Service Operation: Problem Management

What is ITIL Problem Management?

Problem management is the process responsible for managing the lifecycle of all problems that happen or could happen in an IT service. The primary objectives of problem management are to prevent problems and resulting incidents from happening, to eliminate recurring incidents, and to minimize the impact of incidents that cannot be prevented. The Information Technology Infrastructure Library defines a problem as the cause of one or more incidents.

The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) provides the following definitions for usage within this process:

• Problem: “The cause of one or more Incidents. The cause is not usually known at the time a Problem record is created"

• Error: “A design flaw or malfunction that causes a failure of one or more IT services or other configuration items”

• Known Error: “A Problem that has a documented root cause and workaround”

• Root Cause: “The underlying or original cause of an incident or problem”.

Proactive vs. Reactive Problem Management

Problem Management can be either reactive or proactive.

• Reactive Problem Management is the Problem solving reaction that occurs when one or more Incidents arise.

• Proactive Problem Management deals with identifying and solving Problems before any Incidents have occurred. This activity is associated with Continual Service Improvement (CSI).

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The Value of Problem Management to the Business

The Problem Management process works in conjunction with Incident and Change Management to provide value to the business in a variety of ways. The primary goal of Problem Management is to minimize the impact of Problems on the business and prevent recurrence. When successful, downtime and disruptions are reduced. Additional benefits include:

• Increased service availability

• Improved service quality

• Decreased Problem resolution time

• Reduction of the number of Incidents

• Increased productivity

• Reduced costs

• Improved customer satisfaction

Problem Management Process Flow

• Problem Detection

• Problem Logging

• Investigation and Diagnosis

• Workaround

• Create Known Error Record

• Resolution

• Closure

Problem Management Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Problems reported by (category, organizational unit, person, etc.)

• Problems resolved within SLA targets

• Percentage of Problems exceeding SLA targets

• Trends associated with Problem backlog

• Average cost of managing a Problem

• Root Cause Analysis (RCA) report