A problem is defined as an underlying cause of one
or more incidents. The cause is not usually known at
the time a problem record is created, and the problem
management process is responsible for further investigation.
A) Purpose of Problem Management Process
To document, investigate, and remove causes
of incidents.
To minimize the adverse impact of incidents
and problems on the business that are caused by
underlying errors within the IT Infrastructure,
and to proactively prevent recurrence of incidents
related to these errors.
B) Objectives of Problem Management Process
Prevent problems and resulting incidents from
happening.
Eliminate recurring incidents.
Minimize the impact of incidents that cannot
be prevented.
C) Scope of Problem Management Process
Diagnosis the root cause of incidents
Take steps to eliminate them (with other processes,
in particular change management process).
Document problems, workarounds and resolutions
(maintain the known error database) for more effective
handling of similar incidents
D) Basic concepts
1) Reactive and Proactive problem management activities:
a) Reactive problem management process
Reactive problem management process activities
will typically be triggered in reaction to an incident
that has taken place.
Reactive problem management complements incident
management activities by focusing on the underlying
cause of an incident to prevent its recurrence and
identifying workarounds when necessary.
b) Proactive problem management process
Proactive problem management process activities
are triggered by activities seeking to improve services.
Proactive problem management complements CSI
activities by helping to identify workarounds and
improvement actions that can improve the quality
of a service.
2) Problem Models : handle problems that have not
and will not be resolved (e.g. the cost of a permanent
resolution is too high) by some pre-defined workaround
Record all relevant problem details for a full
historic record
log in the problem record (link to the incidents)
3) Categorizing Problems: Categorize Problems in
the same way as incidents, using the same coding system,
so the true nature of the problem can be easily traced
in the future and meaningful management information
can be had, and enables incidents and problems to be
more readily matched.
4) Prioritizing Problems - depends on impact(number
of users being affected) and urgency of the problem(how
quickly the business needs resolution).
5) Investigating and Diagnosing Problems
Apply problem-solving techniques.
Use the CMS to help determine impact and pinpoint
and diagnose the exact point of failure.
Use the KEDB for problem-matching techniques
to see if the problem has occurred before and, if
so, to find the resolution
6) Identifying a Workaround - provides the workaround
to service desk for resolving the incident and reassesses
the priority
7) Raising a Known Error Record
A known error is a problem with a documented
root cause and workaround.
Known error records should identify the related
problem record and document the status of actions
being taken to resolve the problem, its root cause
and workaround.
All known error records should be stored in
the known error database (KEDB)
8) Problem Resolution - implement the solution through
change management (as emergency change)
9) Problem Closure - a permanent solution has been
tested and implemented so that the problem will not
occur again (user confirmation NOT needed).
10) Major Problem Review
After every major problem, conduct a lessons learned
review examining:
Things done right and wrong
What to do better in the future
How to prevent recurrence.
Whether there is any third-party responsibility
and if follow-up actions are needed.
F) Incident Management Process- Interfaces with other
stages of ITIL Service Lifecycle.
1) Interfaces with Service Design
a) Financial Management for IT services:
Assists in assessing the impact of proposed
resolutions or workarounds, and pain value analysis
Problem management provides information about
the cost of resolving and preventing problems
Used as input into the budgeting and accounting
systems and total cost of ownership calculations.
2) Interfaces with Service Design
a) Availability Management:
Involved with seeking reduced downtime and increased
uptime
Much of the management information available
in problem management will be communicated to availability
management.
b) Capacity Management:
Some problems will require investigation by
capacity management teams and Techniques.
Problem management provides management information
on the quality of decisions made during the capacity
planning process
c) IT Service Continuity Management:
Problem management acts as an entry point into IT
service continuity management where a significant problem
is not resolved before it starts to have a major impact
on the business.
d) Service Level Management:
Problem management contributes to improvements
in service levels, and its information is used for
some SLA review components.
SLM provides parameters within which problem
management works.
3) Interfaces with Service Transition
a) Change Management:
Problem management ensures resolutions/workarounds
that require a CI change are given to change management
via RFC.
Change management tracks changes, advises problem
management
b) Service Assets and Configuration Management:
Problem management uses the CMS to identify faulty
CIs and also to determine the impact of problems and
resolutions.
c) Release and Deployment Management:
Responsible for deploying problem fixes out
to the live environment.
