Preface

This guide is for the current change management process as of 2019-07-22. Please note that this process has many, many issues and pushes for the adoption of DevOps to improve or replace ANY parts of the process are highly recommended.

Guide

Getting Started

Fun Fact: There’s a web version and a Citrix version. Web version seems better, and by better, I mean terrible. But still better.

Open up http://smgs/ and login
Change Management à Open New Change
Select Software

Filling out the Details

Fun Fact: SMGS LOVES CAPITAL LETTERS. USE CAPITALS.

Fill out the details as below. You can partially fill them and click the weird box next to it to complete the fill:

You need to specify that you’re initiating the change, that you’re the coordinator (unless someone tells you to make the change for them, you could ask if they want to coordinate it). Identify the service and environment, change these appropriately.
Fill in a title, following the given format, and similar details:

You should include the enhancement, bug fixes, and a reference to a change request for any DB changes in ACC
Choose the risk factors, and the planned time for all the tasks that will need to be done:

Time Sensitive: A change needs to be submitted for approval before Thursday, in order to make a change, at the earliest, on the following Wednesday. More about approvals later!

Fill out Impact/Justification

Fun Fact: I’ve never seen any of this matter to anyone

If there is an impact to users or services, specify it here

2. Justify why the change is being made

3. Specify the backout plan

Submitting for Task Creation

Save and close your change, then re-open it from the queue.

2. The change should now be in change review:

3. Create a plan

Your plan should include all the steps needed to make the change. Here we identify timelines, groups that need to be involved, what they need to do, etc.

4. Once you’re done, Save à Close – Re-Open. Note that it’s now in the Change Assessment & Planning state

Time Sensitive: It’s (somehow) your responsibility to have your change in the waiting for approval state before end of work day Thursday (4:00 EST). Generally having the change created before noon at Thursday is a reasonable timeframe. No guarantees! Check your changes often (but don’t leave them open, or it’ll be locked).

Tasks

At this point, you need to wait for the tasks to be created. You should close the window but come back to it on a regular basis to see if the tasks has been created on the task page.
NOTE: You could create your own tasks afterwards, but someone usually does it for you.
Once the tasks have been created, you must close up the relevant tasks once they have been completed

3. Copy the files to the specified folder. At some point, they will come along and copy the files to a mystery intermediate location. If you update your files later on, you will have to let someone know to update them. This is the cycle: