Incident management restores service; ITIL problem management makes sure the same incident stops coming back. SMC Consulting's ITIL v4 certified consultants set up problem management in HaloITSM: recurring incidents grouped into problems, root causes investigated with a method, known errors and workarounds published to agents, and permanent fixes raised as changes.
Problem management is the ITIL 4 practice that reduces the likelihood and impact of incidents by finding their causes, managing workarounds and known errors, and getting the causes removed. Its objective is fewer repeat incidents and shorter outages when they do happen.
It works in two ways. Reactive problem management starts from incidents that already happened, often a major incident or the same ticket seen ten times. Proactive problem management looks at trends, events and weak signals to remove a cause before it hurts anyone.
| Incident | Problem | Known error | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | An unplanned interruption or reduction in the quality of a service | The cause, or potential cause, of one or more incidents | A problem that has been analysed but not yet resolved, usually with a documented workaround |
| Goal | Restore service as fast as possible | Find and remove the cause | Help agents resolve the next occurrence fast, until the fix is in |
| Owner | The service desk and support teams | A problem manager or problem owner | Problem management, published for the service desk |
| Ends when | The user can work again | The cause is removed, usually by a change | The permanent fix is in place |
The ITIL practices and how they fit together are explained in the ITIL processes explained and in our practical guide to ITSM; for the incident side, see incident management in ITIL 4. HaloITSM is the tool we recommend most often to run both.
Source: the ITIL 4 Problem Management practice, ITIL 4 by PeopleCert.
In HaloITSM, agents link related incidents and raise a problem from them; trend reports show the repeat incidents nobody flagged.
The problem record holds the investigation: affected services and CIs, analysis, workaround and the people working on it. Once analysed, the problem becomes a known error.
Known errors are managed: workarounds kept current, and the permanent fix assessed and raised as a change when justified.
A monthly look at the top incident categories and services finds problems before the next major incident does.
A live demo on one of your recurring incidents, or a free trial: 30 days, 15 of them guided by SMC Consulting.
The method matters less than using one. We add a root cause section to the problem form so the analysis is recorded, not just discussed.
Ask why until you reach a cause you can act on. Fast, good for most problems; recorded as a short chain on the problem.
Causes grouped by category (people, process, technology, suppliers) when several factors combine; the diagram is attached to the problem.
A structured comparison of what is and is not affected, for complex technical problems; the analysis steps become problem tasks.
Each known error records the symptoms, the cause when known and the workaround agents can apply today.
Known errors are suggested on matching incidents, so the second occurrence takes minutes, not hours.
When the workaround is safe for users, it becomes a knowledge article in the self-service portal.
Five steps, in Belgium, Luxembourg and France.
Not sure where your problem management stands today? Book my free ITSM audit: 30 minutes with a senior consultant. Still choosing a tool? Our comparison of the 10 best ITSM tools sets HaloITSM against the alternatives.
Your repeat incidents, your major incidents of the last months, and who looks at causes today.
Problem states, the problem form with its root cause section, known error records and the link rules to incidents and changes.
Built in HaloITSM, with Jira or Azure DevOps sync for engineering and Teams notifications.
Two or three real problems taken through the process with your team, from identification to the change.
A monthly trend review in place, the KPIs below on a dashboard, and a review at six months.
Incidents are linked to the problem, and closed together when the fix is in.
The permanent fix is raised as a change from the problem, assessed and approved like any other.
Affected services and configuration items show which part of the estate keeps failing.
Whose agents solve the same incident every week without anyone fixing the cause.
Who need major incidents analysed and fixed, not just closed.
Who cannot staff a problem manager but can run a monthly review with the right tool.
Problem management is the ITIL 4 practice that finds and removes the causes of incidents. It manages workarounds and known errors while the permanent fix is prepared, and it works both reactively, from incidents, and proactively, from trends.
To reduce the likelihood and impact of incidents: fewer repeat incidents, shorter outages thanks to known workarounds, and permanent fixes delivered through change management.
An incident is an interruption to restore now; a problem is the cause behind one or more incidents. The incident is closed when the user can work again; the problem stays open until its cause is removed. See incident management in ITIL 4.
The collection of known errors: problems that have been analysed but not yet resolved, with their cause when known and their workaround. In HaloITSM, known errors are suggested on matching incidents, so agents apply the workaround straight away while the permanent fix is on its way.
Often the service desk lead or an infrastructure engineer, a few hours a month. What matters is one named owner, a monthly review of repeat incidents, and a tool that keeps the links between incidents, problems and changes.
Yes. When the fix needs development work, problem tasks are synced with Jira issues or Azure DevOps work items, so the status stays the same on both sides without copying updates by hand.
Book a live demo on one of your own recurring incidents. You can also start a free trial: 30 days, 15 of them guided by SMC Consulting.
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