, Test Task, Backout Task.

6. Submit → Change enters workflow for approval and scheduling.

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4. Emergency Change (EC)

Definition:

An Emergency Change is a change that must be implemented immediately to resolve a critical incident or prevent imminent impact.

• Used for high-impact issues where normal approval would cause delays.

• Usually bypasses standard approval workflow but is still documented and reviewed post-implementation.

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Emergency Change Process in ServiceNow:

1. Identify Need: Critical incident or urgent issue.

2. Create Emergency Change: Select Change Type → Emergency.

3. Fill Details: Include reason, impact, risk, and affected CI.

4. Approval: Usually CAB approval after implementation (Post Implementation Review) or via Emergency CAB.

5. Implementation: Immediate execution of change.

6. Post-Implementation Review (PIR): Document lessons learned, verify success, close change.

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Key Notes:

• Standard Change: Pre-approved, low risk.

• Normal Change: Requires full approval, medium/high risk.

• Emergency Change: Immediate, high urgency, documented after implementation

[GlideFather · Accepted solution]

Hi @Dinesh_Now,

regarding the emergency changes, you said "Usually bypasses standard approval workflow but is still documented and reviewed post-implementation." and "Approval: Usually CAB approval after implementation (Post Implementation Review) or via Emergency CAB."

Can you please elaborate a bit more and explain why do you say that emergency changes have approval ex-post (after implementation)? I would disagree with that! Clearly an emergency change requires a prompt action but it still must be authorised by CAB (eCAB if you will). I agree it can be documented after implementation, but not without authorisation.

Your post seems to claim that emergency change can be implemented WITHOUT any approval. Are you sure about that? In my understanding, this process might be simplified or accelerated but not skipped.

Please review this documentation about Change Types. 

Can you please explain and share the sources that you used?

[Dr Atul G- LNG]

Click like this and edit.

[Dinesh_Now]

Updating--- for now unable to edit

Emergency change

A change that must be implemented as soon as possible, for example to resolve a major incident or implement a security patch. This change is of such a high priority that it bypasses group and peer review and approval and goes straight to the Authorization state for approval by the CAB approval group.

Emergency changes cover the following types of emergencies:

• Fix on fail or retroactive situations where the impact to service has already been experienced.
• Fail or fail situations where the impact to service is imminent if action is not taken.

These changes do not follow the complete life cycle of a normal change due to the speed with which they must be authorized. Therefore, they progress directly to the Authorize state for approval from the CAB Approval group.

During an emergency change, there are chances that an unplanned CI change activity occurs. During such a case, an unauthorized change request is created and sent for approvals. For more information, see Unauthorized change request.

  --  Thank you for correcting and educating me..