Problem Management Process Workflow

A problem is often identified as a result of multiple Incidents reported by multiple users. A Problem is reported when an incident is severe and a Configuration Item could fail. A problem is also reported when the service availability is severely affected.

The Problem Management helps to minimize the impacts of incidents or problems that are caused by errors in the IT infrastructure. Problem Management determines and eliminates the root cause of the issue to prevent any recurrence. Problem Tickets are logged to:

• Identify the root cause of the incidents and prevent a failure.
• Review a failure and take corrective action to prevent potential disruption of critical services.

The Problem Management process involves establishing a root cause analysis process which aims to:

• Categorize reports of existing or potential problems with an existing device or service.
• Enable diagnosis of the problem reported.
• Manage the process of allowing for error control, existing control, or potential disruptions, leading to closure of the problem.    

However, you can minimize the impact of the issue even if incidents cannot be prevented. Root cause analysis is to get to the root of the problem and identify ways of solving the problem. If the Problem resolution necessitates a change, a Change ticket is logged. You can implement the change before resolving the problem ticket. 

The Serviceaide Intelligent Service Management provides two predefined incident management process workflows:

The status of the default problem management process workflows is:

• Default Problem Management Process Flow is Published.
• Advance Problem Management Process Flow is Draft.

Default Problem Management Process Flow

The default problem management process flow defines the basic process workflow of a ticket that is related to a problem. The default process is applied when a ticket does not match the entry criteria of other active problem process workflows.

The process of a default problem management is shown in the following diagram:

The following process explains how default problem management process flow works:

1. When a problem ticket is raised, based on the matching conditions, the entry criteria is verified to assign the request. By default, the request is assigned to Service Desk (L1) group, when no conditions are matched. 
2. The analyst assigns the ticket to a group, users, or individual for the diagnosis to identify the root cause. 
3. When a root cause is identified, the users/groups creates a KB article and closes the ticket.
4. Optionally, link tickets such as Create linked Change Request and Auto Create Task for Creating Knowledge Article are created.
5. When a root cause is not identified, steps 2 to 4 are repeated until a resolution is identified.

Advance Problem Management Process Flow

The Advance Problem Process flow is used to solve problems that need to create more steps. The steps are created for Configuration Item status, Workaround, Known Error Knowledge Article creation, and Major Problem Review activity when necessary.

The process of an advance problem management is shown in the following diagram:

The following process explains how advance problem management process flow works:

1. When a problem ticket is raised, based on the matching conditions, the entry criteria is verified to assign the request. By default, the request is assigned to Service Desk (L1) group, when no conditions are matched. 
2. The analyst accepts the ticket and performs one of the following actions for initial diagnosis:
   • Updates the configuration item (CI) and send an email to the owner of the CI.
   • Assigns the ticket to a group.
3. When a work-around is identified for the problem, the ticket is updated with the work-around as a work log. A KB article is created and published for the work-around.  
4. The ticket is assigned to a group for further analysis to resolve the root cause.
5. The group accepts the ticket and investigates the root cause. 
6. When a solution is identified, update the existing KB article with the resolution and close the ticket.
7. The steps 4 to 6 are repeated until a solution is identified.