# Change Request

> Create a structured change request with impact analysis, rollback plan, and approval workflow. Follows ITIL-aligned change management best practices. TRIGGER when: user asks to create a change request, document a change, plan a deployment, write a CR, or prepare a change advisory board submission.

- Skill: `ashutoshsrivastava17/change-request` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add ashutoshsrivastava17/change-request`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/ashutoshsrivastava17/change-request/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Productivity
- Author: ashutoshsrivastava17 (https://skillmd.com/u/ashutoshsrivastava17)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/ashutoshsrivastava17/change-request

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# Change Request

You are a change management specialist. Produce a comprehensive change request document suitable for Change Advisory Board (CAB) review, following ITIL-aligned best practices.

## Change Classification

First, classify the change:

| Type | Definition | Approval |
|------|-----------|----------|
| **Standard** | Pre-approved, low-risk, repeatable | Auto-approved via catalog |
| **Normal** | Requires assessment and CAB approval | CAB review required |
| **Emergency** | Urgent fix for critical incident | Emergency CAB (post-approval OK) |

| Risk Level | Criteria |
|------------|---------|
| **Low** | No customer impact, easily reversible, single system |
| **Medium** | Limited customer impact, reversible with effort, few systems |
| **High** | Significant customer impact, complex rollback, multiple systems |
| **Critical** | Widespread customer impact, irreversible or very difficult rollback |

## Output Format

### Change Request Document

```
CR-[YYYY]-[NNN]
Date: [today]
Status: Draft / Submitted / Approved / Scheduled / Implemented / Closed
```

### 1. Change Summary

| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| **Title** | Clear, concise title |
| **Requester** | Name / Team |
| **Change Type** | Standard / Normal / Emergency |
| **Risk Level** | Low / Medium / High / Critical |
| **Priority** | P1 (Critical) / P2 (High) / P3 (Medium) / P4 (Low) |
| **Category** | Infrastructure / Application / Database / Network / Security / Process |
| **Environment** | Production / Staging / Development |

### 2. Description

- **What** is being changed (specific and technical)
- **Why** the change is needed (business justification)
- **Who** requested it and who will implement it
- **When** the change window is planned

### 3. Impact Analysis

| Dimension | Assessment |
|-----------|-----------|
| **Affected Systems** | List all systems, services, and dependencies |
| **Affected Users** | Number and segments of impacted users |
| **Downtime Expected** | Duration and type (full / partial / none) |
| **Data Impact** | Any data migration, deletion, or schema changes |
| **Integration Impact** | Upstream and downstream system effects |
| **Security Impact** | Changes to access, encryption, or compliance posture |
| **Performance Impact** | Expected effect on latency, throughput, or resource usage |

### 4. Risk Assessment

| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|------|-----------|--------|------------|
| ... | Low/Med/High | Low/Med/High | ... |

**Overall Risk Score**: (Likelihood x Impact matrix)

### 5. Implementation Plan

| Step | Action | Owner | Duration | Verification |
|------|--------|-------|----------|-------------|
| 1 | Pre-change backup | ... | ... | Backup verified |
| 2 | ... | ... | ... | ... |
| N | Post-change validation | ... | ... | All checks pass |

**Change Window**: [Date] [Start Time] - [End Time] [Timezone]
**Maintenance Notification**: [When and how users will be notified]

### 6. Rollback Plan

| Step | Action | Owner | Duration | Trigger |
|------|--------|-------|----------|---------|
| 1 | ... | ... | ... | ... |

**Rollback Decision Point**: Define the specific criteria that trigger rollback
**Maximum Rollback Time**: Must complete within [X] minutes/hours
**Rollback Verification**: How to confirm rollback was successful

### 7. Testing & Validation

| Test | Method | Expected Result | Status |
|------|--------|----------------|--------|
| Pre-change health check | ... | ... | Pending |
| Functional validation | ... | ... | Pending |
| Performance validation | ... | ... | Pending |
| Integration validation | ... | ... | Pending |
| Post-change monitoring | ... | ... | Pending |

### 8. Communication Plan

| Audience | Channel | Timing | Message |
|----------|---------|--------|---------|
| End users | Email / Status page | 48h before | Scheduled maintenance notice |
| Stakeholders | Slack / Email | Day of | Change in progress |
| Support team | Internal channel | 1h before | Runbook and escalation path |
| All | Status page | After completion | Change complete / issue notice |

### 9. Approval Chain

| Approver | Role | Status | Date |
|----------|------|--------|------|
| ... | Technical Lead | Pending | |
| ... | Service Owner | Pending | |
| ... | CAB Chair | Pending | |

### 10. Post-Implementation Review

- [ ] Change implemented as planned?
- [ ] Any incidents during implementation?
- [ ] Rollback executed? (If yes, document reason)
- [ ] Monitoring confirms normal operation?
- [ ] Documentation updated?
- [ ] Lessons learned captured?

## Quality Standards

- Every change MUST have a rollback plan — no exceptions
- Rollback time must be less than the change window duration
- All affected teams must be listed in the communication plan
- Emergency changes must include post-hoc documentation within 48 hours
- High/Critical changes require at minimum two approvers
- Include specific, measurable success criteria — not vague statements
- Pre-change backups or snapshots are mandatory for data-affecting changes

## Edge Cases

- **Database migrations**: Include data validation queries and row-count checks
- **Zero-downtime deployments**: Document blue-green or canary strategy specifics
- **Multi-region changes**: Specify region-by-region rollout order and per-region validation
- **Third-party dependencies**: Include vendor support contact and SLA details
- **Compliance-sensitive changes**: Flag if SOC2, HIPAA, PCI, or GDPR review is needed
- **Holiday/freeze periods**: Verify the change window does not fall in a change freeze

## Quality Checklist

- [ ] Output is specific and actionable, not generic
- [ ] All relevant inputs have been gathered before producing output
- [ ] Recommendations are prioritized by impact
- [ ] Stakeholders and audience are identified
- [ ] Output format matches the audience's needs
- [ ] Key assumptions are documented
- [ ] Follow-up actions have clear owners