End-to-End Overview of Incident Management

End-to-End Overview of Incident Management: Mastering the Flow from Outage to Resolution

In today’s interconnected environment which is what we live in IT services performance is a given. From a failed financial transaction to a broken business application IT issues may quickly snowball into larger problems which cause great financial damage, reputational harm, and loss of customer confidence. That is what robust incident management is for  a systematized approach which puts out the issue and gets back to normal service as fast as we can and at the same time we minimize the business impact.

Beyond just the remediation of issues as they arise, effective incident management is a full scale process which covers the entire life of an issue from detection through to closure and beyond. Also within this is the issue of documentation which is very important, often in short supply, plays out at each step. This article we present a broad look at the incident management lifecycle which also puts into focus the importance of in depth note taking and information sharing.

The Phases of the Incident Management Lifecycle

The incident management process is made up of a number of separate yet related stages which are key to effective service restoration and continuous improvement.

1. Incident Identification and Logging: The First Line of Defense

The journey starts at the point of incident detection which may happen in many ways:.

• Automated Monitoring Tools: Proactive tools which identify atypical activity, performance drop off, or total failures (eg server outages, network latency issues).
• User Reports: End users reporting to the IT service desk of issues they have (e.g. My application is down, I am unable to get into the shared drive).
• System Alerts: Application and infrastructure elements which report errors or failures.

Once we identify an issue we put it into a Centralized Incident Management System (IMS) or IT Service Management (ITSM) tool at that very next step. The initial report is key for creating a proven account of what transpired and to start the response process.

How to Document this Stage: At first the documentation must be in great detail which includes:.

• Incident Creator: Which one reported the incident.
• Date and Time: At the time of the incident report.
• Description: A report of what we are seeing which includes error messages and symptoms as well as the impact (for instance “Email service out for all sales team members, “Website is reporting 500 internal server error”.
• Affected Service/System: What is the particular service, application, or infrastructure component that is affected.
• Scope of Impact: What is the number of affected users and business functions.
• Associated Assets: Any specific hardware or equipment which was a part of the issue.
• Contact Information: For the reporter to the creator.

Accurate and prompt documentation is the base which we build effective resolution off of, we prevent miscommunication and see to it that all parties have the info they require.

2. Incident Categorization and Prioritization: Defining Urgency and Impact

Once we log the incident they must be put into categories and given a priority which is very important for getting the issue to the right support team and in terms of the speed and resources required for resolution.

Categorization: Assigning out an incident to a certain category and sub-category which in turn clarifies what the issue is and which service it involves. We see for instance “Network Connectivity”, “Application Error”, “Hardware Failure” or “Security Breach”. Also proper categorization which in turn aids in trend analysis and issue identification in the long term.

Prioritization: These are mainly due to two factors:.

• Impact: The scale of the issue or what we may see in terms of impact from the incident (for example “High” which would be a issue related to business critical services affecting all users, “Low” which would be a minor functional glitch affecting a single user).
• Urgency: How fast an issue must be resolved (for instance, “High” for issues which are putting the core business at risk, “Low” for almost inconsequential cosmetic issues). Also we see use of a prioritization matrix (for example Severity 1: High Impact/High Urgency, Severity 2: High Impact/Medium Urgency and so on) which is put in place to determine the priority level (for instance P1, P2, P3).

How to Document this Stage: It is of the essence that we document the assigned category, subcategory, impact level, urgency level and the which out comes of that. Also to be included are notes of changes that may occur to these groups through the incident live cycle and the reason for them at that. Which in turn, will promote transparency and assist in audit of the response process.

3. Incident Investigation and Diagnosis: Understanding the Root

With that which occurred classified and put in order of importance the related support team starts the investigation. This phase includes:.

• Information Gathering: Gathering more in depth information from affected users, system logs, monitoring tools, and knowledge bases.
• Troubleshooting: Implementing known solutions and workarounds and performing diagnostics.
• Diagnosis: Identifying the root cause of the issue. May include identifying the problem, researching theories and working with other technical teams.
• Escalation: If the primary support team is unable to resolve the issue it is passed on to a higher level of technical support (e.g. Level 2 support, application specialists, vendor support). This should follow pre determined paths and service level agreements (SLAs).

How to Document this Stage: At this point in the process very great care must be taken with documentation. At each step of the investigation and diagnosis we must record in detail:.

• Actions Taken: What issues were diagnosed in what sequence?
• Findings: What was seen to happen (for example "Server logs report high CPU utilization," "Database connection which failed".
• Tests Performed: Which tests did we do and what did we find?
• Communication: Notes from interactions with other teams and also what they did or recommended.
• Workarounds: What did they do to get service back up?
• Root Cause (if identified): The primary cause of the issue. Although at times just a short term solution may be put in, identifying the root cause is key to prevention.
• Escalation Details: What was the issue raised to and when, and what for.

This in depth report of actions is a great asset for future use which in turn allows for faster resolution of the like issues and we also get out of it better methods for problem management.

4. Incident Resolution and Recovery: Restoring Normal Service

Once diagnosed the effort turns to putting that solution in to play and getting the affected service back to normal operation. This may include:.

• Applying a Fix: Executing a permanent fix (eg, system patching, configuration correction, service restart).
• Implementing a Workaround: A short term repair which brings back service performance even if the root issue is still out there. This is a measure to buy time for the permanent solution to be put in place.
• Service Restoration: Ensuing that all components are working as intended after a fix or workaround. This also includes post resolution checks and tests.

How to Document this Stage: Documentation of the resolution process is key:.

