Note
Access to this page requires authorization. You can try signing in or changing directories.
Access to this page requires authorization. You can try changing directories.
Use this template for normal and major changes that have user-visible impact. Adapt the communication channels and timing to your organization's practices.
Communication plan details
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Change ID | (match the change request template) |
| Change summary | (one-sentence description) |
| Change date and time | |
| Expected duration | |
| Expected user impact | (for example, brief reconnection, temporary access loss, new client version required) |
Stakeholder notification matrix
| Audience | When to notify | Channel | Owner | Sent? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operations team | Five business days before change | Team meeting or Teams channel | Service owner | [ ] |
| IT support / help desk | Three business days before change | Email and knowledge base article update | Network security engineer | [ ] |
| Affected users | Two business days before change | Email or company portal announcement | Service owner | [ ] |
| Security / SOC team | Two business days before change | Email or security information and event management (SIEM) notification | Network security engineer | [ ] |
| Management / leadership | Two business days before major changes | Email summary | Service owner | [ ] |
| All stakeholders | Immediately after change completion | Email or Teams channel update | Service owner | [ ] |
Prechange notification template
Subject: Planned Global Secure Access maintenance—date and time
What is happening:
Briefly describe the change. Keep it nontechnical for users.
When:
Date of the change, start time, expected end time, and time zone.
Who is affected:
Describe the affected user groups, sites, or applications.
Expected impact:
Describe what users experience. Be specific. Examples:
- "You might be briefly disconnected and need to reconnect."
- "Access to application is temporarily unavailable."
- "No user impact expected. We're notifying you as a precaution."
What you need to do:
If users must take action, list it here. If no action is needed, say so. Examples:
- "No action required on your part."
- "Restart the Global Secure Access client after time."
- "Save your work before time as a precaution."
Questions?
Contact help desk email or Teams channel if you have questions or experience issues after the maintenance window.
Post-change notification template
Subject: Global Secure Access maintenance completed—date
The planned maintenance on date is complete.
What was changed: Brief summary
Impact: Confirm whether the maintenance completed within the expected window and whether any unexpected impact occurred.
If you experience issues: Contact help desk email or Teams channel. Reference ticket Change ID.
Communication checklist
- Prechange notification drafted and reviewed
- Help desk briefed and knowledge base updated with expected issues and responses
- Prechange notification sent to all audiences in the stakeholder notification matrix
- Day-of reminder sent (for major changes affecting many users)
- Post-change notification sent after the change completes
- Help desk debriefed on any unexpected issues reported during the change
Escalation during change
If unexpected issues arise during the change, use this escalation path:
| Severity | Escalation action | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Minor (cosmetic, < 5 users affected) | Notify operations team; continue monitoring | Team channel or on-call engineer |
| Moderate (> 5 users affected, workaround available) | Notify service owner; decide whether to continue or roll back | Service owner name and contact |
| Major (widespread outage, no workaround) | Roll back immediately; notify all stakeholders; open incident | Incident management process or bridge call number |
Notes: