Question

Difficulty: MediumConfiguration and Change Management

A network administrator submits a Request for Change (RFC) to perform a major firmware upgrade on the central distribution switches servicing a corporate office. The submission details the business justification, target maintenance window, affected VLANs, and post-installation validation tests. However, the Change Advisory Board (CAB) rejects the RFC during review. Which of the following critical components was most likely missing from the RFC submission?

  1. A comprehensive rollback plan specifying exact steps and triggers to revert to the previous software version if validation failsAnswer
  2. B
    A plan to implement alternative fixes on production switches before establishing a probable cause for potential issues
  3. C
    A directive to downgrade switch management interfaces to unencrypted SNMPv2c for monitoring during the upgrade
  4. D
    A configuration change to update connected client default gateways from the HSRP virtual IP to physical interface IPs

Answer

A comprehensive rollback plan specifying exact steps and triggers to revert to the previous software version if validation fails
A formal Request for Change (RFC) submitted to a Change Advisory Board (CAB) must contain a documented rollback (backout) plan. This plan outlines explicit steps, backout time windows, and threshold triggers for reverting network devices to their baseline configuration and software version if post-change validation fails.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the core requirements of a formal Request for Change (RFC) within enterprise change management.
Identified that an RFC must cover change scope, risk assessment, schedule, validation plan, and backout/rollback procedures.
The Change Advisory Board (CAB) requires proof that system availability can be restored if the change causes an unexpected outage.
2
Evaluate the missing element in the scenario's submitted RFC.
The administrator provided justification, scheduling, scope, and validation, but omitted a backout/rollback plan.
Without a clear rollback procedure, maintenance risks prolonged network downtime if the new firmware behaves unexpectedly.

Key Concept

Essential elements of a Request for Change (RFC) and Rollback Planning
Rate this question