Getting organizational change management right in practice

Organizational change management (OCM) was introduced in ITIL 4, although as with most ITIL best practices, the management discipline has been around much longer. Even previous ITIL versions recognized its importance, with ITIL Practitioner Guidance offering OCM guidance “…concerned with the people side of change. It’s a structured approach that ensures improvements are implemented smoothly and successfully for lasting benefit.”

The OCM practice guidance in ITIL 4 describes it as follows:

“The practice of ensuring that changes in an organization are smoothly and successfully implemented and that lasting benefits are achieved by managing the human aspects of the changes.”

This article, the first in two, examines why OCM is needed and what it involves.