making problem management work for your organization

JOHN CUSTY • ITSM CONSULTANT • JPG GROUP • @ITSMNINJA

Problem Management: Making It Work For Your Organization

John CustyService Management Practitioner, Consultant and Educator

[email protected]

•Ron Muns Lifetime Achievement Award •IT Industry Legend – Cherwell Software •Distinguished Professional in IT Service Management •ITIL Expert and ITIL Accredited Trainer •ISFS, ISMAS based on ISO/IEC 27002 •ISO/IEC 20000 Consultant •DevOps Certified Instructor •KCS Verified Consultant •HDI Faculty & Certified Instructor

Twitter: @ITSMNinja Facebook: John Custy LinkedIn: johncusty

Copyright 2015 JPCGroup ‘Making Problem Management Work in Your Organization’

mailto:[email protected]?subject=

Get insightsRecover fasterMeet availability

Why problem management?

Increase valueDecrease time-to-resolution (MTRS, MTTR).

Ensure services meet the availability of the business

Reports are more than just outages. How much time is lost for reoccurring issues?

Improve the availability of your IT services, reduce downtime and cut down costs.


The value of problem management

Decreased costs

Customers can be more productive due to improved service availability.

Reduced downtimeCustomers experience less downtime due to increased IT service availability.

Improved productivity

Lower costs due to reduction of recurring incidents.


• Big cool statistic

• 2,569

• Add-Ons in Marketplace

Problem Management:Current state and challenges

Today, everyone does it their own way

Source: KT/ITpreneurs

The result: significant rework for escalations and transfers.


?

Outcome: Extended Resolution

0

75

150

225

300

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20

Owners

Mea

n Ti

me

to S

olve

(Day

s)


P R O B L E M M A N A G E M E N T T E C H N I Q U E S

W H Y D O P R O B L E M M A N A G E M E N T

N E X T S T E P S

Agenda


1. Prevent problems and related incidents from happening

Problem Management:

2. Eliminate recurring incidents

3. Minimize the impact of incidents that can’t be prevented


Key concepts:


Incidents

Incident

Problem

Problem

Known error

Request for change

Your service management tooling must support these relationships

Problem Management Process Metrics

Total # of problems recorded in the period Backlog of outstanding problems

Percentage of problems resolved within their targets Avg cost of handling a problem

# of problems that exceed their target resolution times # of known errors added to the KEDB

% of problems that exceed their target resolution times % of major problem reviews completed successfully & on time

# of major problems % of accuracy of the KEDB


Problem Management Value Metrics

Downtime eliminated (Productivity improvements for the

business and IT)Confidence/Image/Perception

Cost of problem management Reduce stories about downtime


Problem Management Benefits

Increased service quality.Quality



Reduced # of incidents and problems.Fewer issues



Permanent solutions.Fixes



Improved workarounds.Better ideas



Historical data informs future decisions.

Learning



Higher first-level resolution rate.Fewer escalations



Higher technical awareness within the IT organization.

Shared knowledge



More informed decision making.Better decisions


1. Clear goals and objectives2. Clear policies3. Resources allocated to problem management4. Roles clearly defined5. Process relationships (incident, knowledge, change, release,

deployment, financial and service levels)6. Value communicated and understood

Problem Management Challenges:



• 2,569


Problem Management Techniques

5 W H Y ’ S

B R A I N S TO R M I N G

PA I N VA L U E A N A LY S I S

C H R O N O L O G I C A L A N A LY S I S

Proven problem analysis techniques that have shown to deliver positive results:

I S H I K AWA D I A G R A M S

PA R E TO A N A LY S I S

K E P L E R T R E G O E

•The most common type of problem analysis•Relevant experts meet together (physically or virtually)•Identify their ideas on the potential cause of the problem•Sessions can be very constructive, but can also be time-consuming

•Sessions should be structured with a moderator• Documents the session• Identifies actions

•Follow-up items listed and assignments

Brainstorming:


•This analysis is used when attempting to understand the impact of incidents/problems on the business.

•It is possible to design a formula to measure the level of pain using variables:

•The investigation may also bring up info to help diagnose, assess and ultimately correct the problem.

Pain Value Analysis:


# of users affected

Length of downtime

Timing of the downtime

Cost to the business (user time, lost sales, penalties, etc).

1.Develop a timeline2.Document all events in a chronological order3.Determine which events triggered other events4.Discount claims that are not supported by evidence5.Correlate and identify root cause6.Attempt recreation, if practical, to confirm root cause

Chronological analysis:


Builds a timeline of what happened when (from event and/or incident data). The timeline can be used to identify cause and effect events and validate assumptions not supported by the events.

Chronological analysis:


Builds a timeline of what happened when (from event and/or incident data). The timeline can be used to identify cause and effect events and validate assumptions not supported by the events.

