Continuous Delivery
Introducing Change – Change Management
October 2015
1
Introducing change to our clients
With the Continuous Delivery model, D2L releases defect fixes and new features on a monthly basis. To
effectively manage this increased frequency of change, we have enhanced our release documentation and
other resources to support the adoption of these changes. Furthermore, we are working with the client
advisory group to define the types of features that may be disruptive to existing workflows and practices so
we can plan appropriately.
The following rubric is intended as a guideline for our teams to identify when they are introducing potentially
disruptive changes and the different methods that can be used to manage their introductions:
D2L Corporation | 151 Charles Street West, Suite 400, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1H6 Canada
Toll Free: 1 888-772-0325 (U.S. & Canada) | Telephone: +1 519-772-0325 | Fax: +1 519-772-0324
2
CHANG E RUBRIC
CHANGE TYPE
Change to user
interface (UI)
NONE
SLIGHT
MODERATE
LARGE
SEVERE
1
2
3
4
5
Change impacts
user workflows
and
interactions.
Major change of
an existing UI
that affects
instructors or
learners.
Change does not Change affects
affect learner or learner or
instructor roles. instructor roles.
Change affects
system behavior
or user
interactions, but
Change to
Minor or
administrator UI cosmetic change does not remove
features or
maintains
to UI.
functionality and
feature parity
For example,
does not
and does not
color changes,
drastically affect
negatively
button location
workflows.
impact task
within the same
For example,
completion.
screen, or
adding advanced
language term
search or aligning
updates.
Manage Courses
UI with Manage
Users.
Existing
functionality is Existing courses
maintained, but may not be
may be altered. migrated or
Major change to copied without
a UI that affects changes.
administrators.
For example, a
new tool is
added, a thirdparty
integration is
updated and
behaves
differently, or
workflows for
deleting/grading
activities are
standardized
between tools.
For example, an
existing feature
or tool is
deprecated, a
new beta
interface, or end
of support for a
product.
D2L Corporation | 151 Charles Street West, Suite 400, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1H6 Canada
Toll Free: 1 888-772-0325 (U.S. & Canada) | Telephone: +1 519-772-0325 | Fax: +1 519-772-0324
3
CHANGE TYPE
Change to course
development and
delivery of
workflows
Impact to
instructional
design
NONE
SLIGHT
MODERATE
LARGE
SEVERE
1
2
3
4
5
No change to
how courses are
developed or
delivered.
Small change to
how course
materials are
uploaded, edited,
or presented that
do not prevent
previous
workflows.
Minor change
that may require
users to learn
new behavior or
logic, but all
existing
tasks/workflows
can still be
completed.
Some workflows
have changes
that require
attention or
action.
Some workflows
may require
training or
planned
adoption.
New workflows
are available
that require
exploration and
may lead to a
change in
practice.
Some course
practices may
need updating to
support new
features or
replace
deprecated
features.
Small change to
how course
materials are
organized or
presented.
Minor change to
course materials
may be
recommended to
adjust to feature
change.
Major or minor
change to
course materials
or instructional
practices may
be required in
order to take
advantage of
new features,
tools, or
workflows.
Major change in
course
development and
presentation
layer may be
required. D2L
may mandate
these changes at
the end of a 6-12
month adoption
phase.
No change to
how course
materials are
organized or
presented.
D2L Corporation | 151 Charles Street West, Suite 400, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1H6 Canada
Toll Free: 1 888-772-0325 (U.S. & Canada) | Telephone: +1 519-772-0325 | Fax: +1 519-772-0324
4
CHANGE TYPE
NONE
SLIGHT
MODERATE
LARGE
SEVERE
1
2
3
4
5
Change to system No change to SIS Slight risk to
integrations
or Auth
current
integrations,
(Auth, SIS)
integrations.
though none
expected.
Minor change to
integration
behavior or
performance.
Integration
change may
require impact
planning and
communication
by client
administrator.
Integration
change requires
practice or
resource
changes,
including
hardware,
software, or
technical training
changes.
LTI integration
No change to
and D2L Valence D2L Valence or
API impact
LTI integration.
Minor change or
addition to
application
behavior or
performance that
is intended to fix
or improve
current
routes/calls.
Technical
assessment of
applications is
required to
understand
impact.
Integrations and
applications are
affected and may
need to be
updated.
Slight risk to
current
integrations and
applications,
though none
expected.
For example,
adding new
versions and/or
routes.
Review of the
Data handling
change is
may change and required by
fixes may impact application
existing
developers.
applications.
