For IT managers, problems are a part of everyday routine.
Just how common are IT problems? Fifty percent of organizations say they have 11 to 50 problems in a typical month. Eight percent of organizations reported between 101 and 200 problems a month.
No matter which way you look at it, problems are a big problem in IT, and that’s what Problem Management is for.
In fact, problem management is one of 34 Service Management practices in ITIL 4, and a key part of a comprehensive ITSM approach.
What is Problem Management?
To understand problem management, it’s useful to first consider Incident Management.
Incidents are events, alerts, or issues that arise in IT systems or services. Incident management is the process whereby an incident is reported and resolved as efficiently as possible, minimizing downtime and increasing productivity.
Problem management in ITIL is the process of identifying, analyzing, and resolving the root cause of IT incidents to prevent them from happening again. For example, problem management may deal with faulty hardware, network connectivity issues, or software applications that are slow or unresponsive.
Imagine there’s a chronically broken printer in an office. The incident is a broken printer. The problem is why the printer keeps breaking down.
There are two ways that problems can be managed: reactively, by responding to detected problems and attempting to resolve them after they occur, and proactively, by predicting the consequences of known problems and taking steps to reduce their risk of occurring and disrupting IT services.
Broken printers or frequent network disruptions are more than just annoying. IT problems are a drain on an organization’s productivity, employee morale, and bottom line. That’s where the true value of problem management lies.
Problem Management Benefits: Why do organizations need problem management?
Some incidents are quick to resolve and easy to close. In other cases, incidents and their underlying problems can be harder to detect and take longer to fix. In fact, 38% of IT problems are 2 to 3 months old at the time of closure, and 13% can take between 7 months to a year!
Without ITIL-based Problem Management, many of these problems would go unnoticed, while the incidents would just keep on occurring and playing havoc with operations.
Here are the main benefits of problem management and why it is so important to include in an ITSM strategy:
- Reduced incidents: The average organization faces around 1200 IT incidents a month, of which around 13% are repeat incidents. Identifying the root causes and solving IT problems at their core can reduce the number of incidents overall and significantly improve IT service operations.
- Improved user satisfaction: When it comes to IT incidents, the impact on customer/user experience is the biggest concern for organizations. Unhappy users are far less productive than happy ones. Low productivity leads to late project delivery, not to mention reputational damage to the company, which is a very difficult problem to repair.
- Cost efficiency: Fewer IT incidents, smoother IT operations, happier users – all this leads to more efficient use of resources and improved cost-benefit ratio of IT services.
- Enhanced knowledge base: Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a critical part of problem management. By identifying and resolving the deeper causes of IT incidents, it is possible to enhance the IT knowledge
Components of Problem Management: From identification to resolution
Broadly speaking, problem management has three stages: problem identification, problem control, and problem resolution and closure.
Let’s explore the components of problem management through the lens of this process.
Problem identification
In this initial stage, the problem or potential problems are detected and identified, with an eye to their impact, urgency, and priority level.
They are logged in the Problem Management Database, together with relevant details, such as document attachments, configuration items (CI), and possible solutions.
Problems are then classified and prioritized, providing the IT team with a framework of which problems to deal with immediately and timeframes for handling more complex or involved problems.
Problem control
During this crucial part of the ITIL problem management process, the Root Cause Analysis takes place. This is the very core of solving IT problems, where IT teams dig into the details of the problem to find the deeper cause. There are different ways to conduct RCA, such as the “Five Whys”, “Kepner Tregoe” method, and even good old-fashioned brainstorming.
IT teams analyze historical data and error records to pinpoint recurring problems. Workarounds can be applied as a ‘band-aid’ solution when a more permanent fix has not yet been discovered. This is also the stage where major problems can be escalated to generate more resources for resolution.
Problem resolution and closure
Once a diagnosis is made, permanent fixes are implemented and the findings are logged in the problem management system for future reference. Resolution and closure also involve notifying the relevant parties that the problem is resolved, submitting change requests necessary to resolve the problem, closing incident and problem records related to the case, and reviewing the process to identify lessons learned and update the knowledge base as needed.
Proactive Problem Management: Taking action before problems become incidents
Proactive problem management is when IT teams work towards addressing known problems before they cause incidents.
Predictive problem management is the process of forecasting potential problems that may cause incidents in the future. This is far more difficult to achieve, as it involves unknown problems.
Most IT teams today are not yet working with predictive problem management. In the future, as AI evolves, this may become more commonplace.
In the meantime, it is important to engage in proactive problem management whenever possible, dealing with known problems before they escalate to incidents. In other words, preventing fires rather than just fighting fires that were likely to occur anyway.
Some ways that IT teams can do proactive problem management include:
- Regularly reviewing incident records and category trend reports to identify patterns that could signal underlying infrastructure issues.
- Analyzing event logs and maintenance records for warning signs of potential problems.
- Developing problem management metrics that create benchmarks for more accurate analysis of root cause problems.
ITIL Problem Management with IT Care Center: Turning problems into opportunities
Putting out fires is not enough for IT managers to become business leaders.
IT Care Center’s Problem Management module integrates with the Incident Management, Change Management, and Knowledge Management modules, providing a robust foundation for effective problem management that is crucial for maintaining high-quality IT services.
Discover ITCC’s comprehensive ITSM platform, including its advanced problem management capabilities, available in one all-inclusive platform and a single license.