Incident Detection Repair Restore Solved incident

Diagnosis Recovery

Time

Ishikawa


Developed by Kaoru Ishikawa, this is a graphical technique that helps identify all possible causes of an effect, such as a problem. It’s

sometimes called a “fishbone” diagram.

Ishikawa Diagram


Main Cause Main Cause

Level 1 Causes

Level 2 Causes

Level 1 Causes

Level 2 Causes

Main Cause Main Cause

Level 2 Causes Level 2 Causes



Problem to be

resolved (effect)

Root Cause Analysis Flow Chart:


1.Build a table showing potential causes2.Sort the rows by importance (descending)3.Plot causes (x-axis) and cumulative % (y-axis) and draw line connecting the points (curve)

4.Plot bar graph with causes on x-asis5.Draw line at 80% of y-axis (parallel to x-axis)6.Where line and curve intersect, drop a line to x-axis7.You’ll see important causes to the left, trivial to the right

Pareto Analysis:


A statistical approach to problem-solving that is oriented to focusing on the potential issues causing the greatest effect.

Pareto Analysis:


A statistical approach to problem-solving that is oriented to focusing on the potential issues causing the greatest effect.

Cause % of errors Cumulative % of errors

Network controller 35 % 35 %

File corruption 26 % 61 %

Addressing conflicts 19 % 80 %

Server OS 6 % 86 %

Scripting error 5 % 91 %

Untested change 3 % 94 %

Operator error 2 % 96 %

Backup failure 2 % 98 %

Intrusion attempts 1 % 99 %

Disk failure 1 % 100 %

Pareto Analysis:


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Network

File co

rruptio

n

Server O

S

Scriptin

g error

Untested ch

ange

Operator e

rror

Backu

p failu

re

Intrusio

n

Disk fa

ilure

Cumulative %

% of Errors

Important Trivial

•A rational model that is well respected in business management circles. An important aspect of KT decision-making is the assessment and prioritization of risk.

•KT is not about finding a perfect solution, but rather the best possible choice, based on actually achieving the outcome with minimal negative consequences.

Kepner-Tregoe (KT) Analysis:


Four steps in Kepner-Tregoe Decision Making

Potential problem analysis

Clarify the situation, outline concerns and choose a direction.

Problem analysisDefine the problem and determine root cause.

Situational appraisal

Further scrutinize alternatives against potential problems and negative consequences to find the best.


Decision analysisIdentify alternatives and analyze risk for each.

Technique Purpose Pros Cons

Chronological AnalysisUseful for complex problems with conflicting reports about what happened

• Can provide a timeline to help discover causes• Does a good job of documenting what/when and

where the event occurred

• Often times, little or no analysis occurs - events just recorded• Creative thinking is limited to a pre-defined set of questions• Can produce data that requires investigation and doesn’t lead

to clarity

Brainstorming Useful for generating ideas• Easy• Reduces domination• Prioritizes ideas

• Process may appear too mechanical or rigid

Kepler & Tregoe Useful when there are many potential causes

• Mature technique• Detailed• Well-documented

• Can be time-consuming as you consider many possible causes

Ishikawa Diagrams Useful for identifying all probable causes

• Act as a checklist of possible causes• Works well with cross-functional teams

• Difficult to create a list of causes that can account for all possible causes

• Identifying true root cause can be challenging

Pareto Analysis Useful for identifying the most important potential causes

• Statistical approach to problem-solving, leaves a positive perception with stakeholders

• Intended to direct resources to most common causes

• Limited by accuracy of the data used to create the histogram• Best used as a tool to identify where to start your analysis

Five Why’s Useful for identifying the root cause on minor problems

• Most simplistic technique to use• Identifies causal relationships

• Limited to the knowledge and experience of the problem owner in determining root cause

• Not as useful for problems that require investigation by cross-functional teams

Fault Tree Analysis Useful for identifying links between possible causes

• Works well to identify possible system or design failures

• Works well to identify causal relationships• Helps to determine if certain causal relationships are

probable

• Limited to known failure rates of components• Best used to support root cause analysis

Problem Management Techniques:



• 2,569


Next Steps: What do you need to do to improve

your problem management process?

Assess current stateClarify goalsSponsorship

Next steps:

Clarify rolesIs it more available services? Improved productivity of staff and customers?

Who is the champion for this initiative?

What’s your maturity state? Assess culture, people and tools in addition to process. What is your strategy?

What are the process relationships and roles involved?


Successful problem-solving approach:


Quality Adoption Results

Problem-Solving

Skill Transfer

Coaching

+Alignment of:

Processes and triggers

Expectations > Consequences > Feedback Measurement

Documentation and Knowledge Creation (software)

Role modeling (leadership)

Resolution time

Cost per incident/problem

CSAT

Thank you!

JOHN CUSTY • ITSM CONSULTANT • JPG GROUP • @ITSMNINJA