- IT infrastructure managers have conflicting accountabilities. It can be difficult to fight fires as they appear while engaging in systematic fire prevention.
- Repetitive interruptions erode faith in IT. If incidents recur consistently, why should the business trust IT to resolve them?
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Don’t risk muddling the chain of command during a crisis. Streamline the process. When senior technical staff are working on incidents, they report to the service desk manager.
- Incidents defy planning, but problem management is schedulable. Schedule problem management; reduce unplanned work.
- Just because a problem has not caused an incident doesn’t mean it never will. Get out in front of problems. Maximize uptime.
Impact and Result
- Define the roles and responsibilities of the incident manager and the problem manager.
- Develop a critical incident management workflow that will save money by streamlining escalation.
- Create a problem management standard operating procedure that will reduce incident volume, save money, and allow upper tier support staff to engage in planned work as opposed to firefighting.
Member Testimonials
After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.
9.2/10
Overall Impact
$59,769
Average $ Saved
25
Average Days Saved
Client
Experience
Impact
$ Saved
Days Saved
Sunrun South LLC
Guided Implementation
10/10
$137K
44
WA Department of Transport
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
N/A
It is too early on to estimate time and $ savings however the advice is definitely assisting with breaking through long established practices that ... Read More
Brockville General Hospital
Guided Implementation
10/10
$35,000
20
The standardized approach with the ability to tailor the outcomes to the local organization was really appreciated. The support from Ben was fabul... Read More
WA Department of Transport
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
N/A
Assistance in relating process to required capabilities and competencies. The valued role of a referential third part in overcoming opposing positi... Read More
Vitech Systems Sub LLC (d/b/a Vitech Systems Group)
Guided Implementation
2/10
N/A
N/A
there isn't a best. The analyst "disappeared" (not further contact) after 3 or 4 calls and did not respond after that.
Vancouver Island University
Guided Implementation
10/10
$2,000
5
Ben was super helpful, made many practical suggestions, and was very valuable in helping us to tailor the templates to meet our specific needs. Th... Read More
Hydro Tasmania
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
5
Loomis AB
Guided Implementation
10/10
$73,999
5
the informtation was informative and easy to understand and more on the site for me to look at. If i also have any questions Frank is available for... Read More
New York Property Insurance Underwriting Association
Workshop
10/10
N/A
N/A
The sessions were very informative, and material provided will help us improve our processes further. We've not done any RoI so I wont be able to p... Read More
Pioneer Natural Resources
Workshop
10/10
$274K
120
The workshop was exceptional. Jeremy is extremely knowledgeable. He gives relatable examples, talks specifics where applicable, and keeps things mo... Read More
Highlands County Clerk of Courts
Guided Implementation
10/10
$2,740
20
Geidea
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
N/A
clear explanations from Franck for Problem Management and outcome of calls very interesting, thanks. We will certainly contact Franck for Crisis Ma... Read More
State of Ohio - Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation
Workshop
9/10
N/A
N/A
The best and the worst are the same. We were given a great deal of knowledge in these sessions. That is very good. Finding the time to make the cha... Read More
SCEE
Guided Implementation
10/10
$1,820
10
Nieuport Aviation
Guided Implementation
9/10
$6,000
14
Guided Implementation
9/10
$64,999
10
Best: Validated our approach and our current path. Analyst was very knowledgable. Worse: Was about structure - yes, the uber topic is Inciden... Read More
Mount Royal University
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
N/A
It was a pleasure to meet with Sandi. She took the time to understand my needs and then directed me to the best resource and materials. San... Read More
Virginia Community College System
Workshop
10/10
N/A
20
The best part of the workshop was how the leaders skillfully walked us through the material and lead us towards a better understanding of how our o... Read More
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Workshop
9/10
$26,649
20
The communication that the workshop engendered within our team was helpful. We had worked a lot out prior to the workshop but this helped us to ref... Read More
Oregon Secretary of State
Guided Implementation
10/10
$2,519
N/A
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Workshop
9/10
$30,999
5
The University of Texas at San Antonio
Guided Implementation
8/10
$68,199
120
World Bank Group
Guided Implementation
10/10
$2,519
5
I really appreciated the follow-up notes after each meeting. Especially additional resources to review and get more information from. I also enjoye... Read More
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Guided Implementation
10/10
$100K
20
The presentation was concise and well presented. The presentation gave me food for thought as to how to rethink problem management. Thank you.
Mott MacDonald LLC
Guided Implementation
10/10
$42,750
9
Shentel Management Company
Workshop
10/10
$46,097
5
Best - Clearer Understanding of Problem vs Incident, our current configuration and what is best practices and would work better. Worst - Seeing ... Read More
University of North Texas System
Workshop
10/10
$34,099
75
Best Parts: Sharon and Paul were fabulous facilitators. We enjoyed their structured presentations and collaborative engagement. Worst Parts: None
Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District
Guided Implementation
5/10
$2,419
2
I was looking for very specific to address cultural obstacles we have in managing critical events. The information Infotech has is based upon proc... Read More
Varian Medical Systems, Inc.
Guided Implementation
10/10
$35,017
5
The validation of our direction, and the followup materials with guidance to fine-tune our methodology and metrics.
Lee County Clerk of Courts
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
N/A
Incident and Problem Management
Resolve service issues faster and eliminate recurring incidents.
This course makes up part of the Infrastructure & Operations Certificate.
- Course Modules: 4
- Estimated Completion Time: 2-2.5 hours
- Featured Analysts:
- John Annand, Senior Manager, Infrastructure Research
- Fred Chagnon, Research Director, Infrastructure and Operations Research
Workshop: Improve Incident and Problem Management
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Incident ticket intake and routing
The Purpose
- Improve how tickets logged, categorized, and prioritized.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Efficient ticket processing and consistent treatment of tickets based on severity.
Activities
Outputs
Review incident lifecycle and current challenges.
Roles and responsibilities for service desk.
Review ticket categorization.
Prioritization schema.
Drive more efficient intake.
- Incident management SOP
Module 2: Incident response
The Purpose
- Clarify incident management steps, roles, and responsibilities.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Incident Management SOP and Workflows documented to drive consistent and effective incident response.
Activities
Outputs
Incident management workflow.
Critical incident management workflow.
Define SLOs and escalation rules.
- Incident management SOP (cont.)
- Incident management workflows
Module 3: Shift-left and problem management
The Purpose
- Outline a standard process for resolving problems.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Efficient and effective problem management, reducing incident recurrence and impact.
Activities
Outputs
Build KB process and KB article templates.
Identify additional shift-left opportunities (introduction).
Define problem management.
Standardize problem intake.
Standardize problem workflows.
- Knowledge management workflow
- Knowledge base article templates
- Problem management SOP
- Problem management workflow
Module 4: Proactive problem management and roadmap
The Purpose
- Plan how you will implement improvements.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Translate ideas into action, with specific steps to implement tangible improvements in the areas of people (training), process, and technology.
Activities
Outputs
Establish appropriate problem management governance.
Create a plan to communicate process changes.
Create a project roadmap to implement improvements.
Review workshop results.
- Communication initiatives list (to educate stakeholders on process changes)
- Roadmap to close gaps (for incident and problem management)
- Workshop results summary