TRB vs CAB

[AurelioS]

Hello,

I was wondering if I could get folks' opnion? I searched this forum but nothing jumped out at me.

We are a 5-year-old, quasi-ITIL shop that has a somewhat robust Change Management process. However, we recently recognized an area of improvement with regards to changes, particularly network infrastructure, that carry a high risk of impact and high probability of occurrence. While these changes are represented (and sometimes discussed) in our weekly CAB, we have noticed that there does not seem to be the "deeper" level of technical discussion needed for these changes in order to make sure potential disasters are avoided.

To that end, we are considering implementing a Technical Review Board to work in conjunction with the CAB to review these changes, specifically, in more detail. The TRB will bring together senior technical leaders (weekly) to review, discuss (and possibly reject or reschedule) key changes that have potential to significantly disrupt production. Their focus should be on overall impact, conflicts with other changes and mitigation plans.

I was wondering if anyone else has run into this situation, and if so, how did you handle it? Any suggestions or pitfalls of which to be aware? How did you justify the need for "another meeting" versus simply modifying/expanding the CAB?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts!

[Madge66]

I've been implementing a TRB in my last three contracts. CAB isn't the place to go deep into the technical aspect of the Change, and you probably will get an amount of kick back if you do, so the way I've been handling it is to hold a separate TRB, lets say on a Tuesday, with an audience of teckies, we delve deeper into al the Changes and it usually brings out good conversations that may have been missed otherwise.

Any queries or updates would have to be resolved before taking the Change to the more formal CAB.

So in a word I currently do this and I'm about to introduce it into my current contract.

[Fang2]

Our CAB is effectively a TRB, as we are a very technical outfit. Works for us!