Problem Management User Guide

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BMC Remedy Service Desk:Problem Management UserGuide

Supporting

Version 7.6.03 of BMC Remedy Problem Management

August 2010

www.bmc.com


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Contacting BMC Software

You can access the BMC Software website at http://www.bmc.com. From this website, you can obtaininformation about the company, its products, corporate offices, special events, and career opportunities.

United States and Canada

Address BMC SOFTWARE INC2101 CITYWEST BLVDHOUSTON TX 77042-2827 USA

Telephone 1 713 918 8800or1 800 841 2031

Fax 1 713 918 8000

Outside United States and Canada

Telephone +01 713 918 8800 Fax +01 713 918 8000

Copyright 1996, 1998-1999, 2002-2006, 2009 -2010 BMC Software, Inc.

BMC, BMC Software, and the BMC Software logo are the exclusive properties of BMC Software, Inc., areregistered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration inother countries. All other BMC trademarks, service marks, and logos may be registered or pendingregistration in the U.S. or in other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are theproperty of their respective owners.

Current and Notes are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business MachinesCorporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

IT Infrastructure Libraryis a registered trademark of the Office of Government Commerce and is usedhere by BMC Software, Inc., under license from and with the permission of OGC.

ITILis a registered trademark, and a registered community trademark of the Office of GovernmentCommerce, and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and is used here by BMC Software,Inc., under license from and with the permission of OGC.

Crystal Reports is a trademark or registered trademark of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries.

The information included in this documentation is the proprietary and confidential information of BMCSoftware, Inc., its affiliates, or licensors. Your use of this information is subject to the terms and conditionsof the applicable End User License agreement for the product and to the proprietary and restricted rightsnotices included in the product documentation.

Restricted rights legend

U.S. Government Restricted Rights to Computer Software. UNPUBLISHEDRIGHTS RESERVEDUNDER THE COPYRIGHT LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. Use, duplication, or disclosure of any dataand computer software by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions, as applicable, set forth in FARSection 52.227-14, DFARS 252.227-7013, DFARS 252.227-7014, DFARS 252.227-7015, and DFARS252.227-7025, as amended from time to time. Contractor/Manufacturer is BMC SOFTWARE INC, 2101CITYWEST BLVD, HOUSTON TX 77042-2827, USA. Any contract notices should be sent to this address.
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Customer support

Support websiteYou can obtain technical support from BMC 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at http://www.bmc.com/support. From thiswebsite, you can

read overviews about support services and programs that BMC offers

find the most current information about BMC products

search a database for problems similar to yours and possible solutions

order or download product documentation

download products and maintenance

report a problem or ask a question

subscribe to receive proactive e-mail alerts

find worldwide BMC support center locations and contact information, including e-mail addresses, fax numbers, andtelephone numbers

Support by telephone or e-mail

In the United States and Canada, if you need technical support and do not have access to the web, call 800 537 1813 orsend an e-mail message to [email protected]. (In the subject line, enter SupID:yourSupportContractID , suchas SupID:12345). Outside the United States and Canada, contact your local support center for assistance.

Before contacting BMC

Have the following information available so that Customer Support can begin working on your issue immediately:

product information

product name product version (release number) license number and password (trial or permanent)

operating system and environment information

machine type operating system type, version, and service pack or other maintenance level such as PUT or PTF system hardware configuration serial numbers related software (database, application, and communication) including type, version, and service pack or

maintenance level sequence of events leading to the problem

commands and options that you used

messages received (and the time and date that you received them)

product error messages messages from the operating system, such as file system full messages from related software

3
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.bmc.com/support


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License key and password information

If you have questions about your license key or password, use one of the following methods to get assistance:

Send an e-mail to [email protected].

Use the Customer Support website at http://www.bmc.com/support.

4 BMC Remedy Service Desk: Problem Management User Guide
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Contents

Chapter 1 About this Book 9Audience ............................................................................................................................9BMC Remedy IT Service Management documents ...................................................10

Conventions .....................................................................................................................12

Syntax statements ...........................................................................................................12

Chapter 2 Introducing BMC Remedy Problem Management 15What's new in BMC Remedy Problem Management ...............................................15Starting BMC Remedy IT Service Management .........................................................16

Configuring the IT Home Page ..........................................................................18

Consoles overview ...............................................................................................19Problem Investigation form views ...............................................................................20

Best Practice view ................................................................................................21Classic view ..........................................................................................................22

Calbro Services ................................................................................................................23

Problem management user roles ..................................................................................24Problem coordinator ............................................................................................25

Specialist ................................................................................................................26Mapping permission groups to SMPM roles ...................................................26

Process flow and the lifecycle of a problem investigation ........................................27

Problem management use cases ...................................................................................28Problem investigation resolutionchange request ........................................28

Problem investigation resolutionno change request ..................................32

Problem investigation resolutionchange request roll back .......................34Problem investigationat an impasse .............................................................38

Chapter 3 Working with the Overview console 43Functional areas ..............................................................................................................43

Console list table .............................................................................................................46Selecting status values ....................................................................................................47

Chapter 4 Working with the Problem Management console 49Functional areas ..............................................................................................................49

Chapter 5 Performing the incident request review 55Incident request review process ...................................................................................55

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Generating an incident request review .......................................................................56

Creating a problem investigation .................................................................................57

Viewing problem investigations ........................................................................58Recording additional investigation information .............................................58

Indicating impacted areas ...................................................................................59Relating incident requests and problem investigations ............................................60

Defining relationships .........................................................................................61

Copying relationships .........................................................................................62Modifying relationships ......................................................................................63

Performing quick actions on a relationship .....................................................63

Removing relationships ......................................................................................64Assigning problem investigations ................................................................................65

Viewing unassigned investigations ..................................................................65Specifying a problem coordinator for the problem investigation ................65

Assigning an investigation to a specialist ........................................................66

Chapter 6 Performing the root cause analysis 69Root cause analysis .........................................................................................................69

Reviewing and updating the problem investigation .................................................70Receiving notification of assignments .............................................................71

Viewing problem investigations assigned to you ...........................................71Accepting an assignment ....................................................................................72

Searching for similar problem investigations ..................................................73

Searching knowledge base entries ....................................................................74Authoring knowledge base entries ...................................................................74

Documenting work with a vendor ....................................................................74

Proposing a temporary workaround ...........................................................................75Establishing the root cause ............................................................................................77

Proposing a structural solution ....................................................................................78Implementing the solution ............................................................................................79

Resolving a problem investigation ....................................................................79Creating a solution entry ....................................................................................80Notifying the problem coordinator ..............................................................................82

Chapter 7 Performing the analysis review 83Analysis review ...............................................................................................................83

Reviewing the problem investigation ..........................................................................84When a structural change was implemented ..................................................85

When Change Management is needed .............................................................85

When no root cause was found ..........................................................................86Reassigning the problem investigation .......................................................................86



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Creating a known error ..................................................................................................87

