Hans RobbersSenior Director| SalesforceVlissingen, Netherlands
Nittin
A freeze period is normally to stabilise the environment and to avoid unexpected errors. Change requests in a project are often not accepted after a certain date in de dev/build phase to be ensure the committed end date.
The IT freeze at the end of the year in December is for 2 reasons:
- limited resources are available during the holiday period and therefore no new systems or releases
- In between X-mas and New year a lot of year end processes run which should not be disturbed
Therefore there is often a freeze in production from Dec 15 to Jan 15. However you can negotiate installations in test environments
hopes this helps
Hans Saving Changes...
Alease PerryProgram Manager| CheckFree - now part of FiServ CorporationLilburn, Ga, United States
This is most common for companies that have a calendar based fiscal year or their clients have a fiscal year end in December. Saving Changes...
Freeze, because it is snowing outside and Christmas is near the corner
Santa :) Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
We have a change freeze for the same reasons as Hans. Routine changes are stopped over the year end period as the support teams are not as well resourced and there are also a lot of other business people out of the office. In my experience a change freeze is standard practice, but if you have urgent or emergency changes to put through there is normally some leeway to do those. Saving Changes...
Wai Mun KooPMO Director| Intergraph PP&MSingapore, Singapore
Could be due to financial cycle and budget cutover planning and forecasting to minimize any unexpected spending. Saving Changes...
Sam MotesManager II Business Sys, Operational Excellence| BA Systems Inc.Ellenton, Fl, United States
Common in big companies to ensure stability to give the accounts the warm fuzzy on the numbers they are pulling together to satisfy investors and regulations like SOX. Used to work at big blue and we had a freeze at the end of each quarter of a week, and a 2-3 week freeze at the end of the year. You could get some changes through during the freeze but it took an act of god to get the approvals.
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arlene trimbleAssistant IT Director| Local GovernmentAlamo, Ca, United States
A freeze is occasionally needed to allow completion of mission critical projects (e.g. mandated by law, regulatory requirement, system repair, etc.) without any side interruptions.
In some projects, changes are accommodated after each sprint. Sprints are short so it is easier to accommodate them and you are basically project planning for the clear horizon. Saving Changes...
Change Freeze is mandetory to review current financial year and impact caused on envirionment. Therfore, it is required to do Audit and review Financial cycle with budget planning for upcoming year and stabilized the environment
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Steve KarakasidisUS : Senior Project Manager| AlgomiEast Elmhurst, Ny, United States
To build upon Hans'' reply from earlier, most established companies avoid making changes to systems during the last month / fiscal period of the year... and to financial applications... because there is not really much time to test - people are taking time off for the holidays... in the US the year end holidays begin around Thanksgiving - At one of my previous employers, we used to call it the ''Turkey Freeze''. Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
Most of our healthcare customers have larger volume of work coming into the Holiday season. It is not unreasonable for them to avoid putting through discretionary changes. Saving Changes...
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