“The purpose of the Problem Management practice is to reduce the likelihood and impact of incidents by identifying actual and potential causes of incidents and by managing workarounds and known errors. (ITIL® 4)”
One of the ways that Problem Management reduces the likelihood and impact of incidents is by making changes via the Change Enablement practice.
Given the benefits, it’s a wonder more organizations don’t have highly capable and well-integrated Problem Management, Incident Management, and Change Enablement practices in their organizations.
One reason could be misconceptions about the Problem Management practice, which we explore in our blog Misunderstood and Misused - A Rant About Problem Management. Another reason could be the inability to support these practices with an integrated toolset that includes a solid Configuration Management System (CMS), as configuration information supports the activities of all these practices.
Of course, before we talk about tools, we must first optimize our practices. This means we must, as part of process engineering, think about how to integrate these practices in the context of a value stream. This will allow us to:
- Leverage standardized workflow models that can effectively guide analysts through best practices for each of these practices
- Optimize the flow of information and work across these practices to ensure that the right information and knowledge are communicated quickly and clearly to the correct stakeholders
- Reduce resolution times and minimize impact by cutting across practice boundaries and breaking down silos (including practice silos)
We must also think about ensuring that the capability of these practices is appropriate for the desired level of integration. In the ITIL Maturity Model, it is at capability level 3 that practice integration comes into play.
- Level 3 – The practice is well defined and achieves its purpose in an organized way, using dedicated resources and relying on inputs from other practices that are integrated into a service management system.
In this model, for the defined scope of an assessment, some practices are identified as primary and some as supporting. Primary practices are directly involved and necessary to achieve the objectives of the service value system (SVS) in the scope of the assessment. Supporting practices are needed for the primary practices to effectively achieve their objectives and to function at higher capability levels.
It is common for organizations to first introduce the Incident Management practice, as the absence of this practice is likely to result in pain to both the organization and its customers. Also, without Incident Management, Problem Management lacks the data needed to validate that there is, in fact, a problem, and for subsequent problem analysis.
Integration points include:
- Incident Management supports Problem Management activities by logging and categorizing incidents and by providing symptom and resolution data
- Incident Management triggers Problem Management when recurring incidents are detected or when an incident (such as a major incident) requires problem analysis
- Incident Management provides initial workaround and resolution information to assist with Problem Management activities
When organizations do introduce Problem Management, they often begin with reactive problem identification, which implies that incidents are already happening (vs. a proactive approach that focuses on identifying problems before they cause incidents).
Integration points include:
- Problem Management supports Incident Management by analyzing identified problems and by providing workarounds and known errors to assist with incident diagnosis and resolution
- Problem Management proactively identifies problems by analyzing monitoring data, configuration data, and information about potential errors from users, vendors, specialist teams, and external user and professional communities
Both Incident and Problem Management ensure that resolutions or workarounds that require a change to a configuration item are handled via the Change Enablement practice. Change Enablement manages these changes and provides status information back to Incident and Problem Management.
Integration points include:
- Both Incident and Problem Management trigger Change Enablement when changes are needed to introduce resolutions
- Incident Management identifies changes that have or are suspected of causing incidents
- Change Enablement controls and implements changes initiated to resolve incidents and problems
- Change Enablement uses incident data when evaluating change success rate
- Change Enablement publishes the change schedule to promote awareness of scheduled and recently implemented changes for use as insight when incidents occur
- Change Enablement supports incident and problem reviews, especially when it has been determined that a change has caused incidents, or to verify that a permanent resolution has been achieved
Effective integration of the Incident Management, Problem Management, and Change Enablement practices requires a shared understanding of the purpose of each practice and a smooth information flow. Each practice must fill its unique role while respecting the boundaries of interfacing practices.
- Incident Management focuses on minimizing the negative impact of incidents by restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible
- Problem Management focuses on identifying actual and potential causes of incidents, and managing workarounds and known errors
- Change Enablement ensures that change-related risks are properly assessed and changes are authorized to proceed
When these practices are effectively integrated, they support each other without overlap or interference. Challenges arise when one practice oversteps or delays the work of another, or when one practice lacks the capability to consistently fill its role.
It's essential that they collaborate while respecting boundaries to drive continuous improvement and service stability.
To learn more, consider the following ITSM Academy courses:
- Value Stream Mapping Fundamentals
- Certified Process Design Engineer (CPDE)
- ITIL 4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support
- ITIL 4 Specialist: Monitor, Support and Fulfil
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