Reviewing known error details ....................................................................................89

Monitoring a problems status ......................................................................................90Canceling a problem investigation ...............................................................................90

Chapter 8 Closing the problem investigation 93Closing the problem investigation ...............................................................................93

Verifying the structural solution ..................................................................................94Closing the problem investigation and known errors ..............................................95

Indicating an impasse ....................................................................................................96

Performing periodic checks ...........................................................................................97

Chapter 9 Supplemental BMC Remedy Problem Management features 99Using the KPI flashboards .............................................................................................99

BMC Remedy Problem Management KPIs ....................................................100

KPI flashboard variables ...................................................................................100Opening the KPI flashboards ...........................................................................102

Viewing and displaying data ...........................................................................102

Viewing your profile ....................................................................................................104Setting application preferences ...................................................................................104

Searching for records ....................................................................................................106Running Defined Searches ...............................................................................106Creating a custom search ..................................................................................107

Editing or deleting the custom search ............................................................108Searching all records .........................................................................................109

Printing records .............................................................................................................110

Modifying records ........................................................................................................110Tracking costs ................................................................................................................111

Recording the cost of working on an investigation ......................................111Recording the cost of CI unavailability ..........................................................112

Using work information notes ....................................................................................113Adding work information notes ......................................................................113Viewing work information notes .....................................................................114

Recording effort spent on an investigation ...............................................................115

Creating reminders .......................................................................................................116Broadcasting messages ................................................................................................118

Creating broadcast messages ...........................................................................118Viewing broadcasts ...........................................................................................121

Modifying a broadcast message ......................................................................121

Limiting the number of messages ...................................................................121Sending pages and email messages ...........................................................................122

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Paging a person or on-call group ....................................................................123

Sending email .....................................................................................................124

Working with reports ...................................................................................................126Generating a report ............................................................................................127

Using qualifications to generate a report .......................................................128Using advanced qualifications to generate a report .....................................130

BMC Remedy Problem Management predefined reports ...........................131

Chapter 10 Managing configuration items 133Creating a CI ..................................................................................................................134

Inventory management ................................................................................................139Placing bulk CIs in inventory ...........................................................................139

Placing non-bulk CIs in inventory .................................................................140

Managing inventory ..........................................................................................141



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About this BookThis guide describes how to use the BMC Remedy Problem Management applicationof the BMC Remedy IT Service Management Suite.

The BMC Remedy IT Service Management Suite includes the following applications:

The BMC Remedy Service Desk solution , which includes theBMC Remedy Incident Management application and the BMC Remedy ProblemManagement application

The BMC Remedy Asset Management application

The BMC Remedy Change Management application, which also includes the BMCRemedy Release Management module

The applications run with the BMC Remedy Action Request System (BMC RemedyAR System) environment and share a common database. All these applications

receive data from the BMC Atrium Configuration Management Database (BMCAtrium CMDB).

AudienceThis guide is intended for the following IT professionals:

IT support staff

Problem coordinators

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BMC Remedy IT Service Managementdocuments

The following table lists the documentation available for BMC Remedy Service Desk:Problem Management. It also lists relevant documents for related solutions andproducts.

Unless otherwise noted, online documentation is available with the product and onthe Customer Support website at http://www.bmc.com/support.

Title Document provides AudienceBMC Remedy Service Desk: Problem Management

BMC Remedy IT ServiceManagement Release Notes Information about known issues in each release ofBMC Remedy IT Service Management. Also providesa list of new features included with the applications.

Everyone

BMC Remedy Service Desk: ProblemManagement Users Guide

Procedures for using the BMC Remedy ProblemManagement application; includes new features andan overview.

Everyone

BMC Remedy IT ServiceManagement Administration Guide

Procedures for configuring and administrating theBMC Remedy IT Service Management applications.

Administrators

BMC Remedy IT ServiceManagement Concepts Guide

Conceptual overview information about theapplications that make up the BMC Remedy ITSMSuite of applications.

Everyone

Help Help for using and configuring Problem Management,available by clicking Help in the product interface.

Available from Help links after Help is installed.

Everyone

Additional BMC Remedy IT Service Management products

BMC Remedy Service Desk: IncidentManagement Users Guide

Procedures for using the BMC Remedy Service Desk:Incident Management application; includes newfeatures and an overview.

Everyone

BMC Remedy Asset ManagementUsers Guide

Procedures for using the BMC Remedy AssetManagement application; includes new features andan overview.

Everyone

BMC Remedy Change ManagementUsers Guide

Procedures for using the BMC Remedy ChangeManagement application; includes new features andoverview.

Everyone

BMC Service Management ProcessModel, BMC Best Practice Flows

A white paper describing the best practice work flowfor the BMC Remedy IT Service Managementprocesses that are covered by the BMC ServiceManagement Process Model.

Everyone

Solutions

BMC Remedy IT Service Management documents

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Title Document provides AudienceBMC Service Impact Manager:Integration for BMC Remedy ServiceDesk User Guide

Detailed information about the Integration for theBMC Remedy Service Desk (IBRSD) component. Thisguide is intended for system administrators and users

with an understanding of the BMC Impact Managerand BMC Remedy Service Desk environments.

Administratorsand BMCImpact

Manager users

Service Management SolutionsRelease Notes

Information about new features, open issues, andresolved issues.

Everyone

BMC Atrium CMDB

BMC Atrium Core Release Notes Information about new features, open issues, andresolved issues.

Everyone

BMC Atrium CMDB User's Guide Information about using BMC Atrium CMDB,including searching for and comparing CIs andrelationships, relating CIs, viewing history, running

impact simulations, and viewing federated data.

Users

BMC Atrium Core TroubleshootingGuide

Information about resolving issues with BMC AtriumCore components, including API, filter and consoleerror messages and their solutions.

Administrators,programmers,and BMCSupportpersonnel

BMC Remedy Action Request System

BMC Remedy Approval ServerGuide

Information about installation and configuration of theBMC Remedy Approval Server, how to use the BMCRemedy Approval Server, and understanding the

approval workflow.

Everyone

BMC Service Level Management

BMC Service Level ManagementRelease Notes

Information about known issues in each release ofBMC Service Level Management. Also provides a listof new features included with the application.

Everyone

BMC Service Level ManagementUsers Guide

Procedures for using the BMC Service LevelManagement application; includes new features andoverview.

Everyone

BMC Service Request Management

BMC Service Request ManagementRelease Notes

Information about new features and known issues. Everyone

BMC Remedy Knowledge Management

BMC Remedy KnowledgeManagement User Guide

Procedures for using the BMC Remedy KnowledgeManagement application; includes new features andoverview.

Everyone

BMC Service Management Process Model

BMC Remedy IT Service Management documents



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Title Document provides AudienceBMC Service Management Process

Model Role Mapping to BMCRemedy ITSM Suite

List and description of BMC Service ManagementProcess Model roles.

