When implementing a hardware change that could disrupt staff, which policy should guide the process?

• A. Change window policy
• B. Emergency patch policy
• C. Change management policy
• D. No policy

Answer: (C)

Coordinating hardware changes that could disrupt staff requires using a formal change management policy. This policy provides a structured process for proposing the change, assessing its impact and risk, obtaining necessary approvals, scheduling the work to minimize downtime (often during designated change windows), communicating with affected users, testing in a controlled environment, and having a rollback plan if something goes wrong. It also creates documentation and accountability, which helps ensure the change doesn’t catch operations by surprise and that there’s a safe way to revert if issues arise.

Other options don’t fit as well. A change window policy focuses on when changes happen, not the governance and risk controls around the change itself. An emergency patch policy is meant for urgent fixes that need rapid deployment, which isn’t appropriate when a hardware change could disrupt staff and needs careful planning. No policy would leave the change unmanaged and increase the chance of downtime or user impact.