A Change Advisory Board (CAB) is a group of professionals from different areas of an organisation responsible for overseeing and managing changes to its IT systems and business processes. It plays a vital role in enhancing an organisation’s adaptability and resilience in response to changing business needs.
Purpose of a CAB
Supporting change management
Effective change management is integral to a company’s success. The CAB is responsible for reviewing and approving change requests at CAB meetings and ensuring that all changes are incorporated in a controlled manner.
Ensuring business continuity
The CAB advises on the execution of planned changes to minimise disruptions to operations and ensure that business activities continue to run smoothly.
Assessing risks
It identifies all possible risks associated with planned changes and assesses their impact on company operations and systems. It may also propose adjustments to business processes and policies to minimise these risks.
Responsibilities
Reviewing change requests: Assesses change requests from various stakeholders to determine their potential impact on company operations, policies and IT infrastructure, ensuring that the requested changes are justified, practical and aligned with the company’s strategic objectives.
Evaluating risks and benefits: Identifies the risks associated with implementing proposed changes, such as those to data confidentiality and security, and promptly communicates them to all relevant stakeholders.
Standardising decision-making: Establishes a standardised process for evaluating change requests to ensure uniform decision-making and minimise potential discrepancies that arise from individual interpretations.
Prioritising changes: Ranking change requests based on their potential impact to ensure that the most significant changes are handled first, optimising the use of time and resources.
Monitoring implementation: Ensures that changes are incorporated systematically to avoid disrupting business continuity or exposing new vulnerabilities.
Post-implementation review: A review of the effectiveness of changes made is reported to the CAB. This determines if the results align with intended outcomes, identifying any operational gaps so the CAB can refine its processes.
Composition
Core members
Change manager: Leads meetings and guides decision-making to ensure all relevant aspects of proposed changes are considered.
Operations manager: Oversees the day-to-day functioning of the organisation's systems and processes and provides crucial insights into how proposed changes will affect operational efficiency and the continuity of services.
Business relationship manager: Works directly with clients and partners, ensuring that changes align with customer expectations and business partnerships.
Technical experts
IT head: Offers high-level knowledge of digital solutions and how changes may impact the overall IT infrastructure.
Information security officer: Responsible for advising on the security implications of probable threats, system vulnerabilities and compliance issues caused by the proposed changes.
Senior network engineer: Manages the company’s network infrastructure, offering critical input on how changes could impact connectivity, performance and scalability.
Business stakeholders
Department heads: Represent their teams and convey the impact of changes on their operations, helping to prevent disruptions in departmental workflows.
Project managers: Supervise current projects and identify how proposed changes may impact deliverables, timelines and costs.
Other members
Additional members may include external consultants specialising in change management and representatives from risk management, legal, finance, and HR departments, depending on the company’s change management needs.
Best practices for holding CAB meetings
Prepare a well-structured meeting agenda that highlights all completed and outstanding changes, new requests, emergency changes and the next course of action.
All relevant stakeholders must be present in each meeting to provide different perspectives and inform decision-making.
Start each meeting by going over past changes and assessing their outcomes to inform future strategies and process changes.
Reserve time to examine and discuss the impact of each change proposal on key areas of operation before making a decision.
Establish a format where members can share their opinions and express concerns openly, adding transparency to decision-making.
Create protocols for evaluating and approving emergency changes to handle issues swiftly while still implementing essential checks.
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