An administrator has received approval for a change request for an upcoming server deployment. Which of the following steps should be completed NEXT?

The change management process follows a structured lifecycle. A change request is first planned, which includes a risk analysis, and then submitted for approval. Once the change request is formally approved by the Change Advisory Board (CAB) or relevant authority, the next logical and procedural step is to execute the approved plan. This execution phase is the implementation of the change, in this case, the server deployment. The other steps listed occur either before approval or after the implementation is complete.

A. Perform a risk analysis. This is incorrect because risk analysis is a critical part of the planning phase that must be completed before submitting the change request for approval.
C. Verify end user acceptance. This is incorrect because end-user acceptance testing (UAT) is a verification step that occurs after the change has been implemented to ensure it meets requirements.
D. Document the lessons learned. This is incorrect because documenting lessons learned is part of the final review and closure phase, which takes place after the change has been implemented and verified. ---

1. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). (2011). Special Publication 800-128: Guide for Security-Focused Configuration Management of Information Systems.

Section 3.2

Change Control

Page 19: The document outlines the change control process

stating

"After the change request is approved

the change is implemented

and the results of the change implementation are documented in the change request." This explicitly places implementation directly after approval.

2. Microsoft. (2008). Microsoft Operations Framework 4.0.

Change and Configuration SMF

Page 10

Figure 3: The process flow diagram for change management shows that the "Approve RFC" step is immediately followed by the "Build

Test

and Deploy Release" process. This aligns with implementing the change after it has been approved.

3. University of Washington. (n.d.). ITIL V3 Foundation Courseware.

Module: Change Management

Process Flow: The standard ITIL change management process flow is described as: Request for Change (RFC) -> Review and Assess RFC -> Approve/Reject Change -> Plan and Implement Change -> Review and Close Change. This academic courseware confirms that implementation is the direct next step following approval.