Everyone

ConventionsThis document uses the following special conventions:

All syntax, operating system terms, and literal examples arepresented in this typeface.

Variable text in path names, system messages, or syntax is displayed in italic text:testsys/instance/fileName

This document uses a symbol to show menu sequences. For example, Actions =>Create Test instructs you to choose the Create Test command from the Actionsmenu.

Syntax statementsThis topic explains conventions for showing syntax statements.

A sample statement follows:

COMMAND KEYWORD1 [KEYWORD2 | KEYWORD3] KEYWORD4={YES | NO} fileName

Convention ExampleItems in italic type represent variables that youmust replace with a name or value. If a variable

is represented by two or more words, initialcapitals distinguish the second and subsequentwords.

alias

databaseDirectory

serverHostName

Brackets indicate a group of optional items. Donot type the brackets when you enter theoption. A comma means that you can chooseone or more of the listed options. You must usea comma to separate the options if you choosemore than one option.

[tableName, columnName, field]

[-full, -incremental, -level] (UNIX)

Conventions



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Convention ExampleBraces indicate that at least one of the encloseditems is required. Do not type the braces whenyou enter the item.

{DBDName | tableName}

UNLOAD device={disk | tape, fileName |deviceName}

{-a | -c} (UNIX)

A vertical bar means that you can choose onlyone of the listed items. In the example, youwould choose either commit or cancel.

{commit | cancel}

{-commit | -cancel} (UNIX)

An ellipsis indicates that you can repeat theprevious item or items as many times asnecessary.

columnName

Syntax statements



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Syntax statements



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Introducing BMC Remedy ProblemManagement

The BMC Remedy Problem Management application is used to manage probleminvestigations, known errors, and solution database entries. In the IT InfrastructureLibrary (ITIL) model, problem management focuses on reducing the number ofincidents; either reactively, by preventing them from recurring, or proactively bypreventing them from occurring.

An important ITIL objective is to minimize service disruptions. A probleminvestigation helps an IT organization get to the root cause of incidents. It initiatesactions that help to improve or correct the problem, preventing the incident fromrecurring. For example, if computers are running low on disk space and this isdiscovered during a problem investigation, the problem can be resolved before itbecomes an incident that causes a disruption to service.

After a problem investigation identifies the root cause of the incident, theinformation results in a known error. A known error is a problem that has beensuccessfully diagnosed and for which a temporary work-around or permanentsolution has been identified. Service desk analysts and specialists can use the work-around information in the known error to resolve similar incident requests if theyoccur before the proposed structural solution has been implemented.

Many of the processes described in this guide are developed from the BMC RemedyService Management Process Model (SMPM), which is a companion product to BMCRemedy Problem Management. The SMPM describes a set of predefined processesfor the delivery and support of information technology (IT) services. The processesdescribed by the SMPM are aligned with ITIL good practices.

What's new in BMC Remedy ProblemManagement

This section describes the changes or new features in this release.

2

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There is an updated Reporting Console. Existing reports have been converted to theBusiness Intelligence and Reporting Tools (BIRT) format, which provides additionaloptions for saving and viewing the reports. All available Print reports have beenconverted.

Starting BMC Remedy IT Service ManagementWhen you start the BMC Remedy IT Service Management Suite, the IT Home Pagedisplays the Overview console by default. However, you can set up what you wantto see on the IT Home Page. If you are a system administrator, you can configure thepage for all users. Otherwise, you can configure your own user ID to see your views.

Functional areas of the IT Home Page

The following figure illustrates the functional areas of the IT Home Page.

Figure 1: IT Home Page and its functional areas

The following table describes each of the functional areas of the IT Home Page.

Functional area PurposeHome Page header

Logout Click Logout to exit the application.

Navigation pane

Starting BMC Remedy IT Service Management



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Functional area PurposeApplications Depending on your permissions and other installed applications, the following

links are displayed. Use them to open applications.

Quick Links

AR System Administration

Analytics

BMC Atrium Core

BMC Atrium Integration Engine

Administrator Console

Asset Management

Change Management

Change Management Dashboard

Contract Management

Product Catalog

Foundation Elements

Incident Management

Problem Management

Return On Investment

Release Management

Requestor Console

Task Management

Note: When you run your mouse over the applications, you see a second menu.

You can select one of those options to go directly to a form. For example, roll

over Change Management and select Change/Release Calendar. The Calendar

screen appears.

Configuration Buttons Use these buttons to configure your panel display.

Overview console




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Functional area PurposeCompany and View By These fields combine to provide a way to indicate the company name and the

assigned-to categories filtering the records in the Console List table.

Refresh This button refreshes the data in the table.

Preferences This button allows you to set preferences for the console list table. You canremove columns, set refresh intervals, reset and save your preferences.

Console List table This table lists the different types of requests.

Configuring the IT Home Page

You can configure the IT Home Page to display information of your choice. For

example, Bob Baxter is the Manager for payroll at Calbro Services. He likes to keeptrack of all potential problems, changes, and incidents pertaining to his department.He also tracks software license contracts so that he knows which ones are about toexpire. Bob configures his panels to display all the information he is looking for, asfollows:

Asset Management => Contracts About to Expire in 90 Days

Change Management => All Open Changes with Extensive Impact

Incident Management => All Open Incidents with Extensive Impact

Problem Management => All Open Problems by Status and Priority

To add or delete panels

You can specify how many panels to display on your IT Home Page up to amaximum of four panels.

1 In the IT Home Page, click the Add panels to layout button.

Four panels appear.

2 To delete a panel, click the Close button on the panel.

To configure panels

You can select what to display on your IT Home Page.

NoteYou can configure your panels only with options for which you have permissions.




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1 In the panel, click the Show list and run your cursor over the list of options.

2 From the list of work areas for each option, select the one to display (for example,Asset Management => Software Certificates).

The panel displays your selection.

3 Repeat Step 1 to for your other panels.

To change display on a panel, click the Edit button to display the Show list,and make another selection.

4 Click the Save Current Layout button to save your IT Home Page.

A dialog box confirms that your customized layout has been saved.

5 Click OK.

When you next log in, you will see your saved IT Home Page.

To expand and collapse panels

1 In the panel, click the Collapse button. The panel will collapse. In the panel

click the Expand button. The panel will expand to its original size.

To restore a default IT Home Page view

1 In the IT Home Page, click the Restore Default Layout button. A dialog boxinforms you that the default layout for this page will be brought back. Click OKto proceed or Cancel to retain your current layout. If you click OK, the panels onthe IT Home Page disappear and the Overview Console is displayed.

