Problem Management in ServiceNow ITSM

Problem could be defined as occurrences of related incidents. If an incident is repetitively happening, it could be stated as a Problem. A problem is a cause of one or more incidents. Create a problem to identify the root cause of the incidents and try to prevent them from happening again.

Problem management in ITSM is the process of identifying, analyzing and resolving issues that affect the delivery of IT services. It involves identifying the root cause of a problem, implementing a solution and taking steps to prevent the problem from recurring the future.

Problem is responsible for managing the life cycle of all problems and to prevent problems and resulting incidents from happening. It also aims at eliminating recurring incidents and minimizing the impact of incidents that cannot be prevented.

Resolving a problem includes the activities required to diagnose the root cause of incidents and to determine the resolution for the problem. Problem resolution and elimination of root cause often calls for applying a change to the configuration item in the existing IT environment.

ServiceNow Problem Management makes it possible to restore services quickly—often helping you prevent issues from happening in the first place. With a structured workflow for diagnosing root causes and fixing problems, Problem Management empowers you to eliminate recurring incidents and minimize the impact of unexpected disruptions.

Automated workflows allow problem managers to easily document workarounds and solutions, so IT teams can focus and get more done. With a consolidated view of the incidents and related changes, IT can deliver faster responses and solutions.

Problem Management also maintains information about problems and the appropriate workarounds and resolutions, so that the organization is able to reduce the number and impact of incidents over time. In this respect, Problem Management has a strong interface with Knowledge Management so that the Known Error Articles are documented thoroughly for any future reference.

• Streamline incident investigations, from detection to eradication, through the ITIL sub-processes of problem control, error control, and proactive problem analysis.
• Problem-management processes remove defects from the IT infrastructure, eliminate recurring incidents, and stabilize the environment.
• Follow performance proactively and minimize disruptions
• Maximize transparency and create insight into known errors or solutions
• Get to the cause of an issue quick and adapt workflows

Example: if users are reporting slow access to the company’s website, problem management would involve identifying the cause of the slow access (such as a problem with the server) and taking steps to prevent a problem from recurring (such as, monitoring the server for potential server).