D2L Corporation | 151 Charles Street West, Suite 400, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1H6 Canada
Toll Free: 1 888-772-0325 (U.S. & Canada) | Telephone: +1 519-772-0325 | Fax: +1 519-772-0324
5
CHANGE TYPE
Impact to 3rd
party
integrations
(Google Apps,
ReadSpeaker)
NONE
SLIGHT
MODERATE
LARGE
SEVERE
1
2
3
4
5
No change to
3rd party
integrations.
Slight risk to 3rd
party
integrations,
though changes
expected.
Minor change to
3rd party
integrations that
are intended to
fix or improve
current behavior.
Major change to
3rd party
integrations that
may or may not
require direct
action from
client, including
but not limited
to updating
licensing.
Major
unforeseen
change to 3rd
party
integrations that
may require
immediate direct
action from
clients.
For example,
work done in
related code that
is expected to
have little to no
impact.
Change may be
the result of
deprecated
support for
existing APIs or
changes to
partner
agreements.
Change may be
the result of
deprecated or
changed APIs or
changes to
partner
agreements.
Clients may not
receive advance
Clients will have notice of change.
advance notice
of change but
may be less than
normal.
D2L Corporation | 151 Charles Street West, Suite 400, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1H6 Canada
Toll Free: 1 888-772-0325 (U.S. & Canada) | Telephone: +1 519-772-0325 | Fax: +1 519-772-0324
6
CHANGE TYPE
Training,
documentation,
and support
requirements
expected
NONE
SLIGHT
MODERATE
LARGE
SEVERE
1
2
3
4
5
No change to
how features
are documented
or
communicated
are expected.
Clients may
communicate
change via
documentation
or blog post.
Clients may wish
to update
training
materials,
support FAQs,
and help
documentation.
Clients are likely
to update
training
materials,
support FAQs
and help
documentation.
Minimal impact
on
administrators,
instructors, and
learners.
Clients are likely
to update
organization
policies or
practices,
training
materials,
Clients are likely Clients are likely support FAQs,
to notify end
to implement a and help
documentation.
users, but should training and
not expect major support plan
Clients are likely
concerns or
ahead of roll out to implement a
training
and actively
training and
engage with end support plan
requirements.
ahead of roll out
users.
and actively
engage with end
users.
D2L Corporation | 151 Charles Street West, Suite 400, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1H6 Canada
Toll Free: 1 888-772-0325 (U.S. & Canada) | Telephone: +1 519-772-0325 | Fax: +1 519-772-0324
7
CHANGE TYPE
Change to
infrastructure
requirements
(on-premise)
NONE
SLIGHT
MODERATE
LARGE
SEVERE
1
2
3
4
5
No change to
infrastructure
requirements
expected.
Slight change to
infrastructure
may be required
depending on
adoption, but
change is
foreseeable.
Some change to
infrastructure is
recommended.
Required change
to infrastructure
is known and
communicated
in advance.
Significant
change to D2L
hosting policies
or practices may
Clients will have
affect client
lead time to
adopt change or Clients will have agreements.
the ability to
lead time to
Direct
Change likely
adopt change or consultation
delay feature.
involves scaling Some clients may the ability to
between D2L and
up or monitoring not be able to
delay feature.
client is required.
infrastructure vs. adopt feature
Some clients
Feature is
new
because of
may not be able expected to
requirements.
specific hosting to adopt the
drastically
requirements at feature because change
the time of
of specific
infrastructure
hosting
requirements,
release.
requirements
at
and/or storage
For example,
the time of
and privacy
upgrade to
release.
policies.
Microsoft SQL
2012.
D2L Corporation | 151 Charles Street West, Suite 400, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1H6 Canada
Toll Free: 1 888-772-0325 (U.S. & Canada) | Telephone: +1 519-772-0325 | Fax: +1 519-772-0324
8
CHANGE TYPE
Impact to
textbook
publisher
integration
NONE
SLIGHT
MODERATE
LARGE
SEVERE
1
2
3
4
5
No change to
publisher
integrations.
Slight risk to
publisher
integrations,
though no
changes
expected.
Minor change to
publisher
integrations that
are intended to
fix or improve
current behavior.
Major change to
publisher
integrations that
may or may not
require direct
action from
client, including
but not limited
to updating
licensing.
Major
unforeseen
change to
partner
integrations that
may require
immediate, direct
action from
client.
For example,
work done in
related code, but
is expected to
have no impact
on publisher
content.
Change may be
the result of
deprecated
support for
existing APIs or
changes to
partner
agreements.
Clients receive
advance notice
of change.
Technical
No change to
administration
administration.
