ITIL for Beginners: How To Create a Backout Plan
It is not the best moment of the week, when after long hours of preparations and intense work during an implementation window, your change fails. Moreover, it breaks other things as well. Sometimes, it is evident right after implementation, but sometimes you find out hours or days later. If you are fortunate, you can apply an emergency change to fix a pretty apparent root cause, e.g. missing one of the items on the implementation checklist. However, in many cases it will not be possible and you will need to back out the change. A key to a successful backout is to have a plan. Yes, a backout plan, the thing that is often overlooked. After all, you want your backout to be an honorable surrender, not a panic escape. In order to limit damage to the business, and your reputation, you need to stay in control of the situation. To do that, the team of engineers need to know what to do and the Service Desk needs to keep the business informed. A backout plan is intended to keep you in control. I...