SERVICE MANAGER 9.2 PROBLEM MANAGEMENT TRAINING JUNE 2011

Problem Management - Purpose The purpose of Problem Management is to: Identify potentially recurring incidents Determine the root cause Take steps to prevent the incidents from reoccurring. As such, Problem Management follows a different set of processes than incident management. Incident Management is solely focused on restoring service to the end-user, while Problem Management is focused on preventing the interruption in the first place 2 Service Manager Problem Management

Problem Management Process The Problem Management process flow will follow these guidelines: 1 Level 2/3 technicians review incidents to determine whether there may be an underlying problem that needs to be addressed. Technicians will flag incident records for Problem Management review if appropriate 2 Problem Managers will have an in-box (queue) where incidents flagged as Problem Candidates can be reviewed. They will also analyze high priority incidents. Problem Managers will determine whether a Problem record should be created, and create the problem if so. 3 Problem Managers will review the problem and initiate the next Phase (Problem Investigation and Diagnose). During this phase Problem Coordinators can create and assign Tasks to other IT team members. 4 Tasks are worked to determine the root cause of the problem. Once the root cause is determined tasks can be closed and a Known Error record opened. 5 Once the root cause is known a change is typically opened to resolve/rectify the underlying root cause. 6 Once the change is implemented and verified as being successful the Problem record can be closed by the owner 3 Service Manager Problem Management

Coordinating The Problem Management Effort Role: Problem Coordinator & Problem Manager The workflow tab of the problem record graphically depicts the different phase transitions of the overall problem management process. Below are some notes on the activities to be performed in each phase of the process. The initial phase is used to classify, clarify the problem details. Once the problem record represents the details of the problem as accurately as possible the record should be moved to the next phase. The second phase is used for scheduling when the problem needs to be resolved and estimates the effort it will take to resolve the problem. The target dates for root cause and resolution will need to be specified in this phase. The third phase is used to generate tasks to assignment groups to investigate the root cause of the problem. See the next set of slides on opening and working tasks for more details Once root cause is determined based off of the closure of problem tasks the PM coordinator will move the problem to the resolution phase. The coordinator will then flag the problem as a known error and initiate a change to apply a fix to the problem Once a related change is closed and a fix has been applied to the problem the coordinator moves the change to the closure / review phase to verify the problem is indeed resolved. If resolved then the problem record is closed. 4 Service Manager Problem Management

Managing the Known Error Role: Problem Coordinator & Problem Manager To defer the resolution of a known error set the status of the known error record to Deferred If the Known Error is not being deferred then it will be moved through the known error phases to apply a resolution to the underlying problem. Below are the known error phases with an explanation of the activities performed within each phase. Logging and classifying the known error details. Identify and document the solution for presentation to stakeholders for acceptance. Known error tasks can be created in this phase to investigate the solution or solutions Stakeholder approval of the solution and then a related change record would be created in this phase to implement the solution. Validate the solution resolved the problem 5 Service Manager Problem Management

Managing the Known Error Role: Problem Coordinator & Problem Manager When the Problem Management investigation has identified the root cause of an incident, the Problem Resolution phase starts with the known error activities. The Known Error Logging and Categorization process begins, as known error records are created and contain the description of the underlying cause and possible workaround (if identified). All known errors should be recorded against the current and potentially affected services in addition to the configuration item (CI) suspected of being at fault. Information on known errors in services being introduced into the live environment should be recorded in the Knowledgebase, together with any workarounds. A known error should not be closed until after it has been resolved successfully. The problem coordinator / manager may decide that the resolution is too expensive or not beneficial to the business. If this is the case, the problem or known error is deferred. The reasons for deferred resolution should be clearly documented. The known error record should remain open, since new incidents are likely to occur and may require workarounds or a reassessment of the decision to resolve. 6 Service Manager Problem Management

