This policy establishes a formal framework for initiating, assessing, approving, and implementing all changes to your organization's IT systems and infrastructure. It ensures every change is executed in a controlled, auditable manner to minimize risk and support compliance with ISO 27001.
-
Prevent Costly Outages: Minimize the risk of service disruption and data integrity issues by enforcing structured review, testing, and approval for all changes.
-
Achieve Audit-Readiness: Create traceable, documented evidence for every change with clear approval workflows and post-implementation reviews, satisfying auditors.
-
Improve Security Posture: Assess all changes for security and compliance risks before implementation, preventing the introduction of new vulnerabilities.
-
Enforce Segregation of Duties: Reduce the risk of unauthorized changes by ensuring no single individual can approve and implement a change without oversight.
Read Full Overview
The Change Management Policy is an essential framework for organizations aiming to maintain the integrity and availability of their IT systems during modifications. This policy outlines a structured approach for initiating, assessing, approving, implementing, and reviewing changes to information systems, infrastructure, and applications. It mandates that all changes undergo thorough risk assessments, are properly documented, and include rollback plans to ensure minimal disruption and maximum security. This comprehensive approach brings relief and confidence to organizations, knowing that their systems are resilient against potential threats and compliant with regulatory requirements.
What's Inside
- Purpose and Scope
- Roles and Responsibilities (CAB, Change Manager)
- Governance Requirements (Classification, Rollback)
- Policy Implementation Requirements
- Risk Treatment and Exceptions
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Review and Update Requirements
Built for Leaders, By Leaders
This policy was authored by a security leader with 25+ years of experience deploying and auditing ISMS frameworks for global enterprises. It's designed not just to be a document, but a defensible framework that stands up to auditor scrutiny.
Authored by an expert holding:
Framework Compliance
🛡️ Supported Standards & Frameworks
This product is aligned with the following compliance frameworks, with detailed clause and control mappings.
| Framework | Covered Clauses / Controls |
|---|---|
| ISO/IEC 27001:2022 | Clauses 6.1, 5.15 |
| ISO/IEC 27002:2022 | Control 8.32 |
| NIST SP 800-53 Rev.5 | CM-2 to CM-14 |
| EU GDPR | Articles 32(1)(b-d), 25; Recital 78 |
| EU NIS2 | Article 21(2)(a, b, d, e) |
| EU DORA | Articles 5, 8, 12 |
| COBIT 2019 | BAI06, BAI02, BAI03, DSS01, MEA01, MEA03 |
Part of a Complete ISMS Toolkit
This policy is one of 37 documents in our complete toolkit. When implemented as a set, our framework helps you achieve comprehensive compliance across major standards.
100%
ISO 27001
95%
NIST
88%
NIS2
75%
DORA
70%
GDPR
Related Policies
This policy enables a defensible, traceable, and secure change management lifecycle when implemented alongside the following documents.
Information Security Policy (P1)
Establishes the requirement for formal security controls like change management.
Governance Roles & Responsibilities Policy (P2)
Defines approval authorities (e.g., CAB) relevant to change authorization.
Access Control Policy (P4)
Ensures access for change implementers follows the principle of least privilege.
Risk Management Policy (P6)
Ensures all changes are subject to appropriate risk evaluation and mitigation.
Audit and Compliance Monitoring Policy (P33)
Governs the validation and audit review of change management records.
About This Policy
The Clarysec Change Management Policy provides a formal, auditable framework for managing all modifications to your IT environment. By implementing structured processes for change classification, risk assessment, testing, approval, and review, this policy directly addresses the requirements of ISO 27001's Annex A control 8.32. It is an essential tool for any organization seeking to enhance operational resilience and prevent service disruptions caused by unplanned or poorly executed changes.
This policy establishes a Change Advisory Board (CAB) and defines clear roles for change managers, requestors, and implementers to enforce segregation of duties. It mandates crucial safeguards like rollback planning and post-implementation reviews, ensuring every change is secure, traceable, and aligned with your business objectives. This governance structure is critical for maintaining system integrity and demonstrating compliance to auditors.
