Change management in TOPdesk: start light, extend later

Change management in TOPdesk can stall in two ways. It goes unused, or it is set up so heavily that colleagues work around it. Either way, when there is an outage you cannot tell what changed, when and by whom.

The module can do a lot, from activities across several departments to checks along the way and an evaluation phase. You do not have to start there. Start small, with a few choices made beforehand, and extend once practice calls for it.

Simple and extensive changes

TOPdesk has two types of change. A Simple Change has no underlying activities and can be carried out by one person. You register it much like a call, with one difference: the change must be authorised before you process it. An Extensive Change consists of multiple activities, which may be carried out by different departments.

In the general settings of Change Management you switch on one type or both. Start with the Simple Change. With both types switched on, you can always convert a Simple Change that turns out bigger into an Extensive Change, even when it is already in progress. The reverse only works while no activities have been created.

Four choices to make beforehand

1. What counts as a change

Agree which changes go through Change Management, and start narrow: changes to systems and settings that others depend on. A request that carries no risk for anyone else can stay a call. The definition can be short, as long as everyone knows it.

2. Categories

Which categories are available for Change Management is set under Settings > Functional Settings, in Categories and Subcategories. Keep the list short and structure it around what you want to report on later, such as system or team.

3. Who authorises

A Request for Change must be approved by an operator before the change is carried out. That requires a separate authorisation: operators who may only edit requests cannot approve or reject them. You set who may do so in the permission groups. Keep the group of approvers small, with a stand-in, so a request does not wait on someone's absence.

A Preliminary Request for Change can come before that. Here a manager approves the request first, for example in the TOPdesk SelfServicePortal. You switch this step on separately in the settings. If no template was selected, or the template does not say who authorises the preliminary request, TOPdesk fills in the manager from the Manager field on the requester's person card. Only use this step if the manager genuinely has something to decide, such as costs. Otherwise it only adds waiting time.

Also agree what happens when something cannot wait. On the change card you then mark it as an Emergency Change. Settle in advance who decides and who completes the registration afterwards.

4. Standard changes and templates

A template contains the content of a recurring change. Select it when submitting the request and TOPdesk copies its details. On the template card you record, among other things:

• The category, and whether it is a Simple or an Extensive Change.
• Who authorises the Preliminary Request for Change and the Request for Change.
• The status the request gets on submission, for example approved straight away.
• Where the template can be selected: for a new Request for Change, from a call and in the TOPdesk SelfServicePortal, optionally restricted to certain categories, callers or object types.

Templates are how you set up standard changes: changes that occur often, with a known risk and fixed steps. If you tick Approved for the Request for Change in the template, someone without authorisation rights can also approve such a request by selecting the template. This does not work if the template has activities in the request phase. Only use it for changes whose course you know. With the Type field, which you switch on in the settings, you also record on the card whether a change is standard.

Start with the changes that come back most often. A template for every conceivable situation only makes the drop-down list harder to use.

Extending from there

Extend based on what you see, not in advance. A process that is heavier than the changes themselves gets bypassed. We wrote about that in Streamlining ITSM processes in five steps. Three signals that a next step makes sense, with what TOPdesk offers for each:

• Several teams per change: switch on extensive changes. You plan the activities on the Planner tab. Recurring activities are recorded as Activity Templates, which you link to one or more change templates as a mandatory or optional element. Our article on TOPdesk integration with Entra ID and HR has an example for a new joiner.
• Follow-up after implementation: the Evaluation functionality gives an Extensive Change an evaluation phase. You can then schedule activities after the implementation date, and the change only closes once that phase is approved.
• A check halfway: Authorization Activities give an Extensive Change an extra approval moment, for example by a manager in the TOPdesk SelfServicePortal. The next activity can only start after that check.

All three rely on change activities, and according to TOPdesk's documentation these are not available in TOPdesk Professional.

Linking changes and calls

You only see what changed, when and by whom once changes and calls are linked. On the Links tab of a change you record which calls the change resolved and which it caused. Make that linking a fixed part of resolving a call. The Report Wizard for changes then lets you report on those linked calls. To see per asset whether outages follow shortly after a change, read about asset reporting in TOPdesk on aureadesk.com.

In closing

A lightly configured change process that everyone uses delivers more than a complete process that colleagues work around.

If you want Change Management set up or reconfigured, that falls under our TOPdesk consultancy. We design the process flow and configure the module so that it fits your day-to-day practice.