Problems definition below can be identified throughout the IT ecosystem. However, not only isproblem management often solely associated with major incidents, another barrier to effective problem management is that problems are often confused with incidents with the terminology interchanged wrongly.
Or they are seen as an incident state rather than a separate entity requiring a different type of ITSM response. To succeed at problem management, IT senior management needs to appreciate that far too much costly, and possibly scarce, IT resources are currently spent fighting repetitive fires and that these resources would be better utilized supporting problem management activity to tackle the root causes, rather than the symptoms, of IT failures.
For completeness, although I state my own benefits below, ITIL states that the value of problem management includes:. Problem management should have strong relationships with other key IT service management processes. In addition to the more-obvious linkages with incident and change management, it also needs to use configuration management data to help determine the impact of problems and resolutions.
Use the right-hand menu to navigate. The purpose of problem management is to reduce the likelihood and impact of incidents by identifying actual and potential causes of incidents, and managing workarounds and known errors. Problems are related to incidents, but it is important to differentiate them in the way they are managed:. Problem control activities include problem analysis and documenting workarounds and known errors.
Just like incidents, problems will be prioritized based on the risk they pose in terms of probability and impact to services. Focus should be given to problems that have highest risk to services and service management. When analysing incidents, it is important to remember that they may have interrelated causes, which may have complex relationships. Therefore problem analysis should have a holistic approach considering all contributory causes such as those that caused the incident to happen, made the incident worse, or even prolonged the incident.
When a problem cannot be resolved quickly, it is often useful to find and document a workaround for future incidents, based on an understanding of the problem. A workaround is defined as a solution that reduces or eliminates the impact or probability of an incident or problem for which a full resolution is not yet available. An example of a workaround could be restarting services in an application, or failover to secondary equipment.
Workarounds are documented in problem records, and this can be done at any stage without necessarily having to wait for analysis to be complete. However, if a workaround has been documented early in problem control, then this should be reviewed and improved after problem analysis has been completed. An effective incident workaround can become a permanent way of dealing with some problems, where resolution of the problem is not viable or cost-effective.
The problem identification phase identifies and records problems in a management tool. A service desk tool associated with multiple practices of service management, including incident management, asset management, the CMDB , and change management, gives organizations an advantage in this phase.
While the service desk staff would normally report problems based on a surge of incidents, a proactive approach to problem management identifies problems by:. Depending on your organization's structure, domain, and culture, there could be even more modes through which problems can be identified. Nevertheless, it's important to have a system in place for problems to be brought in, identified, prioritized, and recorded for further investigation and diagnosis.
Problem management is a collaborative effort, so for results to be effective, multiple departments and stakeholders should be involved in the problem control phase. Problem control includes activities like prioritization, investigation, analysis, and documenting known errors and workarounds. There are numerous techniques that help in prioritization and analysis of problems.
A good rule of thumb to follow is first tackling problems that, when solved, significantly curb the disruption of services in the organization. Feasibility is another aspect to note when tackling problems. Fixing a problem permanently might require more resources than settling for a workaround. A quick cost-benefit analysis can determine whether you should proceed with a permanent fix or not.
Workarounds are documented in problem records. Generally, if a problem persists longer, implementing a quick workaround is advisable. This workaround can even be a part of incident management resolution; however, the problem management team should review the workaround and refine the resolution if necessary. As you can see, an effective incident workaround can become a permanent solution to some problems. This phase manages known errors from the KEDB by regularly checking it for possible permanent fixes if they pass the cost-benefit analysis.
Once a problem is analyzed, it's documented as a known error. These known errors are regularly reassessed to account for the impact they create, and to test the effectiveness of workarounds. Assess your incident response readiness to kick-start your problem management journey. The zeroth step in the journey towards proactive problem management is establishing a robust incident management process in your IT environment.
Discover how Zoho, our parent company, handles the spectrum of incidents thrown at it year over year and assess your incident management readiness at an enterprise scale. Proactive Problem Identification. Problem Categorization and Prioritization. Problem Diagnosis and Resolution. Problem and Error Control. Problem Closure and Evaluation. Problem Management Reporting. Problem Management Report. Suggested new Known Error. Suggested new Workaround.
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