To hide or show the navigation pane

1 In the IT Home Page, click the Applications button to hide or show thenavigation pane.

Consoles overview

The following consoles provide access to all or a part of BMC Remedy ProblemManagement:

Overview console




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Problem Management console

Using the Overview console, specialists can view problem investigations thatwere assigned to them through the BMC Remedy Problem Managementapplication. The specialist role is fulfilled by all IT employees and long termcontractors, other than Service Desk Analysts and IT Operators. Specialists canalso view work that was assigned to them through the other BMC Remedy ITService Management applications with which BMC Remedy ProblemManagement integrates:

BMC Remedy Incident Management

BMC Remedy Asset Management

BMC Remedy Change Management

The Problem Management console is the main console for the application. Itprovides problem coordinators and specialists with a single point from which theycan create problem investigations, known error entries, and solution databaseentries. It also provides a place from which they can monitor the progress ofproblem investigations as the investigation moves through its lifecycle, and recordwork that was performed during the investigation.

As you work with the forms and dialog boxes associated with the consoles, youmight see a plus sign (+) included in a field label. You can type part of theinformation next to these fields and press ENTER. If an exact match is located, theprogram automatically completes the field. If a selection list appears, double-clickthe item you want to put in the field. Using auto-fill fields and lists is faster, moreconsistent, and more accurate than typing the information.

Problem Investigation form viewsBMC Remedy Problem Management provides you with different ways to view theProblem Investigation and Known Error forms:

Best Practice view (the default view)

Classic view

Your view is configured for you by your system administrator. For informationabout configuring views, see the BMC Remedy IT Service Management ConfigurationGuide for information about configuring views.

NoteIf a procedure differs depending on the view, both methods are described.Instructions for the Best Practice view are provided first.

Problem Investigation form views



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Best Practice view

In the Best Practice view, the fields most commonly used for updating, resolving,and closing problem investigations and for working with known errors are

immediately visible. You can access additional, less frequently used functionalityfrom the tabbed sections of the form or from the links in the Navigation pane.

The following list outlines the Best Practice view features:

Coordinator Group(Problem Investigation and Known Error forms) Use theCoordinator Group field to select a support group. The support groups thatappear in the menu each have at least one member with the functional role of aProblem Coordinator. From the Coordinator Group menu, you select thecompany, the organization, and then the support group. Only the selectedsupport group name appears in the Coordinator Group field.

Problem Coordinator(Problem Investigation and Known Error forms) Use theProblem Coordinator field to select a Problem Coordinator for the probleminvestigation. The names that appear on this menu belong to the support groupselected in the Coordinator Group field and have the functional role of ProblemCoordinator.

Problem Location or Known Error LocationThe Problem Location and theKnown Error location field specify the location of the CI that is the focus of theproblem investigation or the known error. The Location record includes the nameof the client company, the region, the site group, and the specific site.

Service field(Problem Investigation and Known Error forms) The Service fieldrelates business service configuration items (CIs) to the problem investigation orknown error at the time it is created. All available business service CIs appear inthe Service field menu and are only limited by the access levels of the personcreating the problem investigation or the known error.

CI field(Problem Investigation and Known Error forms) The CI field specifiesto which piece of infrastructure the problem investigation pertains. This field iscan be configured to be a required field when you resolve an incident; however,you can specify the CI at any time in the problem investigation lifecycle.

Investigation Driver(Problem Investigation form) The Investigation Driverfield specifies the reason for the investigation: High Impact Incident, ReoccurringIncidents, Non-Routine Incident, or Other.

Product and Operational Categorization(Problem Investigation and KnownError forms) If the problem investigation record is created from an incidentrequest, the operational categorization and the product categorization fields areautomatically filled, out based on the categorizations specified in the originatingincident request. Likewise, when you create a known error from a probleminvestigation, the product categorization fields are automatically filled, based on

the categorizations of the originating Problem Management record. If you are




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creating a new problem investigation or known error from within the BMCRemedy Problem Management application, or if the originating record did notspecify a product categorization, the product categorization is filled automatically,based on the business service CI that you select in the Service field. You can alsoquickly select or change operational and product categorizations from the Quick

Actions area of the Navigation pane by using the Select Operational and SelectProduct links. This makes sure the correct categorization information is used tomanage the problem investigation.

The Best Practice view is recommended for all BMC Remedy Problem Managementusers, regardless of their role. For information about BMC Remedy ProblemManagement roles.

Figure 2: Problem Investigation formBest Practice view

Classic view

The Classic view is the Problem Investigation form as it appeared in previousreleases of BMC Remedy Problem Management. This view is provided for customerswho are upgrading from earlier versions of BMC Remedy Problem Management andwho are not yet ready to adopt the Best Practice view. The following fields have beenadded to the Classic view:

Service field(Problem Investigation and Known Error forms) The Service fieldrelates business service configuration items (CIs) to the problem investigation orknown error at the time it is created. All available business service CIs appear in




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the Service field menu and are only limited by the access levels of the personcreating the problem investigation or the known error.

CI field(Problem Investigation and Known Error forms) The CI field specifiesto which piece of infrastructure the problem investigation pertains. This field is

can be configured to be a required field when you resolve an incident; however,you can specify the CI at any time in the problem investigation lifecycle.

Figure 3: Problem Investigation formClassic view

Calbro ServicesIn the BMC Remedy ITSM documentation set, a fictional company named CalbroServices helps explain how BMC Remedy ITSM principles and procedures are usedin practice.

Although Calbro Services is a fictional company, it is based on research of actualBMC Software customers. Learning how Calbro Services manages common ITService Management scenarios should prove useful as you use the BMC RemedyITSM applications in your own environment.

Calbro Services, a large, global company, is headquartered in New York City andpublicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The company has 27,000employees in 240 offices located in 20 countries. Table 1 on page 24 describes keybusiness services in Calbro Services.

Calbro Services



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Table 1: Key business services

Service DescriptionOnline banking 500 ATMs in major cities

WWW presence Corporate site and online brokerage services

Discount equity brokerage Online and storefront services

Sales force automation Automated sales activities such as leads, orders, reports,and so on

Customer support Support centers in the United States, Europe, and Asia

Mass marketing World-wide marketing campaigns aimed at makingCalbro Services a household name

Problem management user rolesBMC Remedy Problem Management provides functionality for the following SMPMdefined problem management roles:

problemcoordinatorThe problem coordinator is a management role. For adetailed description of this role, see Problem coordinator on page 25.

specialistThe specialist is a support staff role. For a detailed description of this

role, see Specialist on page 26.NoteThe permissions model in BMC Remedy Problem Management has had severalupdates since version 6.0. To define permissions and functional roles, reviewthe permissions and functional roles sections in the BMC Remedy IT Service

Management Configuration Guide.

The following figure illustrates the different SMPM problem management processroles. It also shows where each role fits into the lifecycle of a problem investigation.For general information about the problem investigation lifecycle, see Process flowand the lifecycle of a problem investigation on page 27.

The relationship between specific problem management roles and the individualstages in the lifecycle are explained in the following sections:

Performing the incident request review on page 55

Performing the root cause analysis on page 69

Performing the analysis review on page 83

Problem management user roles



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Closing the problem investigation on page 93

Figure 4: Problem management SMPM processes by service desk role

Problem coordinator

Problem coordinators are responsible for the quality and integrity of the problemmanagement process. Problem coordinators have full access to probleminvestigations, known errors, and solution entries assigned to their support groups.

