Module 6:

Problem Management

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Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will
understand:
ITIL’s definition of Problem Management
The ITIL Problem Management process
The goals of the Problem Management SMF
The purpose of the Problem Management SMF
Key role types in the Problem Management
SMF
The Problem Management SMF processes and
workflow

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Problem Management ITIL
Problem Management – a process to
minimize the adverse effect on the business
caused by Incidents and Problems and to
proactively prevent their occurrence.
A Problem is an unknown underlying cause
of one or more Incidents.
A Known Error is a problem for which the
root cause is known and for which a
temporary workaround or permanent
alternative has been identified.
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Problem Management process
Inputs: ITIL
Incident Records
Known Errors Incident
Incident
Records
Records
RFC
RFC

CI Information from CMDB

Information from other Known
Known Errors
Errors
Management
Management
Information
Information
processes
Outputs:
CI
CI Problem
Problem
information
information Management
Management Workaround
Workaround
from
from CMDB
CMDB Process
Process
RFCs (Request for Change)
Management Information
Other
Other Known
Known Errors
Errors
Processes
Processes

Workarounds Updated
Updated
Known Errors Problem
Problem
Record
Record

Update Problem Records

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Problem Management SMF Goals
To reduce the occurrence of failures with IT
services
To generate data and lessons that IT can use to
provide feedback during the IT lifecycle
To help drive the development of more stable
solutions

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Problem Management SMF Purpose
Help resolve complex problems that may be
beyond the scope of incident resolution requests
(find root cause)
Should begin at the start of a service’s lifecycle
and should be applied to all aspects of IT
Early application means services deployed with
fewer failures, higher customer satisfaction

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Problem Management Role Types
Primary accountability is Support Accountability

Role Type Role in This SMF

Customer Service Helps the customer
Representative
Incident Resolver Watches for evidence of problems
Passes on incident information to
Problem Manager
Incident Coordinator Watches for evidence of problems
Passes on incident information to
Problem Manager
Problem Analyst Finds underlying root causes of the
incidents
Problem Manager Prevents future incidents
Customer Service Oversight
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Manager
Key Problem Management Terms
Term Definition
is any event that is not part of the standard operation
of a service and that causes, or may cause, an
Incident
interruption to, or a reduction in, the quality of service.
Without causing additional interruption
A scenario describing symptoms that have occurred in
an IT service or system that threatens its availability or
Problem
reliability. The unknown underlying cause of one or
several incidents
Error A fault, bug, or behavior issue in an IT service or system
Known error An error that has been observed and documented
The specific reason that most directly contributes to
Root cause
the occurrence of an error
A subsection of the knowledge base or overall
configuration management system (CMS) that
Known error database
stores known errors and their associated root
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causes, workarounds, and fixes
Problem Management Workflow

Document the Filter the

problem problem

Research the Research the

problem outcome

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Problem Management Workflow
Create Problem record
Filter the
Classifying the problem
Prioritize the problem problem

Research the Research the

problem outcome

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Problem Management Workflow
Has
Has aa problem
problem record
record already
already
been created?
been created?
Document the What
What is
for
is the
the business
business justification
researching this
justification
for researching this problem?
problem?
problem How
How many
many hours
reproduce
hours will
will itit take
take to
to
reproduce the
the problem?
problem?
What
What is
is the
the payoff
payoff if
if a
a fix
fix is
is found?
found?

Research the Research the

problem outcome

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Problem Management Workflow

Document the Filter the

problem problem

Reproducing
Reproducing the
the problem
problem in
in a
a test
test
environment.
environment.

Research the
Observing
Observing the
the symptoms
symptoms ofof the
the
problem and noting your
problem and noting your
outcome
observations.
observations.
Performing
Performing root
root cause
cause analysis.
analysis.
Developing
Developing aa hypothesis
hypothesis and
and
testing it.
testing it.

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Problem Management Workflow

Document the Filter the

problem problem

Review the outcome of

your research and
Research the determine whether a
problem workaround or fix for the
problem has been
discovered.

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 Problem Management
Problem Management SMF

Create
Create
Single
Single Problem
Problem Reproduce
Reproduce
Incident
Incident Record
Record

Multiple
Multiple Classify
Classify Observe
Observe
Incidents
Incidents

Problem
Problem
Incident
Incident Develop
Develop
Management
Management Prioritize
Prioritize
Trends
Trends Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Trigger
Trigger

Yes
PassF
PassF Test
Test
SLA
SLA Breach
Breach ilter
ilter Hypothesis
Hypothesis
No
No Work
Work Yes Yes
Go
Go to
to Change
Change
Failed
Failed Change
Change aroun
aroun Action
Action Management
Management
d
d
No

Close
Close Problem
Problem Record
Record

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Service Manager Components
User
Interfaces
IT Operations Customizers
End Users Analyst

Self Service Portal SM Console Authoring Console

ITIL / MOF Additional

Automation Solutions
Solutions
Change
Change End
End User
User
Incident
Incident Problem
Problem Configuration
Configuration
Managemen
Managemen Self
Self Reports
Reports
Management
Management Management
Management Management
Management
tt Service
Service

External Systems Platform Infrastructure

Connectors
Service Manager SDK
AD
AD Connectors

ConfigMgr
ConfigMgr
CMDB Knowledge
Knowledge
Base
Data
Data Warehouse
Warehouse
OpsMgr
OpsMgr Base

15
General

16
Related Items

17
Problem Resolution

18
Problem Management

Policy and Process Exercises

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Contoso, Ltd.

Incident Management has been in place for some time

at Contoso. The goal of Incident Management is to
restore the service as quickly as possible.
Over the past 3 months many similar incidents or
related incidents have started to arise where the root
cause is not fully understood.
Jeff Ford (Problem Manager) wants to understand the
root cause of these incidents and has therefore started
to implement Problem Management at Contoso.
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Repeating Incidents
Judy contacts the Service Desk and complains that
the plotter is out of order again for the third time
this week. Neil fixes the plotter with a reboot.
Who is responsible for follow up on previous
incidents at Contoso, Ltd?
What do you need to have in place to determine if
it is acceptable with three breakdowns a week?
What do you need in place to ensure you identify
recurring incidents?

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The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not

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