Managing the Known Error Role: Problem Coordinator & Problem Manager (contd) The Problem Manager reviews the known error and determines the planning for the solution investigation and resolution. If an effective workaround is identified, the known error has a lower priority, and the resolution may be deferred for a specified period of time. Once the related change record of the known error is closed the known error record will automatically be transitioned into the known error resolution phase. In this phase the problem coordinator or manager will validate the resolution and close the known error record. Lastly the problem coordinator or manager will close the original problem record. 7 Service Manager Problem Management

Process Decisions 8 Incidents will not be used to manage problem management processes Incidents will be Closed once service is restored or an acceptable work around applied. The Problem Management Candidate check box located on the Incident forms will be used to identify Incident tickets that should be considered for Problem Management. All Incident Management users will have the ability to set the Problem Management Candidate flag Select Incident Management users will be able to open problems (in essence, have problem manager rights/profile) When flagging an incident as a Problem Management Candidate, users must be prompted to enter a journal update Views are available for the Problem Managers to review Problem Management Candidates identified (this includes Problem Management Candidates and High Priority (1 and 2) incidents Service Manager Problem Management

Problem Views 9 Problems High Priority Problems Problem Tickets owned by me Problem Tickets Coordinated by me Known Errors Known Errors Managed by me Open Known Errors assigned to my group Tasks Problem Tasks assigned to me Problem Tasks assigned to my groups Known Error Tasks assigned to me Overdue Problem tasks assigned to my group All overdue Problem Tasks Service Manager Problem Management

Problem Notifications 10 DescriptionConditionRecipientContent of Message Advancement of Problem to Investigation and Diagnosis On problem being moved to this phase Problem Coordinator Problem %PM Ticket% has been assigned to you and your group. - link to problem task Open of Problem TaskOn task open Notify assignee. If no assignee, notify assignment group Assignee Problem Task %PM Ticket% has been assigned to you or your group. - link to problem task Open of Known Error TaskOn task open Notify assignee. If no assignee, notify assignment group Assignee Known Error Task %KE Ticket% has been assigned to you or your group. - link to known error task Problem Task past due dateCurrent date of open task exceeds defined due date Assignee Problem Task %PM Ticket% assigned to your group is incomplete and exceeded its due date - link to problem task Known Error Task past due date Current date of open task exceeds defined due date Assignee Problem Task %PM Ticket% assigned to your group is incomplete and exceeded its due date - link to problem task Service Manager Problem Management

Problem Screens – Open Problem 11 Select Internal IT users can review high priority and problem management candidates and open problems More -> Related – Problems - Open Service Manager Problem Management

Problem Screens – Problem Ticket 12 Service Manager Problem Management Data fields copied over from incident: -Service, CI, Assignment Group -Title, Description -Categorization, Prioritization Target dates serve as milestone trackers for root cause analysis, permanent solution tasks

Problem Ticket – Required Fields 13 Phase: Detection and Logging Service, CI, Assignment Group Title, Description Categorization, Prioritization Phase: Prioritization and Planning Root cause target date Resolution target date Phase: Investigation and Diagnosis Root Cause Description Workaround All RCA tasks must be completed Phase: Resolution Closure Code must be selected Service Manager Problem Management

Problem/KE tasks 14 Data fields copied over from problem: -CI, Assignment Group -Title, Description -Categorization, Prioritization Coordinator must set due date and determine assignee Workaround required on close Service Manager Problem Management

Problem/K.E. Details 15 Service Manager Problem Management Data fields copied over from Problem: -Service, CI, Assignment Group, Assignee -Title, Description -Categorization, Prioritization Resolution Date serves as milestone trackers for permanent solution tasks

Summary Points Problem Management is a module and process within Service Management aimed at: Identifying potentially recurring incidents, Determining the root cause and Taking steps to prevent the incidents from reoccurring When the Problem Management investigation has identified the root cause of an incident, the Problem Resolution phase starts with the known error activities. There are 4 Phases in the overall Problem Management Process: Phase: Detection and Logging Phase: Prioritization and Planning Phase: Investigation and Diagnosis Phase: Resolution In the Problem Prioritization and Planning Phase, the target dates for root cause and resolution will need to be specified. 16 Service Manager Problem Management