Problem management will help resolve problems
caused by faults during the release process.
d) Knowledge Management: The SKMS can be used to
form the basis for the KEDB and hold or integrate with
the problem records.
4) Interfaces with Service CSI
a) Seven step improvement Process:
Incidents and problems are a basis for identifying
service improvement opportunities; adding them to
the CSI register.
Proactive problem management activities may
identify underlying issues that if addressed, can
contribute to increases in service quality and end
user/customer satisfaction
6.5.3 Event Management
Process
An event can be defined as any detectable or discernable
occurrence that has significance for the management
of the IT infrastructure or the delivery of IT service,
and evaluation of the impact a deviation might cause
to the service.
Event Management is the process responsible for managing
events throughout their lifecycle. Event management
is one of the main activities of IT operations.
Modern systems make use of event monitoring tools
to monitor configuration items for signals and irregularities.
These tools are of two types they are:
a) Active Monitoring Tools: actively seek responses
to confirm correctness
b) Passive Monitoring Tools: detect and correlate
operational alerts or communications generated by CIs.
A) Purpose of Event Management Process
Manage events throughout their lifecycle.
Coordinate the lifecycle of activities to detect
and make sense of events and determine appropriate
control action.
B) Objectives of Event Management Process
To provide the entry point for the execution
of many service operation processes and activities.
To provide a way of comparing actual performance
and behavior against design standards and SLA's.
Provides the ability to detect, interpret and
initiate appropriate action for events.
Is the basis for operational monitoring and
control and the entry point for many service operation
activities
Provides operational information as well as
warnings and exceptions to aid automation.
Supports continual service improvement activities
of service assurance and reporting.
C) Scope of Event Management Process
1) Event management can be applied to any aspect
of service management that needs to be controlled and
which can be automated. These include:
a) Configuration Items:
Some configuration items will be included because
they need to stay in a constant state.
Some configuration items will be included because
their status needs to change frequently and event
management can be used to automate this and update
the configuration management system.
2) Environmental conditions (e.g. fire and smoke
detection).
3) Software license monitoring for usage to ensure
optimum/legal license utilization and allocation.
4) Security (e.g. intrusion detection).
5) Normal activity (e.g. tracking the use of an application
or the performance of a server)
6.5.4 Request Fulfillment
Process
A Service Request is a formal request from a user
for something to be provided. Request fulfillment is
the process responsible for managing the lifecycle of
all service requests.
A) Purpose of Request Fulfillment Process : Purpose
of Request Management process is to managing the lifecycle
of all user service requests.
B) Objectives of Request Fulfillment Process
To provide a channel for users to request and
receive standard services for which a predefined
approval qualification process exists.
To provide information to users and customers
about the availability of services and the procedure
for obtaining them.
To source and deliver the components of requested
standard services (e.g. licenses and software media).
To assist with general information, complaints
or comments.
C) Scope of Request Fulfillment Process
Any requests or just standard IT requests may
vary from organization to organization.
Some organizations may use incident management
process to handle requests
3) To provide a self-help support capability to users
to improve quality and reduce costs.
6.5.5 Access Management
Process
Access management is the process of granting authorized
users the right to use a service, while preventing access
to non-authorized users. It is, therefore, the execution
of policies and actions defined in information security
and availability management.
A) Purpose of Access Management Process
To implement parts of the security policies
defined in Information Security Management
To keep the access privileges up-to-date.
B) Objectives of Access Management Process
Manage access to services based on policies
and actions defined in information security management.
Efficiently respond to requests for granting
access to services, changing access rights or restricting
access, ensuring the rights provided or changed
are properly granted.
Ensure all requests for access are verified
and authorized and dealt with efficiently
C) Scope of Access Management Process
Execution of the policies in information security
management, in that it enables the organization
to manage the confidentiality, availability and
integrity of the organization's data and intellectual
property.
Ensures that users are given the right to use
a service, but it does not ensure that this access
is available at all agreed times - this is provided
by availability management.
Executed by all technical and application management
functions and is usually not a separate function,
but there is likely a single control point of coordination,
usually in IT operations management or on the service
desk.
