Incident Management Best Practices

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Incident Management Best Practices www.techexcel.com Geng the process and the defined roles correct for your objecves is the main goal. Automang those processes makes it all easier, faster, more effecve and efficient. The soſtware used to handle Incident Managment should include all of the following features: 1. Ability to manage an incident through the enre lifecycle 2. Enforcement of standardized methods and procedures ensuring efficient and prompt handling of all incidents 3. An automac escalaon system that priorizes and routes incidents according to your specific requirements – including Service Level Agreements 4. Ability to classify incidents 5. Ability to report on high level or down to the detail on every incident– real-me 6. Ability to allow any user to request and track incident status 7. An integrated and searchable knowledgebase that can be populated with common soluons and work-arounds to known problems 8. Ability to manage and report on Key Process Indicators (KPIs) such as number of incidents by category, priority, resoluon, service level agreement, etc. ITIL Incident Management aims to minimize disrupon to the business by restoring service operaon to agreed levels as quickly as possible. Incident Management is oſten the first process insgated when introducing the ITIL quality framework to a Service Desk, and it offers the most immediate and highly visible cost reducon and quality gains. Step 1: Choose the Right Tool Step 2: Automate Every IT organizaon should seek to automate processes whenever possible, and the Incident Management process is no excepon. Automaon is important because it minimizes processing errors, facilitates faster response mes, and helps to ensure process compliance. There are countless opons for automang the processes related to Incident Management, ranging from email noficaons to escalaon alerts to knowledgebases with arfical intelligence. What is crical is selecng and using automaon wisely. Buy and use the automaon tools that make sense for your organizaon— those that help you manage incidents more efficiently and effecvely. Submit New Incident Escalate to Tier 2 Resolved Need More Info Resolved Closed Addional Info Requested New Incident Review Work in Progress Tier 2 Work in Progress Tier 1 Reopen Nofy Customer Need More Info Tier 1 Pickup Resolved Nofy Customer Tip: Items to include on an Incident Form ·- Incident Owner ·- Date submied -- Incident Classificaon ·- Priority ·- Descripon of the incident ·- Resoluon Details Sample Incident Management Process TechExcel ServiceWise includes a graphical workflow editor. With this editor, organizaons may ‘draw’ their process into place. To the leſt is an example of how an organizaon might choose to implement the incident mangement process. A Step-by-Step Guide ITIL Step Step by

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ITIL Incident Management aims to minimize disruption to the business by restoring service operation to agreed levels as quickly as possible. Incident Management is often the first process instigated when introducing the ITIL quality framework to a Service Desk, and it offers the most immediate and highly visible cost reduction and quality gains.

Transcript of Incident Management Best Practices

Page 1: Incident Management Best Practices

Incident Management Best Practices

www.techexcel.com

Getting the process and the defined roles correct for your objectives is the main goal. Automating those processes makes it all easier, faster, more effective and efficient. The software used to handle Incident Managment should include all of the following features:

1. Ability to manage an incident through the entire lifecycle2. Enforcement of standardized methods and procedures ensuring efficient and prompt handling of all incidents3. An automatic escalation system that prioritizes and routes incidents according to your specific requirements – including Service Level Agreements4. Ability to classify incidents5. Ability to report on high level or down to the detail on every incident– real-time6. Ability to allow any user to request and track incident status7. An integrated and searchable knowledgebase that can be populated with common solutions and work-arounds to known problems8. Ability to manage and report on Key Process Indicators (KPIs) such as number of incidents by category, priority, resolution, service level agreement, etc.

ITIL Incident Management aims to minimize disruption to the business by restoring service operation to agreed levels as quickly as possible. Incident Management is often the first process instigated when introducing the ITIL quality framework to a Service Desk, and it offers the most immediate and highly visible cost reduction and quality gains.

