Problem Management: Benefits, Techniques, and...

Session 402Tuesday, October 22, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Track: Continual Service Improvement

Problem Management: Benefits, Techniques, and Methodologies John Custy Managing Consultant, JPC GROUP [email protected]

Session Description After years of talking about problem management, it seems like many organizations are finally attempting to do something about it. While many organizations think they’ve been doing problem management, they haven’t really been applying problem management in a way that addresses root causes and prevents outages. Even when organizations do attempt problem management, they often fail because their staffs aren’t trained and they don’t know how to use the various methodologies and techniques appropriately. In this session, John Custy will introduce and explain brainstorming, pain-value analysis, chronological analysis, Ishikawa (fishbone) diagrams, Pareto analysis, and the Kepner-Tregoe approach to problem solving. Used properly, these tools and methodologies can provide a foundation for critical thinking and a common language for troubleshooting, decreasing time to resolution and downtime and reducing costs. (Intermediate) Speaker Background John Custy has more than twenty-five years of experience designing, developing, and implementing ITSM solutions, both as a practitioner and as a consultant. He’s helped many organizations develop service strategies and translate these strategies into functional business plans, resulting in improved IT and services management practices. In addition to being a well-known speaker on service management and an active contributor to the development of service management programs, John is an HDI Faculty member, an ITIL Expert, and a Distinguished Professional in Service Management.

JOHN CUSTY

JPC GROUP

[email protected]

617.536.9225

Problem Management Benefits, Techniques and Methodologies

Fusion 2013

John Custy ‐ JPC [email protected]

Service Management Practitioner, Consultant and Educator

ITIL Expert & ITIL Service ManagerITIL Intermediate – SS, SD, ST, SO, CSI, OSA, SOA, PPO, RCV

ITIL Practitioner – IPAD, IPPI, IPRC

KT Certified InstructorISO/IEC 20000 ConsultantITSM Consultant/Manager based on ISO/IEC 20000ISFS, ISMAS based on ISO/IEC 27002HDI Faculty & Certified InstructorKCS v4 verified Consultant Distinguished Professional in IT Services Management

John Custy

john.custy

ITSMNinja

johncusty

Copyright ©2013 JPCGroup SESSION 402 - PROBLEM MANAGEMENT: BENEFITS, TECHNIQUES AND METHODOLOGIES

Provide the foundation for:� Critical thinking� Common language� Decreasing time to resolution� Decrease Downtime� Reduce costs and increase IT value

� Key roles necessary for Problem Management� Techniques/Methodologies for Problem Management

Results� Increase Business value of IT Services

WHY Problem Management


� Problem Management �Purpose, Objectives, Goals�Current State�Challenges

� Problem Management Techniques

� Problem Management – Lessons Learned�Value and Benefits�Roles�Process Relationships�Metrics

Agenda


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Today

Copyright ©2013 JPCGroup

Source: KT/ITpreneurs

Everyone Does it Their Own Way…

SESSION 402 - PROBLEM MANAGEMENT: BENEFITS, TECHNIQUES AND METHODOLOGIES

?

Outcome



This doesn’t work well for teams. Result = significant rework for each escalation/transfers


*Chart represents week 1 2007 through week 12 2008

Linear toa teamof 16

OutcomeExtended resolution …




Problem Management

Current state and challenges


� Purpose:

�Eliminate recurring incidents and minimize the effect of incidents that cannot be eliminated

� Objective:�Prevent problems and related incidents from happening

�Eliminate recurring incidents

�Minimize the impact of incidents that cannot be prevented

Problem Management


Goal:

�Diagnose the root cause of incidents and the resolution to the problem

�Ensure that the resolution is implemented through the appropriate control processes (change and release management)

�Maintain information about problems and workarounds

�Interface with knowledge management

Problem Management


Problem Management Concepts


Problem

Problem

}}

Incidents

Incident

Known Error

}

Request for Change

Why is this important?

Your service management tooling must support these relationships.


�Understand the difference between Incident Management & Problem Management

�Fixing the issue permanently is typically a task for problem management.

