3.1.2. Problem Management

💡 First Principle: To prevent future failures, an organization must systematically investigate the root causes of past incidents and proactively identify and address potential causes before they impact services.

Scenario: The service desk notices that the same "printer not working" incident is being reported every Monday morning. Instead of just resolving the incident each time, they log a problem record. The problem management team investigates and discovers a faulty script that runs over the weekend is the root cause. They submit a change request to fix the script, preventing the incident from happening again.

• Purpose: To reduce the likelihood and impact of incidents by identifying actual and potential causes of incidents, and managing workarounds and known errors. Proactive problem management prevents future incidents.
• Definition: A cause, or potential cause, of one or more incidents.
• Exam Details: 3 Phases: Problem Identification (incl. trend analysis), Problem Control (analysis, workaround), Error Control (managing KEs, proposing solutions). Prioritize based on risk (impact/probability). Known Error (KE) = problem analyzed (cause identified/hypothesized), workaround may exist, not resolved. KE status remains if no cost-effective fix. Submits Change Request for resolution after cost/benefit analysis, involving Change Enablement & CI. Distinct from Incident.
• Practical Implementation:
  • Challenges: Identifying problems from incident data, getting resources to investigate, implementing permanent fixes, managing workarounds effectively, preventing recurrence.
  • CSFs: Strong analytical skills, access to incident data and trend analysis tools, effective collaboration between support and technical teams, a process for managing known errors, a smooth handoff to Change Enablement.
  • Your Role: You might identify potential problems based on recurring issues you encounter, contribute to problem investigation teams, or help develop and document workarounds.

⚠️ Common Pitfall: A lack of proactive problem management. Many organizations are so busy with reactive incident management that they never allocate time to investigate and fix the underlying causes, leading to a cycle of recurring incidents.

Key Trade-Offs:

• Resource Allocation: Allocating skilled resources to problem management (a long-term investment in stability) often competes with the immediate demand for those same resources to work on new projects or resolve incidents.

Reflection Question: What is the value of documenting a Known Error even if a permanent fix is not immediately available or cost-effective? How does it help the Incident Management practice?