NoteProblem coordinators require at least the permission of Problem User to access BMCRemedy Problem Management. In addition, they must have the functional role of

Problem Coordinator to perform the problem coordinators duties.

Their responsibilities include:

reviewing the incident requests that have been related to the services for whichthey act as the problem coordinator, to help identify problems.

ensuring that the problems for which they are responsible, including the ones thathave been identified within the Availability and Capacity Management processes,progress through the problem management process in a timely and prioritized

fashion.

ensuring that the information entered in the problem investigations and knownerrors that they manage is accurate and complete.

reviewing periodically their problem investigations for which a practicalstructural solution can not be found.

verifying structural solutions and closing the known errors and probleminvestigations that they manage.




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Specialist

Specialists work on problem investigations, known errors, and solution entries asassigned.

Their responsibilities include:

suggesting workarounds for problems.

establishing the root causes of identified problems.

proposing structural solutions (that is, permanent solutions) for problems.

implementing structural solutions for problems if the Change Managementprocess is not required.

updating the problem investigation with relevant information and status changes.

To complete tasks described in the specialist sections of this guide, individualsfulfilling the role of a specialist require Problem User permissions to access theBMC Remedy Problem Management application. Permissions are assigned toindividuals by the system administrator.

Mapping permission groups to SMPM roles

The following table lists the problem management roles that are defined in theSMPM and the equivalent permissions that each role needs in BMC RemedyProblem Management to complete the relevant procedural steps.

For more information about how SMPM roles map to BMC Remedy ITSM Suite, seethe BMC Service Management Process Model Role Mapping to BMC Remedy ITSM Suitewhite paper.

NoteThis section does not list all of the permission groups and functional roles defined in

BMC Remedy Problem Management, only those that are mapped to SMPM roles.




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Table 2: BMC Remedy Problem Management role mapping

SMPM role name Calbro user BMC Remedy Problem Management permission groupsSpecialist Ian Plyment

Incident User

Problem User

Task User

Infrastructure Change Viewer

Asset Viewer

Problem Coordinator Bob Baxter

Problem User

Incident Viewer

Infrastructure Change Viewer

Asset Viewer

Functional Role: Problem Coordinator

Process flow and the lifecycle of a probleminvestigation

The Process Flow Status area displays the process flow of the problem investigationwithin the Problem Investigation form. A diagram shows the stages of a probleminvestigation in blue. The current stage of the investigation is highlighted in green.The status of the investigation is indicated both by color and text.

Figure 5: Process Flow Status area on the Problem Investigation form

Process flow and the lifecycle of a problem investigation



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The following figure provides an overview of the problem investigation lifecycle, asdescribed by SMPM. Each of the major steps in the diagram corresponds to a sectionin this guide, where the step and its associated tasks are explained in more detail.

Figure 6: Problem investigation lifecycle

Problem management use casesThis section describes common problem management use cases that you typicallyencounter as IT support staff. The Calbro Services user personas help to illustrate theuse cases and overall ITIL good practices workflow; however, the use cases do notnecessarily make reference to specific Calbro Service sample data.

Problem investigation resolutionchange request

This user scenario describes how to resolve a problem investigation with a change

request.

Bob Baxter, the Calbro problem coordinator, conducts an incident request review onthe Calbro Order Processing System (OPS). In the course of the review, Bobdiscovers that several similar incidents related to the OPS occurred over the past sixmonths. The resulting problem investigation determines that a change to the ITinfrastructure is required. A known error is created making a request for change(RFC), which is assigned to Mary Mann, the change coordinator.

The change is approved by Mary, executed and verified by Ian Plyment, thespecialist. The status of the Known Error is automatically marked as corrected.

Problem management use cases



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Bob is notified that the change request has been completed. He notes the permanentcorrective action in the problem investigation and changes its status to closed.

NoteBMC Remedy Incident Management, BMC Remedy Problem Management, and

BMC Remedy Change Management must be installed to follow this user scenario.Detailed information about the individual actions mentioned in this user scenarioare described in the BMC Remedy Services Desk: Incident Management Users Guide, theBMC Remedy Service Desk: Problem Management Users Guide, and the BMC RemedyChange Management Users Guide.

Table 3 on page 29 describes the typical steps involved in this user scenario.

Table 3: Resolving a problem investigation with a change request

Role Actions ExplanationProblem coordinator The problem coordinator performs an

incident request review:

From the Incident console, the problemcoordinator creates a custom search thathas the following characteristics:

Service = OPS

Impact => 2-Significant/

Large OR 1-Extensive/Widespread

Last Resolved Date >=07/19/2009

Note: For the purpose of this

example, assume todays date is

11/19/2009. The Last Resolved Date

used in this example, therefore, is

four months ago.

After running the search, the problemcoordinator looks for incident requestrecords that have not yet been linked to aproblem investigation.

The problem coordinator, Bob Baxter,performs an incident request review onthe OPS by querying the IncidentManagement system for incidents orrecent changes related to the OPS. Bobdiscovers that over the past six monthsthere were several similar incidentsrelated to the OPS.




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Role Actions ExplanationProblem coordinator From one of the incident request records

that is related to the OPS server issue, theproblem coordinator creates a probleminvestigation.

The incident records details are copiedfrom the incident request record to theProblem form, and a relationship iscreated between the probleminvestigation record and the incidentrequest records.

The problem coordinator completes theProblem form.

Bob wants to determine the root cause ofthese incidents, so he creates a probleminvestigation from one of the incidentrequest records. Creating the probleminvestigation from an incident requestrecord ensures that all of the relevantdetails are copied over from the incidentrequest to the problem investigation.

Problem coordinator From the Problem form, the problemcoordinator creates relationships

between the problem investigation andall related incident requests.

The problem coordinator creates arelationship between the probleminvestigation and the OPS server.

Bob then relates the remaining OPSincidents and the OPS CI to the problem

investigation.

Problem coordinator The problem coordinator assigns theproblem investigation to the specialist.

Bob assigns the problem investigation tothe specialist, Ian Plyment, to conduct aroot cause analysis.

Specialist The specialist accepts the assignmentand performs the root cause analysis.

Ian accepts the problem investigationassignment and begins a root causeanalysis. During the root cause analysis,

he determines the physical server onwhich the OPS runs needs a memoryupgrade and sends his root causeanalysis to Bob.

Problem coordinator The problem coordinator performs theanalysis review:

The problem coordinator opens theproblem investigation andindependently verifies that thespecialists assessment of the root causeis correct.

Bob reviews and verifies Ians analysis.Bob then creates a Known Error, whichserves two purposes: to identify the bestworkaround (temporarily routing theusers to a redundant server) and torequest a change for the memoryupgrade on the primary OPS server.




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Role Actions ExplanationProblem coordinator The problem coordinator creates a

known error:

On the problem investigation form, the

problem coordinator sets the Status fieldto Completed and the Status Reasonfield to Known Error.

