Best practices in IT Problem Management: Effective “Fire Prevention” for ITSM Teams

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No company is immune to outages and crashes. It is inevitable given the complex nature of modern IT and software systems. In this context, within the organization, the IT Service Management teams have two key responsibilities: Firstly, they must effectively and efficiently combat incidents as they occur. Secondly, they have the task of eliminating potential threats before they can have an impact.

Incidents and problems

The ITIL framework, which equips IT Service Management (ITSM) teams with a toolbox containing 34 proven best practices for their diverse areas of responsibility, proposes two approaches. Incident Management functions like a fire department, deployed in the event of damage: extinguishing the fire, rectifying the immediate cause of the error, and restoring the affected service. On the other hand, Problem Management is comparable to fire protection. Ideally, it operates as a precautionary measure to eliminate potential dangers from the outset. The objective is twofold: to trace the underlying causes of incidents and to uncover problems before they develop their risk potential.

An example: the monitoring services or even the customers report an error. As part of Incident Management, the emergency team works feverishly to fix the problem and identifies faulty code as the direct cause of the incident. It is then fixed and the service is available again without any problems.

Problem Management, on the other hand, asks how faulty code could get into production. Where, for example, did quality assurance fail? How can the process be improved to prevent similar incidents in the future? Furthermore, where could similar or comparable sources of problems be lurking in the process that have the potential to develop into serious challenges sooner or later?

In the article What is IT Problem Management?, we already provided an introduction to this ITIL practice and its objectives. We'll now share a few specific tips to help you establish effective, efficient Problem Management.

Acting proactively

As outlined above, incident and Problem Management are closely intertwined. However, ITSM teams should not make the mistake of seeing Problem Management primarily as a reactive process but instead should treat it as an ongoing one - regardless of whether specific incidents occur.

If, instead, Problem Management only "hums" after incidents and is otherwise virtually "dormant", it cannot develop its potential - to the detriment of the company.

Of course, this is not least a question of capacity, but if there is a problem here, the team should take an honest look at its priorities. In this context, technical managers or team coaches, for example, can work towards raising awareness of the enormous value of systematic Problem Management.

Sensible prioritization

Every team must prioritize its tasks and work. Of course, this also applies to the ITSM teams in the organization. In the systematic, structured search for potential problems, no team can focus equally on all areas and aspects.

Therefore, those services that are particularly important to the company and that generate a high customer value should have the highest priority. If incidents occur here, the damage is the greatest, and the costs at various levels the highest.

Admittedly, such prioritization increases the risk of comparatively neglecting other services, making them more susceptible to disruptions in case of doubt. Ultimately, Problem Management is also a constant trade-off.

Don't shy away from workarounds

The ideal approach to solving an identified problem is not always the one that most effectively eliminates the risk in a specific situation. A self-confident ITSM team is not afraid of workarounds if a problem turns out to be risky but too complex for a final solution in the short term.

Of course, "quick & dirty" is not a suitable way to systematically tackle IT problems and avoid incidents in the long term. But a temporary, well-documented interim solution at least reduces the potential for damage. Sometimes a good layer of duct tape is all that's needed before properly gluing and screwing things back together later.

Cultural requirements

Effective Problem Management is not limited to techniques and technical processes. The cultural aspect is no less critical: an open error culture and the ability to take criticism are just as crucial here as empowerment and autonomy.

As the name suggests, Problem Management has the task of addressing problems openly (and without blaming anyone). However, if, for example, a team feels offended when potential problems are identified in its code or processes, this is a cultural challenge that needs to be addressed quickly. On the other hand, no team that raises issues should have to fear consequences.

In this respect, all teams should see Problem Management as part of continuous improvement and embrace the process as something positive, as it helps the entire company to improve. Working towards this attitude and culture is a cross-organizational task.

Knowledge Management

Even the most structured Problem Management is ineffective if it takes place in an isolated environment and silos are created. Sharing all the knowledge gained - for example in a Knowledge Management system such as Confluence - not only creates transparency and awareness of the purpose and importance of Problem Management.

In order to process them in a meaningful and targeted manner, identified problems must be described, divided into meaningful categories and prioritized for further investigation and resolution. In the event of an incident, even recording identified errors can contribute to a faster solution and root cause identification if the incident was triggered by a known problem that has not yet been resolved.

In addition, the visible documentation gives other organizational units and adjacent teams the opportunity to learn from the documented insights and perhaps even make important additions themselves.

The right tracking software

Successful Problem Management requires a suitable software platform that helps the team to translate its findings into tangible to-dos with concrete measures. This requires traceability, clear responsibilities and prioritization, overall status visibility and integration into the team's specific work processes. In addition, the solution must enable dependencies to be mapped and incidents to be dynamically linked to problems.

In this context, Jira Service Management from Atlassian ITSM offers teams a mature, proven platform that can not only digitally map incident and Problem Management, but also supports many other service practices - from ticket-based helpdesk with individual workflows to service level agreements and systematic service request management through to extensive automation.

Jira Service Management is officially certified as a PinkVERIFY Certified ITIL 4 Toolset and thus fulfills all functional requirements for professional Service Management in IT teams and beyond.

Want to learn more about Jira Service Management? Would you like our team to show you some key use cases and practices in a personal demo? Or do you just want to know more about the transformation towards professional (IT) Service Management? Then get in touch with us! You can also find valuable tips in Atlassian's latest Incident Management handbook, which you can download now free of charge.

Further Reading

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