• Resolution Details: What did we do to resolve the issue? (i.e. “Applied patch KB12345”, “Restarted Apache service”, “Reconfigured firewall rule X”.
• Who Resolved: The party which put forth the solution.
• Resolution Date and Time: Upon restoration of the service.
• Verification: What is the resolution verified through? (e.g. “User reports of email restored”, “Monitoring tools report normal CPU usage”.
• Lessons Learned (initial thoughts): During the process of resolution which issues or what actions may we have learned to prevent future incidents or improve response.

5. Incident Closure: Formalizing Completion

Once the issue is resolved and service is back to normal, the issue may be put to rest. This includes:.

• Confirmation: Verifying that the issue is in fact resolved to the user’s satisfaction.
• Review: A rapid internal audit of which documents are complete and accurate.
• Categorization: Review of incident category and resolution code.

How to Document this Stage: Documentation for which is to include:.

• Closure Date and Time: At the time of the incident being marked as closed.
• Closure Code: A common code which reports the cause of closure (e.g. “Resolved”, “User Error”, “Duplicate Incident”.
• Customer Satisfaction: Notes on what the user said or what was done to resolve the issue.
• Link to Problem Management (if applicable): If there is a work around put in place or a recurring issue which is identified that should be added to a new or existing problem record for in depth root cause analysis and for permanent solutions to be developed.

From experience.

The incident management lifecycle in fact does not end at closure. As a matter of course we see that for high priority and repeat incidents a Post Incident Review (PIR) is conducted. This includes:.

• In-depth Analysis: A look at the incident in detail, the root cause, response, and communication.
• Action Planning: Identifying action items to prevent recurrence, improve processes, or update knowledge articles.
• Knowledge Base Update: Adding into the knowledge base what we have learned and what we did which worked out for future use.
• Problem Management Link: Incidents are a result of deeper issues. By tying in resolved incidents with problem management we are able to proactively identify and fix system wide issues which in turn prevents them from reoccurring.

How to Document this Stage: PIR output to be fully documented:.

• PIR Report: A report which includes the incident timeline, impact, root cause, resolution actions, and response analysis.
• Lessons Learned: Specific elements learned from the event related to people, processes or technology.
• Action Items: A detailed schedule of tasks, which also includes the responsible parties and deadlines for each (for example “Update monitoring threshold of Server X, “Train staff on Application Y, “Put in place a permanent solution for Database issue Z”.
• Knowledge Article Updates: Reports of new and updated knowledge articles.

Best Procedures.

In the development of an Incident Management Lifecycle we aren’t to simply suggest what should be documented; we require in depth documentation as a base for a strong and efficient IT setting. Also through that documentation we transform raw data into action able intelligence.

• Implement a Centralized ITSM Tool: This is a must. We see that which ITSM platforms like ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, Freshservice put in place. They provide structured forms, workflows, and a single source of truth for all incident related info.
• Standardized Templates and Fields: Consistency is of the essence. We require that all incident reporting forms include mandatory fields and we provide clear guidelines for data entry which in turn guarantees that the same info is captured the same way.
• Real-time Updates: Technicians should input into incident reports as they go, instead of at the end. This gives real time visibility and also see that the info is current.
• Clarity and Conciseness: Documentation should be accessible to the novice, we should avoid jargon as much as possible and use simple direct language.
• Accessibility: Ensure stakeholders which include technical teams as well as business users have access to incident reports. Also include in that access business users that may require status reports.
• Version Control: For greater scale issues which see many updates, it is key to maintain a history of changes. Most ITSM we see to have this feature built in.
•  Link to Knowledge Base: Into your knowledge management system incorporate incident reports. Also include in that which are successful resolutions and which are workarounds which should go into new or updated knowledge articles.
• Regular Review and Audit: We will go back at times to review the incident reports for quality and to also see that they are accurate and to the standard. Also use these reviews to identify what we can improve in our documentation process.
• Focus on the "Why": Beyond just reporting what happened we should also note in what way it happened and what we learned from it. This goes beyond record keeping into the creation of knowledge.

Benefits of a Well-Documented Lifecycle

A very in depth incident management lifecycle provides large scale benefits:.

• Faster Resolution Times: From past incidents we have gained knowledge which is presented in detailed solutions and workarounds that in turn reduce diagnosis and resolution times.
• Improved Service Quality: Through identification of trends and base causes IT teams are able to proactively head off future issues and improve overall service stability.
• Enhanced Decision-Making: Extensive data sets which in turn inform our resource allocation, training requirements, and technology investments.
• Better Communication: Clean records which are easily accessible facilitate smooth shift changes and also provide accurate info for stakeholder reports.
• Compliance and Audit Readiness: Incident reports that we maintain provide a audit trail which is key for regulatory compliance and internal governance.
• Facilitates Continuous Improvement: Outcomes of recorded incidents are used in problem management which in turn enables a cycle of continuous improvement and process optimization in the IT setting.

Conclusion

Incident management is more than just a matter of solving immediate issues that arise. We see it as a full organizational process from beginning to end that requires a structured approach and also very much clear lines of communication between teams. Also at the forefront of this process is what we do in terms of documenting each step of the way. From the point of first reporting in on an issue through to resolution and beyond in the post-mortem analysis  how well we document that process will in fact determine the speed at which we can react to and solve these issues, the time that service is down, and our organizations’ ability to grow from these experiences and better themselves. In adopting strong documentation practices businesses are able to turn disruptive events into growth opportunities for the business, in turn we see improved service delivery and protected operational integrity in today’s very complex digital environment.