Incident and problem management are the support processes for the recognition and elimination of service interruptions and are therefore a decisive factor in user or IT customer satisfaction. An incident is any event that causes or can cause service quality interruptions or degradations. A problem is the reason for one or more interruptions. Incident management is controlled by the ServiceDesk staff, with the possibility to include problem management experts into the process. Successful IT organizations are able to identify interruptions ahead of time and to minimize them thanks to proactive problem management.
ServiceDesk
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Tasks and objectives of the ServiceDesk
- Creation of a "single point of contact" for all users
- Fast response to problems and interruptions
- Active provision of information to users during troubleshooting
- Fast return to normal operating conditions following an interruption
- Satisfied users thanks to professional and competent help
- Relieving specialists of tasks by accepting and answering service requests
- Administration, monitoring and management of interruptions
- Development and implementation of solutions catalogues and escalation strategies
- Documentation of user and interruption information
- Provision of information for the problem management
Tasks and objectives of problem management
- Reducing the susceptibility to interference and sustainably increasing service quality
- Identifying relations between interruptions, determination of related root causes
- Examining the root causes of problems
- Finding permanent solutions to problems and developing workarounds
- Securing knowledge on well-known root causes of problems
Success factors and challenges
All of these processes play a central role in service management, with special emphasis on the integration of the often isolated processes and solutions. The ServiceDesk is an interface to the user and is therefore rather sensitive. In the ServiceDesk, a multitude of information for other processes is generated, for example for
the requirements management for services and products
for the performance processes in IT operation
or for the service level management.
The required information on services, infrastructure, processes and users has to be promptly available within the ServiceDesk. Securing the knowledge on the root causes of interruptions is a difficult challenge that is seldom supported in a standardized way. The theGuard! IT Service Management Suite takes a holistic approach to this issue providing integrated interfaces to
This is where significant potential for the professionalization of the entire IT service management can be found. In distributed IT organizations, the right balance between local and centralized administration has to be found. Competing objectives such as the mass processing of trivial requests and the professional response to application-specific questions requires a structured organization of the ServiceDesk. The high volume of process operations also requires sophisticated analysis and controlling instruments. Companies that have outsourced the operation of their ServiceDesk are faced with high integration requirements that lead to complex service provider interfaces. Here, processes and solutions have to mesh seamlessly.
the requirements management for services and products
for the performance processes in IT operation
or for the service level management.
The required information on services, infrastructure, processes and users has to be promptly available within the ServiceDesk. Securing the knowledge on the root causes of interruptions is a difficult challenge that is seldom supported in a standardized way. The theGuard! IT Service Management Suite takes a holistic approach to this issue providing integrated interfaces to
This is where significant potential for the professionalization of the entire IT service management can be found. In distributed IT organizations, the right balance between local and centralized administration has to be found. Competing objectives such as the mass processing of trivial requests and the professional response to application-specific questions requires a structured organization of the ServiceDesk. The high volume of process operations also requires sophisticated analysis and controlling instruments. Companies that have outsourced the operation of their ServiceDesk are faced with high integration requirements that lead to complex service provider interfaces. Here, processes and solutions have to mesh seamlessly.