Step 1: Choose the Right Tool

Step 2: AutomateEvery IT organization should seek to automate processes whenever possible, and the Incident Management process is no exception. Automation is important because it minimizes processing errors, facilitates faster response times, and helps to ensure process compliance. There are countless options for automating the processes related to Incident Management, ranging from email notifications to escalation alerts to knowledgebases with artifical intelligence. What is critical is selecting and using automation wisely. Buy and use the automation tools that make sense for your organization— those that help you manage incidents more efficiently and effectively.

Submit NewIncident

Escalate to Tier 2

Resolved

Need More Info

ResolvedClosed

AdditionalInfo Requested

New

IncidentReview

Work in ProgressTier 2

Work in ProgressTier 1

Reopen

Notify Customer

Need More Info

Tier 1 Pickup

ResolvedNotify Customer

Tip: Items to include on an Incident Form

·- Incident Owner ·- Date submitted -- Incident Classification ·- Priority ·- Description of the incident ·- Resolution Details

Sample Incident Management Process

TechExcel ServiceWise includes agraphical workflow editor. Withthis editor, organizations may‘draw’ their process into place.To the left is an example ofhow an organization mightchoose to implement theincident mangement process.

A Step-by-Step Guide ITIL

StepStepby

Page 2: Incident Management Best Practices

Incident Management Best Practices

www.techexcel.com

Map out the roles and responsibilities and associated service levels for Incident Management. At a minimum, the processes should include: Call logging, Call assignment, Call resolution, Call documentation and knowledge transfer, and Call closure.

Tip:

Step 3: Share Information Giving the Incident Management process access to information greatly improves its capability to resolve incidents quickly and efficiently. Information stores such as knowledgebases play a key role. Properly configured and updated knowledgebases will help analysts identify known problems, recommend fixes and workarounds, and alert analysts of potential issues. IntegratingIncident Management with a knowledgebase that is customer facing also empowers customers to find answers to their ownproblems and, assuming a web-based system, is available to them 24/7.

Step 5: Integrate With other IT processes Closely linking Incident Management processes with Configuration and Problem Management will improve your ability to shareinformation and manage incidents proactively. Problem Management processes allow your organization to eliminate the pesky root causes of incidents. Close ties to Configuration Management will allow potential configuration problems to be identified and resolved prior to the occurrence of incidents.

Step 4: Gain Support of the ExecutivesTo realize the true benefits of a formalized process, executive buy-in and support is foundational. To sell formalized Incident Management as well as any other ITIL process in the organization, proponents must communicate the benefits in terms everyone will understand. Many of the potential benefits--more efficient use of IT resources, elimination of redundant work, enhanced projects, greater reliability

While Incident Management can be a thankless job, it’s a core process that every IT staff needs to master. Incident Management is the linchpin that connects the community of IT services users to the resources for resolving incidents that exist withinIT shops. Incident Management identifies, classifies, and manages the resolution of incidents while minimizing their impact to the business. This role is critical in ensuring that the impact of IT incidents on the business is managed effectively, and it offers the hope that future incidents can be mitigated as Incident Management programs become more proactive.

and availability of IT services--will apply to many facets of the business. Proponents need to educate managers about how these benefits will apply to the organization, how they will be measured, and the downside of not using best practices in managing IT services.

Step 6: Strive for Continuous Improvement One of the major benefits, if not THE benefit of process orientated approaches to managing IT services and infrastructure is that it enables continuous improvement. An organization is never totally satisfied with the current state of affairs and always wants to improve its service offerings. ITIL enables continuous improvement by allowing organizations to start measuring everything in IT. That is why it is so important to record everything. Technical people normally avoid documentation, they resist to documenting everything they do while they have more important tasks to complete like fixing a critical server. The benefit of having everything recorded outweighs the hassle of recording it by far. However, take note, it usually takes some effort to realize these benefits, which makes it even more difficult to get the techies recording their work.

Integrated knowledge search within Incident Management

A Step-by-Step Guide