For an IT organization it is critically important to successfully implement right-sized incident management process. An unsuccessful incident management process will decrease the productivity and increase the downtime and support cost.

The implementation process has to be in place for keeping the service up and running. ITIL lifecycle involves roles from different groups and support teams within an organization. An incident manager is responsible for implementing the process and coordinating activities between different team to ensure that they adhere to the agreed service level timeframe agreement.

Roles and functions involved in the Incident management process are -

First Level Support - Service Desk :

They are the only point of contact for the users. They are non-technical person having sufficient business knowledge. Their tasks include

Logging the incidents in the tool

Performing initial diagnosis and trouble-shooting

Directing the incident to next support level

Regularly monitoring and if required escalating to higher level

Tracking the incident and following up with the concerned team on incident status

Updating the incident log and the users with the status

Closing incidents once the user expectations are met

Second Level Support - Technical Team:

The technical team has the same objective as that of the service desk – to restore the service as quickly as possible, but they are technically strong with vast business and functional knowledge.

Third Level Support – Hardware/Software Team:

There support is requested by the technical team if they find that the issue is due to hardware or software fault. It includes support from network, voice, server, desktop, database or environment team.

Additionally, few other support teams and groups – access, facility, change and problem management are consulted if required. Before implementing the process ensure the availability of the required budget and resources.

Steps for setting up the incident management process

Implement Service desk

Make proper arrangements of the interface between the incident management and the service desk

Define business objectives and goals

Involve technical IT staff

Plan necessary business and incident management training for service desk and all involved staff and groups. Ensure that the team is aware of the incident escalation process

Setup priorities and decide what to measure

Maintain a log or register with the contact details of the support groups and their respective point of escalation

Ensure that the set targets are met

Generate and circulate monthly reports and metrics on the number of incidents logged and time taken to resolve them

Create plan, policies and procedures to protect the organization from incident attack

Monitor and review the process regularly

Conduct seminar sessions/conferences with quality management team to review performance reports

Conduct proper knowledge sharing sessions with the team

Conduct quiz sessions to make the team aware and update with the process

Post implementations ensure that the user/business needs are met. Surveys can be done to monitor user’s perception and expectation. Design a survey template that is easy to complete and decide the target audience. Conduct the survey regularly and make sure that the user understands the benefits. Publish results and work on areas that need improvement.

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