This opens the Known Error form andcreates a relationship between theknown error and the probleminvestigation.

The problem coordinator completes theform. He assigns himself as the problemcoordinator. He assigns the changecoordinator for the known errorassignment.

Bob creates the known error directlyfrom the problem investigation, whichtransfers all pertinent information to theknown error. Bob assigns the knownerror to Mary Mann, the changecoordinator.

Change coordinator From the Known Error form, the changecoordinator creates a change request.

This opens the Change Request form andcreates a relationship between theknown error and the change request. Italso copies information from the knownerror record to the change request record.

The change coordinator saves the changerequest and moves the request throughthe change request lifecycle until thechange request is approved and has adate.

Mary receives the known error andreviews it. She agrees that the change isrequired and creates a change requestfrom the known error.

Mary moves the record through thechange request lifecycle.

Change coordinator The change coordinator assigns thechange request to a specialist.

The change coordinator adds a task tothe change request and relates the CIs tothe change request.

The change coordinator moves thechange request to the Implement stage.

On the change request record, Marycreates a task to implement the change,and assigns the change request to IanPlyment, the specialist who will performthe work. The coordinator also relatesthe CI to the change request.

Specialist The specialist performs the tasks andcloses them:

On the Change Management Supportconsole, the specialist searches forassigned tasks.

He opens the task record and performsthe task. Then he records informationabout performing the task and changesthe status of the task to Closed.

Ian implements the change. When hefinishes the last task, the system notifiesMary that the tasks are closed.




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Role Actions ExplanationChange coordinator The change coordinator completes the

change request:

From the Change form, the change

coordinator moves the change request tothe Close stage.

The change coordinator enters theperformance rating and the actual startand end dates.

After Mary coordinates the changeimplementation, she reassigns theknown error to Bob for verification.

Problem coordinator The problem coordinator confirms thatthe change has solved the problem.Then, the problem coordinator sets thestatus of both the problem investigationand the known error to Closed.

Bob is notified that the change wascompleted and verifies that it fixed theproblem. He then changes the status ofthe problem investigation and knownerror to Closed.

Problem investigation resolutionno change request

This user scenario describes how to resolve a problem investigation without achange request.

Bob Baxter, the problem coordinator for the Calbro Services Payroll service, conductsa incident request review on this service. In the course of the review, Bob discoversthat multiple incidents related to performance have occurred over the past sixmonths. Bob assigns the problem investigation to a specialist, Ian Plyment. Iansproblem investigation determines that the anti-virus software on the Payroll serviceserver runs a complete scan of the server every ten minutes. Ian reconfigures the anti-virus software to run only once an hour. Ian then notifies Bob that he hasimplemented a corrective action to solve the root cause. Bob verifies the correctiveaction and closes the problem investigation.

NoteBMC Remedy Incident Management and BMC Remedy Problem Management mustbe installed to follow this user scenario.

Detailed information about the individual actions mentioned in this user scenario

are described in the BMC Remedy Service Desk: Incident Management Users Guide andthe BMC Remedy Service Desk: Problem Management Users Guide.





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Table 4: Resolving a problem investigation without a change request


incident request review. From the

Incident console, the problemcoordinator creates a custom search withthe following characteristics:

Service = Payroll

Impact => 2-Significant/Large OR 1-Extensive/Widespread

Last Resolved Date >=

07/19/2008





four months ago.

Bob performs an incident request reviewby searching incident requests registered

against the services for which:

He is the problem coordinator.

That have not yet been linked to a

problem investigation.

That have been resolved with a

workaround.

Problem coordinator The problem coordinator opens one ofthe incident request records related tothe Payroll service performance issue,

and creates a problem investigation. Theincident records details are copied fromthe incident request record to theProblem form, and a relationship iscreated between the probleminvestigation record and the incidentrequest records.


Bob spots a trendnumerousperformance-related incidents have beenreported against the Payroll service. Bob

creates a problem investigation recorddirectly from one of the incident requestrecords. Creating a probleminvestigation directly from an incidentrequest record transfers all relevantinformation from the incident requestand automatically establishes therelationship between the incidentrequest and the problem investigation.

Problem coordinator The problem coordinator relates all therelated incident requests to the probleminvestigation.

Bob then relates the other incidentrequests to the problem investigation.

Problem coordinator The problem coordinator assigns theproblem investigation to a specialist.

After creating the problem investigation,Bob assigns it to the specialist, IanPlyment.




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Role Actions ExplanationSpecialist The specialist accepts the assignment

and performs the root cause analysis.Ian accepts the problem investigationassignment and begins a root causeanalysis. During the root cause analysis,he determines the anti-virus software onthe server runs every ten minutes, whichis causing the performance issues. Iandetermines the more appropriatefrequency for the anti-virus software torun is once an hour.

Specialist The specialist implements the solution.

The specialist changes the probleminvestigation status to Completed,change the status reason to EnhancementRequest, and records details about hisinvestigation.

Because the changes to the anti-virussoftware configuration do not meet thecriteria for the change managementprocess, Ian makes the necessarychanges himself and then changes thestatus of the problem investigation to

Completed. To complete the probleminvestigation, Ian must select a statusreason.

Specialist The specialist notifies the problemcoordinator.

The specialist confirms that the problemcoordinator is set as the assignedproblem coordinator. Then the specialistchanges the status of the probleminvestigation to Assigned.

Ian notifies Bob about the results of theproblem investigation and the correctiveaction he performed.


On the problem investigation form, theproblem coordinator reviews the workinformation and independently verifiesthat the changes have corrected theproblem.

Bob performs an analysis review anddouble-checks that the problem has beencorrected.

Problem coordinator The problem coordinator closes theproblem investigation:

The problem coordinator reviews theproblem investigation form to verify that

the details are complete. When he issatisfied that the problem investigationform is complete and correct, he changesthe status to Closed.

Bob closes the problem investigation.

Problem investigation resolutionchange request roll back

This user scenario describes how to resolve a problem investigation by rolling back achange request.




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Bob Baxter, the problem coordinator at the Calbro Service Desk, performs anincident request review by searching incident requests registered against the payrollservice. He reviews the history of the associated CIs and recognizes a trend inproblems that are related to common changes to a specific CI. He creates a changerequest to roll back changes that affect that CI.

A Request for Change (RFC) is submitted to Mary Mann, the change manager inFront Office Support, for approval.

The change is approved and successfully implemented by Ian Plyment, theSpecialist. The change manager creates a Broadcast to alert users. Future incidentsare successfully averted.

NoteBMC Remedy Incident Management, BMC Remedy Problem Management, andBMC Remedy Change Management must be installed to follow this user scenario.

Detailed information about the individual actions mentioned in this user scenarioare described in the BMC Remedy Service Desk: Incident Management Users Guide, theBMC Remedy Service Desk: Problem Management Users Guide, and the BMC RemedyChange Management Users Guide.





