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Change Requests

xAssets IT Asset Management User Guide
Tasks

Change Requests

Change Requests track planned modifications to software, servers, or infrastructure that require formal approval and structured execution. Use Change Requests to document what is changing, who is responsible, what tasks must be completed, and what the rollback plan is if something goes wrong.

When to Use Change Requests

Change Requests are appropriate for:

  • Server upgrades or migrations -- planned downtime, multiple steps, multiple teams
  • Software deployments -- rolling out new software to a group of machines
  • Network changes -- firewall rule changes, VLAN reconfigurations
  • Infrastructure moves -- relocating equipment between data centres or offices
  • Security patches -- coordinated patching across multiple systems

For reactive issues (something is broken and needs fixing now), use Incidents instead.

Viewing Change Requests

Navigate to Service Desk > Change Management to see all change requests:

Change Requests list view

Click a change request to view its details:

Change request detail

Key Change Request Fields

Field Purpose
Description What is being changed
Justification Why the change is needed
Priority Urgency and business impact
Planned Start / End The scheduled window for the change
Assignee The person responsible for executing the change
Status Draft, Approved, In Progress, Completed, Rolled Back
Risk Level The assessed risk of the change (Low, Medium, High)

Adding Sub-Tasks

Change requests support sub-tasks to break work into manageable, trackable steps. This is essential for complex changes that involve multiple people or phases.

  1. Open the change request
  2. Enter a description for the step
  3. Click Add Child Step

Change request sub-tasks

Each sub-task can be assigned to a different team member with detailed instructions:

Change request sub-task assignment

Change Request Workflow

A typical change request follows this lifecycle:

  1. Draft -- the change is documented and sub-tasks are defined
  2. Review -- the change is reviewed by stakeholders (manager, security, operations)
  3. Approved -- the change is authorised to proceed
  4. In Progress -- work is being carried out
  5. Completed -- all sub-tasks are done and the change has been verified
  6. Rolled Back -- if the change caused issues and was reversed

Reporting

Change request reports work the same way as incident and problem reports and are available from the Service Management dashboard. Reports can show:

  • Open change requests by status
  • Changes completed in a given period
  • Changes by assignee or department
  • Changes by risk level

Tips

  • Always define sub-tasks with clear ownership -- a change request without assigned steps is just a wish
  • Include rollback instructions in the change request description, especially for high-risk changes
  • Link the change request to the affected assets using the Related Assets tab -- this provides an audit trail
  • After completing a change, verify that the affected assets' data in xAssets reflects the new state (e.g., updated software version, new location)
  • Tasks — the Service Desk overview
  • Problems — when a change is needed to resolve a root cause
  • Adding New Incidents — for reactive issues that do not require change management