International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

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Strategic Change Management in U.S. Federal IT Programs: A Framework for Managing Significant Change Reviews in Mission-Critical Environments

Author(s) Abhishek Sharma
Country United States
Abstract Strategic change management for Federal IT programs, particularly mission-critical programs, in the United States needs a structured approach that can provide change control and can be responsive to all levels, be they architectural, programmatic, or regulatory, within the Federal system. Federal Organizations are faced with growing demands to modernize outdated computing systems, incorporate cybersecurity requirements, and respond to new national priorities. At the same time, users expect minimal or no impact on critical services. This document presents a comprehensive solution for governing SCRs in scenarios where a proactive, stakeholder-agreed, and compliance-oriented approach to strategic change management is desired. The framework is derived from enterprise change management, risk governance, and agile transformation models and is adapted to the context of federal environments.
Based on cases from the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the General Services Administration (GSA), this work identifies common bottlenecks in SCR practices, including lackluster stakeholder buy-in, broken documentation flows, and compliance holdups. The hybrid approach of the framework includes structured readiness assessments, milestone-based review checkpoints, and cross-agency coordination protocols, which enable effective change without compromising the integrity of the system or its operations. At the core of this model lies the Strategic Change Board (SCB), a layered governance body that includes IT management, security compliance officers, and end-users, enabling the decision-making process from inception to post-implementation assessment.
We have the description of how that framework was assessed across a selection of pilot programs to demonstrate the mixed-method analysis of performance metrics, survey-based stakeholder feedback, and post-change system availability, used in the methodology section. Results show that SCRs' throughput has been improved, unplanned outages are reduced, and the program has become more responsive to changing federal regulations. These findings are situated within divergent challenges confronting federal efforts to modernize IT, from a lack of budgetary flexibility, contracting limitations, and institutional opposition to agile practices.
The paper concludes with recommendations for strategic actions for federal CIOs and program managers, including the incorporation of change management capabilities into the Software Acquisition Pathway, the adoption of cATO for iterative change deployment, and the creation of a change review playbook for the federal government. The proposed model not only enables compliance but also the persistent mission assurance of an ever-changing digital governance world. Integrations with evolving AI-informed decision support tools for SCR triage and predictive risk modelling should be considered in future studies.
Keywords Strategic Change Management, Significant Change Review (SCR), Federal IT Programs, Mission-Critical Systems, Governance Framework, Agile Transformation, U.S. Federal CIO, IT Modernization, Digital Governance, Compliance Management, Risk Mitigation, Program Oversight, IT Acquisition, Change Control Board, Continuous Authorization to Operate (cATO)
Field Engineering
Published In Volume 7, Issue 4, July-August 2025
Published On 2025-07-23
DOI https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i04.51761
Short DOI https://doi.org/g9tx9n
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