Know more about Incident Management

The role of IT service management in a business organization cannot be overstated. Here, incidents are unforeseen and cannot be avoided. The better way to deal with incidents is to identify and rectify them. Incidents, if unnoticed, may cause trouble to the normal functioning of a business organization, which in turn affect the quality of their service. So, it becomes necessary to have an optimal Incident Management (IM) processes implemented.
Incidents are broadly divided into three categories: Software, hardware, and service requests. Its the Service Desk where incidents and problems are logged in for resolution. Hence, users should be provided with a self-service portal for easy logging of service requests. On receiving a request from the customer, IM is the first process initiated, which involves providing timely solution for the occurred incidents. You can categorize incidents and problems into two: matching with known errors/problems and not related to any of the known problem or known error. The later lead to raise of a new problem record, and results in Problem Management. It is through “Incident Management Lifecycle”, a staged process, incidents and service requests are managed. The objective of this process is to provide a solution and bring the service to normalcy at the earliest.
To restore the normal IT services, a company should implement Incident Management policies and procedures that align with the norms of ITIL. Optimal incident escalation standards, dedicated IM owner, incidents classification, reports, and communication are also mandatory. As a result, the organization would experience enhanced IT service quality and customer satisfaction. But to achieve these, few activities should be followed. Identify and record incidents, which then have to be classified. Based on this, initial support has to be provided. Following this, incidents have to be prioritized depending on their impact and urgency. Analyze, resolve, and prompt recovery of service as per SLA. Once an incident is closed, monitoring, tracking, maintaining ownership, and communications about incidents to the customer has to be done. Information on IM quality and operations should be provided to the management. The above activities are vital for in an IM process.
Today, finding a comprehensive ITIL-aligned IM suite is effortless with the emergence of numerous software solution providers. New features and facility are being introduced in IM to ensure a high-level of service. There are advanced services, in which service desk and service supports escalation are automated, which alerts technicians of any service delay. Its installation or running does not require much effort and time. To access the self-service portal, customers can employ any browser. So, check whether your IM suite is capable of meeting the increasing demands, if not, then it is time to upgrade.