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Table 5: Rolling back a change



From the Incident console, the problemcoordinator creates a custom searchwith the following characteristics:

Service = Payroll


Last Resolved Date >=

07/19/2009



11/19/2009. The Last Resolved

Date used in this example,

therefore, is four months ago.

The problem coordinator looks forincident request records that have notyet been linked to a probleminvestigation.

Bob performs an incident request review bysearching incident requests registered

against the payroll service, for which he isthe problem coordinator.

Problem coordinator The problem coordinator opens anincident request that is related to thepayroll service and creates a probleminvestigation.



Bob spots a trendnumerous incidentshave been reported against the payrollserver CI, which is critical to making thatservice available. He also discovers that theserver recently was the subject of a change.Bob reviews the change related to the serverand determines that the recent change to theCI was the root cause of those incidentrequests. Bob creates a probleminvestigation record directly from one of theincident request records, which transfers all

relevant information from the incidentrequest and automatically establishes therelationship between the incident requestand the problem investigation.




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Role Actions ExplanationProblem coordinator The problem coordinator creates

relationships between the probleminvestigation and all of the relatedincident requests.

The problem coordinator creates arelationship between the probleminvestigation and the original changerequest that is responsible fortriggering the incident requests.

Bob then relates the other incident requests,the original change request, and the CI tothe problem investigation.

Problem coordinator The problem coordinator creates aknown error:

The problem coordinator sets theStatus field to Completed and theStatus Reason field to Known Error.

This opens the Known Error form andcreates a relationship between theknown error and the probleminvestigation.

The problem coordinator completesinformation on the form. He enters hisname as the assigned problemcoordinator. He enters the changecoordinator's name as the known errorassignee, and sets the status toAssigned.

Bob determines that the best way to preventsimilar incident requests from recurring isto roll back the original change. To requestthe rollback, Bob creates a known error fromthe problem investigation. He assigns theknown error to Mary Mann, the change

coordinator.

Change coordinator The change coordinator opens theknown error record and creates achange request.

This opens the Change Request formand creates a relationship between theknown error and the change request. Italso copies information from theknown error record to the changerequest record.

The change coordinator completes therequired information and saves thechange request.

The change coordinator moves thechange request through the lifecycleuntil it is approved and the dates are set.

To alert users about the rollback, thechange coordinator creates a broadcast.

Mary receives the known error and reviewsit. She agrees that the rollback is requiredand creates a change request from theknown error.

Mary moves the record through the changerequest lifecycle.

As part of the change request, the changecoordinator creates a broadcast alertingusers to the incorrect original change andthe symptoms in the defective CI. Thebroadcast mentions the new change and thetime when the CI will be unavailablewhile the change is being executed. Finally,the broadcast explains that the change wasnecessary to avoid further incoming relatedincidents.




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Role Actions ExplanationChange coordinator The change coordinator assigns the

change request to a specialist.

The change coordinator adds a task to

the change request.The change coordinator relates the CIsto the change request.

The change coordinator moves thechange request to the Implement stage.

On the change request record, Mary createsa task to roll back the CI and assigns thechange request to Ian Plyment, the specialistwho will perform the work. The coordinatoralso relates the CI to the change request.

Specialist The specialist closes the tasks as heperforms them:

From the Change ManagementSupport console, the specialist searchesfor assigned tasks.

After performing the task, thespecialist records information aboutperforming the task and changes thestatus to Closed.

Ian rolls back the change to the CI. When hefinishes the last task, the system notifiesMary that the tasks are Closed.

Change coordinator The change coordinator completes thechange request:

The change coordinator moves thechange request to the Closed stage.

The change coordinator enters theperformance rating and the actualdates of the change.

Mary completes the change request recordand removes the broadcast, because it is nolonger relevant.

Problem coordinator The problem coordinator closes theproblem investigation and known error:

The problem coordinator confirms thatthe rollback has solved the problemwith the payroll server.

The problem coordinator opens theproblem investigation record andchecks that the details are all correct,and then sets the status to Closed.

The problem coordinator opens theknown error and sets the status to

closed. The problem coordinatorrecords a summary of how the knownerror was resolved.

Bob is notified that the rollback wascompleted. Bob verifies that the rollbackfixed the problem, and then changes thestatus of the problem investigation andknown error to closed.

Problem investigationat an impasse

This user scenario describes how to indicate a problem investigation at an impasse.




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During Bob Baxters incident request review of the Calbro Payroll service, hediscovers also that over the past six months multiple incident requests have beenregistered related to slow searches against the Payroll service database. Bob assignsthe problem investigation to Ian. Ians problem investigation finds a defect in thedatabase management software that might be corrected by a future patch. Ian notes

the root cause, but because a permanent solution in not yet available, he moves theproblem investigation status to Pending. Bob performs periodic checks againstproblem investigations with a status of Pending, to see if permanent solutions havebecome available.

NoteBMC Remedy Incident Management and BMC Remedy Problem Management mustbe installed to follow this user scenario.

Detailed information about the individual actions mentioned in this user scenarioare described in the BMC Remedy Service Desk: Incident Management Users Guide andthe BMC Remedy Service Desk: Problem Management Users Guide.


Table 6: Indicating a problem investigation at an impasse



From the Incident console, the problem

coordinator creates a custom search thathas the following characteristics:

Service = Payroll


Last Resolved Date >=07/19/2009

Note: For the purpose of thisexample, assume todays date is



four months ago.

Bob performs an incident request reviewby searching incident requests registeredagainst the services for which:

He is the problem coordinator.

That have not yet been linked to a

problem investigation.

That were resolved with a

workaround.




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Role Actions ExplanationProblem coordinator The problem coordinator opens an

incident request record that is related tothe Payroll service search issue andcreates a problem investigation.



Bob spots another trendnumerousincidents have been reported against thePayroll service related to the length oftime it takes to run a search against thedatabase. Bob creates a probleminvestigation record directly from one ofthe incident request records. Creating aproblem investigation directly from anincident request record transfers allrelevant information from the incidentrequest and automatically establishesthe relationship between the incidentrequest and the problem investigation.

Problem coordinator The problem coordinator relates all therelated incident requests to the problem

investigation.

Bob then relates the other incidentrequests to the problem investigation.

Problem coordinator The problem coordinator assigns theproblem investigation to a specialist.

After creating the problem investigation,Bob assigns it to Ian.

Specialist The specialist accepts the assignmentand performs the root cause analysis.

Ian accepts the problem investigationassignment and begins a root causeanalysis. During the root cause analysis,he determines that the problem is with adefect in the database managementsoftware. Ian also determines that noneof the database management softwarepatches fixes this problem. The problem

might be fixed in a future release.

Specialist The specialist notifies the problemcoordinator.

The specialist verifies that the problemcoordinator is assigned as problemcoordinator.

The specialist changes the probleminvestigation status to Assigned.