�Management needs to prioritize Problem Management activities, not each analyst/technician.

�Business justification is necessary for prioritizing problems

Problem Management Challenges


What Are We Really Trying to Understand?


What solutions are on the table?

Specify objectives

What´s going on? List issues and actions

What are risks / opportunities?

Determine preventive and contingent actions

Why did it happen?Collect facts to find cause


Risks and Opportunities


Risks and Opportunities list

Preventive and Contingent Actions

Due Done Who

Story in papers causes intrusions on farm

News satellite trucks block access for farm vehicles

Place tractors in lane to prevent large vehicleaccess


What is Going On?


Customer Issues, Priorities, Impact.What When Where

Action Needed Due Done Who

Chicken crossing road daily

Prevent Chicken crossing

Find out why chicken crosses the road

Journalist sniffingaround

Keep him off the farm


Possible Solutions


ObjectivesSolution Must Meet

AlternativesBestFit?

Due Who

Choose best way to keep poultry safe

New fencingLock chicken in coop

How to manage the story best

Minimize disruption to grain operation

Find the answer to the mystery


Diagnosis Data We HaveData We Want

Due Done Who

One chicken (Rhode Is Red)

List events happening only on weekdays around 10am

Not guinea fowl, ducks, geese.

Going across road, not to grain store, farmhouse.

Weekdays at 10am, not earlieror later. Last 4 months, not 14 months before.

Why Did this Happen -Potential Causes


Problem Management Techniques

There are proven problem analysis techniques that have shown to delivery positive results:

5 W’s and 5 Why’s Brainstorming

Pain Value AnalysisChronological Analysis

Service Failure AnalysisIshikawa Diagrams (Fishbone Diagrams)

Pareto AnalysisKepner-Tregoe


Based on the research and book “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by the Nobel-prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman the brain has two fundamental thinking modes:

�System 1: “Automatic System” informed by knowledge and experience

�System 2: “Effortful System” used to consciously think through an issue in a systematic way

Which mode do you typically use?

Two Fundamental Thinking Modes


Source: KT/ITpreneursSESSION 402 - PROBLEM MANAGEMENT: BENEFITS, TECHNIQUES AND METHODOLOGIES

2 x 2 =

What thinking mode did you use?

38 x 38 =

What thinking mode did you use?

The answer is …


System 1 is best to use:�The issue is simple�I have seen an issue like this many times before�The cost of being wrong is low and the consequences

are acceptable

System 2 is best to use:�The issue is complex �I have not seen an issue like this before�The cost of being wrong is high and the consequences

unacceptable�Time for repeated System 1 thinking is over�Number of trial fixes, people involved or elapsed time

When to use different approaches…


Source: KT/ITpreneursSESSION 402 - PROBLEM MANAGEMENT: BENEFITS, TECHNIQUES AND METHODOLOGIES

5 W’s� Who, What, When, Where, Why

� More of an information gathering technique� Also known as 6W’s (5W’s and H)

� Variant of Cause and Effect, Fishbone or Ishikawa Diagram methodology

5 Why’s� Ask ‘Why this Occurred’ 5 times

� Good for identifying causal relationships

� Limited to knowledge of individual working the issue

� Limited effectiveness with cross-functional groups




Brainstorming

�The most common type of problem analysis�Relevant experts meet together (physically or

virtually)�Identify their ideas on the potential cause of the

problem�Sessions can be very constructive�Sessions can also be time consuming.�Sessions should be structured with a moderator

– Documents the session – Identifies actions– Follow-up items listed and assignments



Pain Value AnalysisThis analysis is used when attempting to understand the impact (level of pain) of incident(s)/problem(s) on the business. It is possible to design a algorithm to measure the level of pain (thus assisting prioritization) using variables:

� Number of users affected� Length of downtime� Timing of the downtime� Cost to the business (user time, lost sales, penalties, etc.)

The investigation may also turn up information helpful to the diagnosis, assessment and ultimate correction of the problem as well.Copyright ©2013 JPCGroup SESSION 402 - PROBLEM MANAGEMENT: BENEFITS, TECHNIQUES AND METHODOLOGIES


Chronological AnalysisBuilds a timeline of what happened when (from event and/or incident data). The timeline can then be used to identify cause and effect events and validate assumptions not supported by the events. The expanded incident lifecycle can assist in developing the chronological analysis.



