Basic OT Change Model playbook

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  • Updated March 12, 2026
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    Summary of Basic OT Change Model playbook

    The Basic Operational Technology (OT) Change Model playbook outlines the stages an OT change request must undergo without approvals until completion. It facilitates systematic tracking and execution of changes in operational technology environments.

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    Key Features

    1. Initiate

    This stage captures essential details of the change request through the following tasks:

    • Describe the change: Capture short and detailed descriptions, category, site, and notifications.
    • Capture risk: Assess priority, risk level, and impact on industrial processes.
    • Assign the change: Identify the requester, the assignment group, and the user responsible for the change.

    2. Plan

    This stage allows for comprehensive planning involving:

    • Add a justification: State the reason for the change.
    • Add implementation plan: Detail how to implement the change.
    • Add risk and impact analysis: Note any associated risks and impacts.
    • Add backout plan: Outline how to reverse the change if needed.
    • Add test plan: Describe the testing procedure for the implemented change.
    • Schedule the change: Set planned start and end dates for the change.

    3. Implement

    This stage involves performing the change on the OT devices. It is marked complete once the change is successfully executed.

    4. Close

    Finalize the change record by providing a close code and additional notes about the closure.

    Key Outcomes

    By following the Basic OT Change Model playbook, ServiceNow customers can ensure a structured approach to managing OT changes, enhancing operational efficiency and minimizing risks associated with technology alterations.

    Learn about the Basic Operational Technology (OT) Change Model playbook stages that an OT change without approvals must go through until it’s completed.

    Initiate

    The Initiate stage of an OT change request lets you capture the details of the requested change and assign the change as necessary. This stage has three tasks.
    Table 1. Describe the change
    Field Description
    Short description Brief description of the change.
    Description Details of the change.
    Category Type of change.
    Site Site where the change takes place.
    Watch list Users who receive notifications about this change when comments are added.
    Work notes list Users who receive notifications about this change when work notes are added.
    Table 2. Capture risk
    Field Description
    Priority Impact and urgency to identify how quickly the change should be addressed.
    Risk Amount of risk that the change poses.
    Impact Measure of the effect that a change has on your industrial processes.
    Table 3. Assign the change
    Field Description
    Requested by User who requests the change.
    Assignment group Assigned group that works on the change. The assignment group can be any group with the type OT.
    Assigned to User who works on this change. If the assignment group changes, the Assigned to field is cleared.

    Plan

    The Plan stage of an OT Change request lets you add a justification for the change, an implementation plan, a risk and impact plan, a backout plan, a test plan, and a time to schedule the change. This stage has six tasks.

    Table 4. Add a justification
    Field Description
    Justification Reason why the change must take place.
    Table 5. Add implementation plan
    Field Description
    Implementation plan Details of how to implement the requested change.
    Table 6. Add risk and impact analysis
    Field Description
    Risk and impact analysis Details of any risk and impact factors that are related to this change.
    Table 7. Add backout plan
    Field Description
    Backout plan Details of how to reverse the change in place if necessary.
    Table 8. Add test plan
    Field Description
    Test plan Details of how to test the implemented change.
    Table 9. Schedule the change
    Field Description
    Planned start date Date that the change takes place.
    Note:
    You can also choose an available downtime slot on the calendar by selecting the Scheduling Assistant button to fill in the planned start date field automatically.
    Planned end date Date that the change ends.
    Note:
    You can also choose an available downtime slot on the calendar by selecting the Scheduling Assistant button to fill in the planned end date field automatically.

    Implement

    The Implement stage of an OT change request provides the details of the following task. You can mark this stage as complete when it's finished.

    Perform the change
    Mark as complete when the change is performed on the targeted OT devices and completed.

    Close

    The Close stage lets you close the change record after the change is completed.
    Table 10. Close the change record
    Field Description
    Close code Reason that the change record was closed.
    Close notes Additional details about closing the change record.