Ian notifies Bob that he has completedthe root cause analysis and determinedthe problem is with the databasemanagement software. He also tells Bobthat, currently, no patch from thedatabase software vendor fixes theproblem.


The problem coordinator reviews thework information recorded on theproblem investigation. He independentlyverifies that the specialists assessment ofthe impasse is correct.

Bob performs an analysis review anddouble-checks that Ians assessment of

the situation is correct.




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Role Actions ExplanationProblem coordinator The problem coordinator indicates that

the problem investigation is at an impasse.

The problem coordinator indicates why

no further action can be taken against theinvestigation and changes the probleminvestigation status to Pending.

Because no current fix for the root causeis available, Bob determines that theproblem investigation is at an impasse.

Problem coordinator Periodically, the problem coordinatorchecks the problem investigations with astatus of Pending.

If a solution is now available, hereassigns the problem investigation to aspecialist for follow-up andimplementation.

If a solution is still unavailable, he

records information about the periodiccheck.

Bob performs periodic checks of allproblem investigations with a status ofPending to determine if a solution hasbecome recently available.




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Working with the Overviewconsole

The information in this section is for people who fulfill one or more of the followingsupport roles:

problem coordinators

specialists

Use the Overview console if you must respond to, manage, or track individual orgroup work assignments from a variety of sources. For example, if your companyruns the full BMC Remedy ITSM Suite, either you or the group you manage mightreceive work assignments from BMC Remedy Incident Management, BMC RemedyProblem Management, and BMC Remedy Change Management. From the Overviewconsole, you can quickly get information about all your work assignments andperform the procedures that you use most often.

Functional areasThis section describes the functional areas of the Overview console.

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Chapter 3 Working with the Overview console 43


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Figure 7: Overview console and its functional areas

Table 7: Overview console functional areas

Functional area PurposeOverview console header

Company andView By This area contains the following fields: Company and View By. Thesefields combine to provide a way that you can indicate the company nameand the assigned-to categories used to filter the records in the Console listtable.

Refresh Refreshes the data in the tables.

Navigation pane

View Broadcast, or NewBroadcast

Opens the broadcast dialog box, from where you can view, create,modify, and delete broadcasts.

When there are unread broadcast messages, this area displays a message:New Broadcasts, followed by the number of new messages. Whenthere are new broadcast messages, the area also turns red.

Note: If you open the Overview console with no new broadcast messages,

but the View Broadcast link is red, open the Application Preferences

dialog box and make sure that a Console View preference has been

selected. For information about how to view and select Console View

preference, see Setting application preferences on page 104.

Functional areas



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Functional area PurposeFunctions Use the links in this area to do the following actions:

Select Status ValuesSee only those records in a certain state, which

you specify from the Select Status Values dialog box. See Selectingstatus values on page 47.

My ProfileSet your profile. See Viewing your profile on page 104.

Application PreferencesSet your program preferences and options.

This function is also available from the BMC Remedy Problem

Management console. See Setting application preferences on page 104.

Consoles Depending on your permissions and what other applications areinstalled, use these links to open:

IT Home Page

Incident Management

Problem Management

Change Management

Release Management

Asset Management

Contract Management

Software Asset Management

Approval console

ROI console

CMDB

Console list panel

Print Prints the selected record.

View Displays a form containing detailed information about the selected recordin the Console list table.

Create Creates a new record.

Functional areas



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Functional area PurposeSearch for Ticket Opens a dialog box from which you can select the type of ticket you are

searching for. After you select the type of record from the menu, click theSelect button to open a search form specific to the type of ticket you are

searching for.Note: To see activity records and CI unavailability records, you must

search for those tickets, because these records are not displayed in the

Console List table.

Search Searches for a record. See Searching for records on page 106.

Console list table Lists the different types of requests. See Console list table on page 46.

Console list tableThe Console list table lists different types of requests. The types of requests that youcan choose from depend on the applications that are installed.

A specific prefix identifies each type of request:

CRQIdentifies change requests. To view and define change requests, BMCRemedy Change Management must be installed.

RLMIdentifies release requests. To view and define release requests, BMCRemedy Change Management must be installed.

TASIdentifies tasks.

SDBIdentifies solution database entries. To view and define solution entries,BMC Remedy Service Desk must be installed.

INCIdentifies incidents. To view and define incidents, BMC Remedy ServiceDesk must be installed.

PBIIdentifies problems. To view and define problems, BMC Remedy ServiceDesk must be installed.

PKEIdentifies known errors. To view and define known errors, BMC RemedyService Desk must be installed.

PRIdentifies purchase requisitions. To view and define purchase requisitions,BMC Remedy Asset Management must be installed.

You can also change the tables contents by using the Company and View By filtersat the top of the console:

Console list table



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CompanyShows records associated with a particular company (useful in a multi-tenancy environment).

View ByShows records that either are assigned to you or to your support groups,according to the following list.

PersonalDisplays records assigned to you.

Selected GroupsPrompts you to select any support groups to which youbelong. You can select to display all records assigned to your group, or recordsassigned to your group that are not yet assigned to an individual.

All My GroupsDisplays records assigned to all your support groups. You canchoose to display all records, or records that are not yet assigned to an individual.

Selecting status valuesYou can use the Select Status Values dialog box to filter the requests that appear inthe Overview console based on their status.

To select status values

1 From the Navigation pane , choose Functions => Select Status Values.

2 In the Select Status Values dialog box, select the status values for each categoryfrom the lists, then click OK to close the dialog box.

3 If the Assigned Work table does not refresh with the filtered records, click Refreshto reload the tables contents.

Selecting status values



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Selecting status values



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Working with the ProblemManagement console

The information in this section is for people who fulfill one or more of the followingsupport roles:

problem coordinators

specialists

Using the Problem Management console, you can create, track, and close probleminvestigations, solutions, and known errors.

Functional areasThis section describes the functional areas of the Problem Management console

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Figure 8: Problem Management console and its functional areas

Table 8: Problem Management console functional areas

Functional area PurposeConsole tab

If the KPIs tab is open, click the Console tab to return to the console.

KPIs tab

Click the KPIs tab to select and to view the problem management flashboards. The flashboards that appearrepresent, in graphical format:

Process KPISee Using the KPI flashboards later in this guide for information about using these

flashboards.

Total Open ProblemsClick either All Open or By Status and Priority.

Problem Management console header

Functional areas



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Functional area PurposeCompany

View By

This area contains the following fields: Company and View By. These fieldscombine to provide a way that you can indicate the company name and theassigned-to categories used to filter problem investigation, solution, and

known error records in the Problems table.The default content of the Company field is the company that is specified in theuser preferences of the current user.

The Problem table shows:

Problem investigation records that have this company name in theirCompany field.

Known Errors that have this company name in their Known Error Locationfield.

Solution Database entries that have this company name in their Company field.

The Company field does not show the name of the problem investigationassignees company.

Refresh Click Refresh to update the console with the latest information.

Navigation pane

View Broadcast, or NewBroadca

Problem Management User Guide

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