Problem Categorization

Problem logging

Problem detection

It is likely that multiple ways of detecting problem s will exist in all organizations. These will include:

• Suspicion or detection of a cause of one or more incidents by the Service Desk, resulting in a Problem Record being raised – the desk may have resolved the incident but has not determined a definitive cause and suspects that it is likely to recur, so will raise a Problem Record to allow the underlying cause to be resolved. Alternatively, it may be immediately obvious from the outset that an incident, or incidents, has been caused by a major problem, so a Problem Record will be raised without delay.
• Analysis of an incident by a technical support group which reveals that an underlying problem exists, or is likely to exist.
• Automated detection of an infrastructure or application fault, using event / alert tools automatically to raise an incident which may reveal the need for a Problem Record.
• A notification from a supplier or contractor that a problem exists that has to be resolved.
• Analysis of incidents as part of proactive Problem Management – resulting in the need to raise a Problem Record so that the underlying fault can be investigated further.

Frequent and regular analysis of incident and problem data must be performed to identify any trends as they become discernible. This will require meaningful and detailed categorization of incidents/problems and regular reporting of patterns and areas of high occurrence. ‘Top ten’ reporting, with drill-down capabilities to lower levels, is useful in identifying trends.

Further details of how detected trends should be handled are included in the Continual Service Improvement publication.

Regardless of the detection method, all the relevant details of the problem must be recorded so that a full historic record exists. This must be date and time stamped to allow suitable control and escalation.

A cross-reference must be made to the incident(s) which initiated the Problem Record – and all relevant details must be copied from the Incident Record (s) to the Problem Record. It is difficult to be exact, as cases may vary, but typically this will include details such as:

• User details
• Service details
• Equipment details
• Date/time initially logged
• Priority and categorization details
• Incident description
• Details of all diagnostic or attempted recovery actions taken.

Problems must be categorized in the same way as incidents (and it is advisable to use the same coding system) so that the true nature of the problem can be easily traced in the future and meaningful management information can be obtained.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-23