--- title: "Change Management: How Our Managed Service Handles Change" description: "Change management in a managed service: how IPTel assesses, approves, implements and reviews network changes so IT leaders can cut the risk of outages." image: https://blog.iptel.com.au/hubfs/Blogs/Managed%20Services%20Change%20Management/change-management-square-feature.jpg --- [![IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500 (1)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500%20(1).png?width=200&height=59&name=IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500%20(1).png "IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500 (1)")](https://iptel.com.au) - [Home](https://iptel.com.au/) - [Solutions](https://iptel.com.au/solutions) Technologies - [Cisco Access Manager](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-access-manager) - [Cisco Catalyst Center](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-catalyst-center) - [Cisco Meraki](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-meraki) - 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Change management is how a managed service keeps those changes safe. In this blog, we'll walk through how our managed service handles change, from the first request to the review afterwards. ![Managed services change management: change advisory board, risk assessment, implementation plan and rollback](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Managed%20Services%20Change%20Management/change-management-hero.png?width=1792&height=960&name=change-management-hero.png) --- ## Change Process: How Do We Define It? [![Incident Management in Managed Services: How It Works](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Managed%20Services%20Incident%20Management/incident-management-square.png?width=173&height=173&name=incident-management-square.png)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/managed-services-incident-management)Change management is the process of tracking and controlling a change through its whole life cycle, from the first request to closure, so the risk to your business stays low. Our process aligns with ITIL 4 change management practice, and we adapt it where needed to fit the way your organisation already works. It's a core part of our [managed services](https://iptel.com.au/managed-services). Every change moves through the same stages: identify, assess, approve, implement, then monitor and review. Each one is recorded in our IT service management (ITSM) platform, Jira Service Management, so there's a single history of what changed, when and why. You see that history too. Our customer portal shows planned changes and upcoming maintenance windows alongside your requests, reports and root-cause analyses, so nobody on your side is surprised by a weekend upgrade. And because we work in a co-managed model, your team keeps full administrative access for the life of the agreement. That's exactly why a shared change process matters: two teams holding keys to the same network need one agreed way of using them. Related reading - [Incident Management in Managed Services: How It Works](https://blog.iptel.com.au/managed-services-incident-management) - [Cisco Powered Managed Services: What It Means for You](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-powered-managed-services) --- ## Change Advisory Board: Who Approves Change? A Change Advisory Board (CAB) is the group of stakeholders that reviews proposed changes and decides whether, when and how they go ahead. A good CAB includes people from IT, the wider business and, where it makes sense, the customers of the service, so each change is weighed against what the business needs that week. For our managed service customers, the CAB is a joint effort. We bring the engineering view of the change; your representatives bring the business context we can't see from a dashboard, such as a payroll run, a stocktake or a board meeting that day. How often does it meet? That depends on the rate of change in your environment. Some customers run a bi-monthly CAB, others monthly, and some prefer to convene ad hoc when a significant change comes up. **Pro-Tip:** Name a deputy for every CAB member on your side. A medium-risk change that stalls because one approver is on leave tends to become a rushed change a fortnight later. Related reading - [Managed Services FAQs Part 1: Support, Hardware and Skills](https://blog.iptel.com.au/managed-services-faq-part-1) - [Managed Services Q&A: Is It Right for Your Business?](https://blog.iptel.com.au/managed-services-qa) --- ## Risk Assessment: How Is Each Change Classified? [![Project Glasswing and the Patch Wave: Getting Your Catalyst Center Ready](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Project%20Glasswing/Project%20Glasswing%20(Instagram%20Post).png?width=173&height=173&name=Project%20Glasswing%20(Instagram%20Post).png)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/project-glasswing-catalyst-center)Every change is assessed for its impact on your services and infrastructure before anyone touches a device. We weigh the risk, the benefit and the cost of each proposed change using an internal assessment matrix, and the result sets its classification, which in turn decides who needs to approve it. Classification drives the approval path. Low-risk standard changes (well understood and done many times before) can be approved internally through our change management process. Medium- and high-risk changes must be approved by the CAB before they're implemented. Emergency changes are the exception that proves the rule. When a fix can't wait for the next CAB, it follows its own expedited approval path with the right people on your side, and it's still recorded and reviewed afterwards. Time spent here is rarely wasted. A change that's been properly assessed is far less likely to surprise anyone on the night. Related reading - [Project Glasswing and the Patch Wave: Getting Your Catalyst Center Ready](https://blog.iptel.com.au/project-glasswing-catalyst-center) - [Simplifying Catalyst Center and Cisco ISE Backups](https://blog.iptel.com.au/simplifying-cisco-ise-and-catalyst-centre-backups) --- ## Implementation: What Happens on the Night? Approved changes are implemented to a written implementation plan, inside an agreed maintenance window. The plan sets out the steps to make the change, the tests to run before and after it, and the steps to roll it back if something doesn't behave as expected. If it isn't in the plan, it doesn't happen. Any deviation during the change goes straight to the change manager, so the decision to carry on, adjust or roll back is made deliberately rather than by one tired engineer at 2am. Software shows how this works in practice. On our [Meraki Access managed service](https://iptel.com.au/managed-services/meraki-access-and-security), firmware is validated in our lab before it reaches production and then deployed through change management. Across the service we test new releases before production and track software currency and end-of-life milestones, so upgrades are planned rather than rushed. What about the small stuff? The Advanced tier includes a monthly allowance of simple changes, logged and tracked through the customer portal like any other request. Related reading - [Managed Meraki Access: Switching, Wi-Fi and WAN](https://blog.iptel.com.au/managed-services-meraki-access) - [Meraki Backup](https://blog.iptel.com.au/meraki-backup) --- ## Post-Change Review: Did It Work? [![Highlight: Service Observability for Managed Networks](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Highlight/highlight-service-observability-square.png?v=3&width=173&height=173&name=highlight-service-observability-square.png)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/highlight-service-observability)Once a change is in, it's monitored and reviewed. The review asks two questions: did the change achieve what it was meant to, and did it cause anything it wasn't meant to? Answering both honestly is what turns a single change into a better process for the next one. Monitoring does a lot of the heavy lifting. [Highlight](https://blog.iptel.com.au/highlight-service-observability), our managed services monitoring platform, gives a live view of device health, performance and open incidents, so a post-change dip at a site shows up quickly rather than surfacing as a helpdesk call on Monday. Changes also feed into your regular service reviews, held quarterly or monthly depending on your tier, alongside performance, incidents, capacity and your technology roadmap. If a pattern emerges (say, one type of change that keeps needing a second attempt), that's where we fix the process, not just the symptom. Related reading - [Highlight: Service Observability for Managed Networks](https://blog.iptel.com.au/highlight-service-observability) - [Managed Service Pain Points and How to Avoid Them](https://blog.iptel.com.au/managed-service-customer-pain-points) --- ## Change Management: FAQs ### What Is Change Management in Managed Services? It's the process a managed service provider uses to track and control changes to your network from request to closure. Every change is assessed, approved, planned with a rollback and reviewed afterwards, which lowers the risk of a change causing an outage. ### What Is a Change Advisory Board? A CAB is a group of stakeholders who review proposed changes and decide whether and when they go ahead. In our managed service it brings IPTel engineers and your own representatives together, and meets on a schedule that suits your rate of change. ### Are All Changes Treated the Same? No. Low-risk standard changes can be approved internally, medium- and high-risk changes go to the CAB, and emergency changes follow their own expedited path. All of them are recorded and reviewed. ### Can Our Team Still Make Its Own Changes? Yes. In our co-managed model you keep full administrative access for the life of the agreement. We agree how your team's changes fit the shared process, so both teams keep working from the same operational picture. ### Where Can I See Upcoming Changes? In the customer portal. It shows planned changes and maintenance windows alongside your requests, reports and root-cause analyses. --- ## Change Management: Summary Change is where well-run networks and fragile ones part ways. A defined process, a CAB that includes your business, honest risk assessment, written plans with a rollback and a proper review afterwards stop changes from turning into incidents. With the customer portal and Highlight, you can see every step and every result. ### Need Help With Change Management? If you'd like a managed service that treats every change with this kind of care, take a look at our [Cisco Powered managed services](https://iptel.com.au/managed-services) or [make an enquiry](https://iptel.com.au/managed-services-enquiry). Not sure which tier fits? Our free 10-minute [Build Your Business Case assessment](https://score.iptel.com.au/managed-network-services) points you to a suitable service tier and the value at stake for your network. Or drop us a line at [sales@iptel.com.au](mailto:sales@iptel.com.au). #### Related Articles ###### [Meraki Managed Services: Boost Business Efficiency](https://blog.iptel.com.au/meraki-managed-services) Feb 3, 2026 ###### [Managed Services FAQs Part 2: Data, Scope and Security](https://blog.iptel.com.au/managed-services-faq-part-2) Dec 19, 2025 ###### [Incident Management in Managed Services: How It Works](https://blog.iptel.com.au/managed-services-incident-management) Nov 27, 2025 ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Mark McSherry", "url" : "https://blog.iptel.com.au/author/mark-mcsherry" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-03T00:05:35.493Z", "datePublished" : "2025-12-19T02:19:29.000Z", "headline" : "Change Management: How Our Managed Service Handles Change", "image" : [ "https://blog.iptel.com.au/hubfs/Blogs/Managed%20Services%20Change%20Management/change-management-square-feature.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.iptel.com.au/managed-services-change-management", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.iptel.com.au/hubfs/IPTel_Solutions_February2020%20-%20Header%20SiteMap/Images/IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2.png" }, "name" : "IPTel Solutions Pty Ltd" } } ```