Service Failure Analysis (SFA) is a technique designed to provide a structured approach to identifying� the underlying causes of service interruption to users � end-to-end improvement opportunities that deliver benefits to

users.

SFA utilizes a range of data sources to assess where and why shortfalls in availability are occurring. SFA enables a holistic view to be taken to drive not just IT infrastructure improvements but improvements to the IT support organization process, procedures and tools.

Select Opportunity

Scope Assignment

Plan Assignment

Build Hypothesis

Analyze Data

Interview Key Personnel

Findings/Conclusions

Recommendations

Report

Validation

© Base on crown copyright 2007 Reproduced under license from OGCCopyright ©2013 JPCGroup SESSION 402 - PROBLEM MANAGEMENT: BENEFITS, TECHNIQUES AND METHODOLOGIES


Ishikawa (Cause/Effect)

A graphical technique that helps identify all possible causes of an effect, such as a problem. This technique was developed by Kaoru Ishikawa and is often called an Ishikawa diagram. Because the final output often looks like a fish, it is also sometimes called a “fishbone” diagram. It is also referred to as a Cause and Effect diagram.



Main CauseMain Cause

Main CauseMain Cause

Level 1 Causes

Level 1 Causes

Level 1 Causes Level 1 Causes

Problem to be resolved (effect)

Level 2 Causes

Level 2 Causes

Level 2 Causes

Level 2 Causes


Level 2 Causes

Level 2 Causes

Level 1 Causes

Level 2 Causes

Level 2 Causes

Root Cause Analysis

Lamp doesn’t turn on

Power Bulb

Cord Plug Switch

Power outage

No house power

Wall switch turned off

Circuit breaker

Unpaid bill

Power plant failure

Storm

Burned out

Old

Broken

Missing

Loose

Bulb snatcher

Cord cut

Vandal

Chewed

Not plugged

inCareless cleaning

Switch broken

Switch missing

No contact Corroded


Ishikawa Diagram




Pareto AnalysisA statistical approach to problem solving that is oriented to focusing on the potential issues causing the greatest effect. 1. Build a table showing potential causes2. Sort the rows by importance (descending) 3. Plot causes (X axis) and Cumulative % (Y axis) and draw

line connecting the points (curve)4. Plot bar graph with causes on X axis5. Draw line @ 80% of Y axis (parallel to X axis)6. Where line & curve intersect drop line to X axis7. Important causes to the left, trivial to the right



0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Cumulative %

% of Errors

Important Trivial

Important Trivial


� Kepner-Tregoe (KT) Analysis (http://www.tregoe.org)

� This is a rational model that is well respected in business management circles. An important aspect of Kepner Tregoe decision making is the assessment and prioritizing of risk.

� KT is not to find a perfect solution but rather the best possible choice, based on actually achieving the outcome with minimal negative consequences.

� There are four basic steps when decision making Kepner Tregoe style:

� Situation appraisal - is used to clarify the situation, outline concerns and choose a direction

� Problem analysis - here the problem is defined and it's root cause determined � Decision analysis - alternatives are identified and a risk analysis done for each � Potential problem analysis - the best of the alternatives is further scrutinized

against potential problems and negative consequences and actions are proposed to minimize the risk.



Kepner-Tregoe Model


3. Decision Analysis: To select best fix.Effective Decision Making

2. Problem Analysis:To find root cause.Problem Management

4. Potential Problem Analysis:To avoid future problems.Risk Analysis

1. Situation Appraisal:To clarify and prioritize situation.Plan Issue Resolution

Source: Kepner-Tregoe



Not a newprocess, justa better wayof doingthe existingprocessesbetter.