(Config Variable
Browser, Roles
and Permissions)
Small change in
the UI, but no
functional/techni
cal changes.
Change to
usability of
performing
administrative
tasks, mostly selfevident to target
users.
Functional
change that
affects
workflows, but
does not affect
the efficacy of
any page or
task.
Change may be
the result of
deprecated or
changed APIs or
changes to
partner
agreements.
Clients may not
receive advance
notice of change.
Tasks and
workflows are
affected and
users require
awareness of the
change.
D2L Corporation | 151 Charles Street West, Suite 400, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1H6 Canada
Toll Free: 1 888-772-0325 (U.S. & Canada) | Telephone: +1 519-772-0325 | Fax: +1 519-772-0324
9
CHANGE TYPE
Bug fix
Deprecating
feature/tool/
functionality
NONE
SLIGHT
MODERATE
LARGE
SEVERE
1
2
3
4
5
No detectable Correcting error
difference in the or functional
error, not
application.
noticeable in
normal
workflows.
Change to
usability or other
UI elements that
users would
notice in normal
workflows but
would not be
affected by.
Correction to
behavior that
may have effect
on user
workflows.
Correction that
may impact how
a user would
perform a task or
workflow.
Data shows the
functionality is
unused and
clients may not
notice if it was
removed.
Clients use the
A fair number of
functionality, but clients would
in low numbers. notice the
The removal will removal and/or
prospects may
be noticed but
inquire why it
clients are not
overly concerned was removed.
Clients may
notice the
functionality is
removed but do
not use it in any
relevant way.
For example,
For example,
improved field updating a doc
entry validation. viewer library
that changes how
documents are
displayed.
with workflows It would cause
being affected or users to change
workflows or
limited.
have more
There are
limited
workflow
functions in
workarounds.
non-critical
areas.
Many clients
would notice the
removal and
would find
changes in
workflow to be of
some disruption
to their users.
Some clients may
be less
understanding
about the
removal.
D2L Corporation | 151 Charles Street West, Suite 400, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1H6 Canada
Toll Free: 1 888-772-0325 (U.S. & Canada) | Telephone: +1 519-772-0325 | Fax: +1 519-772-0324
10
E XPECTED SUPPORT R EQ UIR E D/CONTR OL MECH AN ISMS
EXPECTED
SUPPORT
REQUIRED/
CONTROL
MECHANISMS
All controls listed
for a rubric value
are also assumed
to be included in
values to the
right of that
rubric value.
NONE
SLIGHT
Release
1-2 month in
documentation progress
1-3 weeks prior documentation.
to first release.
MODERATE
LARGE
SEVERE
Roadmap 3-12
month’s theme
level
documentation.
Controlled
Community
adoption within
announcements:
existing workflows  Feature
and tools such as:
videos
 tool setting
 Feature
 user setting
discussions
 tool
Controlled
permissions,
adoption via
default off
separate
 configuration
workflows such
variables,
as:
default off
 Community
feature
videos

Using tool
management

Using A/B
controls
Possible direct
contact for some
clients (using OI
information to
target).
D2L Corporation | 151 Charles Street West, Suite 400, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1H6 Canada
Toll Free: 1 888-772-0325 (U.S. & Canada) | Telephone: +1 519-772-0325 | Fax: +1 519-772-0324
11
About D2L
A global leader in EdTech, D2L is the creator of Brightspace, the world’s first integrated learning platform. The
company partners with thought-leading organizations to improve learning through data-driven technology
that helps deliver a personalized experience to every learner, regardless of geography or ability. D2L’s open
and extensible platform is used by more than 1,100 clients and almost 15 million individual learners in higher
education, K–12, healthcare, government, and the enterprise sector—including Fortune 1000 companies. The
company has operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Brazil, and Singapore.
www.brightspace.com | www.D2L.com
C O NTA C T U S
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Email:
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1-519-772-0324
[email protected]
@Brightspace
www.brightspace.com | www.D2L.com
© 2015 D2L Corporation.
The D2L family of companies includes D2L Corporation, D2L Ltd, D2L Australia Pty Ltd, D2L Europe Ltd,
D2L Asia Pte Ltd, and D2L Brasil Soluções de Tecnologia para Educação Ltda.
All D2L marks are trademarks of D2L Corporation. Please visit D2L.com/trademarks for a list of D2L marks.
D2L Corporation | 151 Charles Street West, Suite 400, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1H6 Canada
Toll Free: 1 888-772-0325 (U.S. & Canada) | Telephone: +1 519-772-0325 | Fax: +1 519-772-0324