Problem Management
ITIL Service Management
According to ITIL, Problem Management aims to proactively prevent the occurrence of Incidents, Problems and errors within the IT infrastructure, in order to reduce the impact of these occurrences on the business.
Reducing Incidents
Deeper issues within the IT infrastructure are investigated by Problem Management. Incident prevention is superior to managing Incidents once they have occurred. Problem Managements is the investigator within the organization, analyzing historic and current information to identify trends indicative of underlying faults. It also looks to Incident Management for the identification of Major Incidents that warrant Problem investigation.
EMC Ionix Service Manager and Problem Management
The Problem Management module in Ionix Service Manager enables IT to:
- Improve on the reliability of Services
- Reduce the volume of Incidents and lighten the load on the Service Desk
- Deliver permanent solutions rather than constant workarounds
- Make use of and further develop organizational knowledge which, as it grows, will continually improve service reliability and the speed of Incident resolution.
Knowledge Bank
EMC Ionix Service Manager is architected to make relevant information available to officers as and when it is required. Problem officers can view all relevant Service and Configuration Item information, related Knowledge Bank articles, and related Known Error and Change records. Simple, one touch publishing to the Knowledge Bank ensures the capture of problem solving information, harnessing it for ongoing organizational use.
Automated Call Management
Intelligent call handling empowers the user to automate key aspects of call management, including priority determination, assignment and routing, notifications to key stakeholders and groups of interested parties who may be able to expedite call resolution (via email and SMS) - all based on data captured within the call.
Reporting
Problem Managers have at their disposal a variety of tool for Problem identification, including reporting, Dashboards and advanced searching. A range of Problem identification reporting templates are provided with the core application, with powerful user configured filters. These reports can be scheduled for automated delivery to Problem Management officers organization wide. Modification of reports to meet specific needs is handled by the Report Designer which is included as a standard feature within Infra. This intuitive designer protects the user from complex table views and allows relative novices to design their own reports.
Track Real-Time Call Activity at a Glance
EMC Ionix Service Manager's Dashboards can be used to track various call activity, according to the needs of the Problem Manager. Dashboards provide the ability to graph and track activity according to the users' own requirements, allowing rapid visual absorption of information displayed in real time.
Proactive Problem Management
Problem Managers can use detailed search criteria to identify Incident trends that may point to underlying Problems which need to be addressed. Search criteria can be defined to allow Problem Managers to track improvements in identified issues and initiate proactive Problem Management, through trend analysis capabilities. Search results can be exported so that the data can be manipulated, as required, to identify and resolve Problems.
Relationship with Other ITIL Processes
The call lifecycle (Incident, Problem, Known Error and Change Management) is fully supported. The relationship phases can be viewed graphically, with key data transferred between phases.
Known Errors identified by Problem Management link directly into Change Management, with key data being passed between the process both on the creation of the Request for Change, and on its completion.
Problem Management in Ionix Service Manager is fully integrated with the CMDB, allowing the officer to access critical configuration data in order to troubleshoot and resolve issues. Out-of-the-box integration with network discovery tools populate additional data into CMDB records in real-time, providing the officer with the most up to date information available. A CMDB linking diagram depicts relationships and dependencies graphically. Fault finding analysis and outage simulations are also available.
Service level commitments are monitored and enforced by Ionix Service Manager Service Level Management. Key stakeholders are notified of calls threatening to breach commitments, with color indicators apparent throughout various call views to ensure the current compliance state of the call is understood.