Comparison of Techniques


Suggested Techniques


Problem Situation Suggested Techniques

Complex problems where a sequence of events needs to be assembled to determine exactly what happened

Chronological analysisTechnical observation post

Uncertainty over which problems should be addressed firstPain value analysisBrainstorming

Uncertain whether a presented root cause is truly the root cause5-WhysHypothesis testing

Intermittent problems that appear to come and go and cannot be recreated or repeated in a test environment

Technical observation postKepner–TregoeHypothesis testingBrainstorming

Uncertainty over where to start for problems that appear to have multiple causes

Pareto analysisKepner–TregoeIshikawa diagramsBrainstorming

Struggling to identify the exact point of failure for a problem

Fault isolationIshikawa diagramsKepner–TregoeAffinity mappingBrainstorming

Uncertain where to start when trying to find root cause

5-WhysKepner–TregoeBrainstormingAffinity mapping

Lessons Learned

Pro b l em Ma n a g em en t Pr o ce s s F l o wProb l em Ma nagemen t Re l a t i o n s h i p s

Pr ob l em Ma nagemen t Me t r i c sPr o c e s s Ro l e s

S u c ce s s f u l App r o a ch


Problem Management Flow


A problem model is a method of predefining the steps that should be taken in order to handle a particular type of problem. A problem model should include:

� The steps to be taken to handle the problem

� The order in which the steps should be taken with dependencies

� Roles and responsibilities

� Timescales and thresholds for completion of the actions

� Escalation procedures

� Any necessary information/data preservation activities

Problem Management Model


�Total number of problems recorded in the period�Percentage of problems resolved within their targets�Number and percentage of problems that exceed their

targeted resolution times�Number of major problems�Backlog of outstanding problems�Average cost of handling a problem�Number of known errors added to the KEDB�Percentage of major problem reviews completed

successfully and on time�Percentage of accuracy of the KEDB

Problem Management Metrics


� Problem Management Process Owner � The Problem Management Process Owner is primarily

responsible for the effectiveness of the Problem Management process. The Process Owner has final decision authority on process vision and direction, and authority to handle (and resolve) cross-organizational differences.

� Problem Process Manager � The Problem Process Manager has overall

accountability for the execution of the process, provides support to the Process Owner, and manages the day to day aspects of the Problem Management Group.

Problem Management – Roles


� Ensure that problems are effectively being identified, defined and prioritized

� Ensure that priorities reflect the true business priorities� Assign appropriate resources to the Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

and resolution activities.� Ensure that the appropriate techniques are utilized in defining

solutions� Ensure that the proper tools are deployed� Ensure that Request for Changes (RFCs) associated with

problem resolutions are appropriately prioritized� Provide status updates to senior management.� Ensure that the Problem Management process achieves the

expected results.� Present the Problem Management process metrics and reports,

and provide feedback/recommendations aimed at continuous process improvements.

Problem Process Manager


� Incident Management – Incident management provides the data used for trending to identify which problems to work on. Problem Management provides workaround to incident management to restore service.

� Change Management – for problems to be eliminated, a change must be approved and released

� Service Asset and Configuration Management – the CMS is used to assist in identifying CI at fault (root cause) and is a repository for known errors, RFC, release plans, etc.

� Release and Deployment Management – problems will be corrected by releases (when changes are deployed)

Problem Management Process Relationships


� Availability Management – availability issues will be identified & resolved by Problem Management

� Capacity Management – capacity issues will be identified & resolved by Problem Management

� IT Service Continuity Management – IT Service Continuity issues will be identified & resolved by Problem Management

� Service Level Management – Service Levels will improve when the issues are resolved via the Problem Management process

� Financial Management – provides information needed to determine prioritize problems and determine which resolutions should be implemented

Problem Management Process Relationships


Successful Problem Solving Approach


Quality x Adoption = Results

Problem SolvingSkill Transfer

(training needed)

Coaching

+

Alignment of:Processes and Triggers

Expectations > Consequences > FeedbackMeasurement

Documentation and Knowledge Creation (software)Role modeling (leadership)

Service Quality Restoration time

Value from Restoration Customer Satisfaction



Thank you fo r a t tend ing th is sess ion .

Don ’ t fo rge t to comp le te the eva lua t ion !

Questions?


Problem Management: Benefits, Techniques, and...

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