If a change is released into an environment that is not ready and impacts the business negatively, causing revenue loss, who is responsible?

The correct answer, Release Management, is crucial in ensuring that changes to the IT environment are planned, tested, and implemented in a way that minimizes disruptions to business operations. The Release Management function is responsible for managing the movement of new or changed services from development into production. This includes overseeing the entire process of preparing, testing, and deploying changes to the IT environment.

When a change is introduced without adequate preparation — such as insufficient testing or inadequate user training — it can lead to negative impacts like revenue loss due to system failures or user inefficiencies. The Release Management team is accountable for mitigating such risks through proper change control processes and ensuring that all stakeholders are prepared for the changes.

The other functions, while important, primarily focus on specific areas of IT service management. Configuration Management deals with maintaining an accurate record of the IT assets and their configurations, Desktop Management focuses on managing desktop environments and end-user devices, and Security Management is centered around protecting the IT infrastructure from threats. However, none of these roles have the overarching responsibility for the implementation and impact of changes in the production environment as it is specifically a core part of Release Management's responsibilities.