Incident Manager / Handler

[Rache]

We are thinking of creating a new role within our organisation. Currently we have an incident team and a problem team and multiple third parties. We are thinking of introducing another role within incidents to be an incident manager - from what I gather this type of role will be trend analysis (reactive and proactive) and liasion with problem management over and above what our incident handlers do.

I have created a long list of things I think the role could do including analysis of MI and liason with other discipline within service management and within our projects but was wondering if anyone has a role (possibly even within problem management) that performs this type of function and if they could advise on what type of things is involved in their role?

Thanks

[joeblough]

Rache,

I am really interested in knowing how have you defined Incident and Problem Management teams. What is their function? Were these teams established following ITIL rules?

From the description you are giving, it is a Problem Manager position. I think you really need to look into how your current Incident and Problem management teams are defined, and integrate this role into existing Problem Management team.

[Rache]

Hi

When the teams were originally created I think ITIL was only in its inception and so they were not originally ITIL based - they have metamorphasised since then but we still have some differences (some of which are because of the set up we have with our third party providers and suppliers and contractual arrangements)

Our incident team is actually first line support as our service desk is ran by our suppliers. we categorise and analyse incidents, match them with known problems and workarounds and sort out the user errors. We resolve over 60% at this call and the rest provide the second line support (a different third party supplier) with all details and initial analysis carried out.

The problem management function is carried out by a team their function is to raise problems and KEL entries publish them and liase with designers and third parties re workarounds, they schedule and prioritise the problems along witht he business.

Things I feel needing to be covered better in the way i deal with incidents are covered in problem management within ITIL I think although these are done within other parts of my organisation by an Incident manager function separate to the incident handler. (at the moment we do not adopt the ITIL principle where all "orphan" incidents are automatically raised as a proble) The things are
>to make sure there is a process formalised to link and cross reference incidents that are similar
>where there are multiple incidents a trend analysis function looking at these together but separately to the incident lifecycle may need to be performed (later to feed into both the problem management function and update incidents)
>reviewing scripts and case bases for incidents being logged
>review the process
>monitor targets SLA's response times and response qualities and a quality assurance function
>customer satisfaction and feedback re incident service provided

I understand it sits possibly half and half or even totally within problem management but the role I still feel should exist within my organisation - any thoughts? (and yes we are organised totally weird but thats government for you!!!)

[joeblough]

*My head is spinning*

The very first thing you need to do is define what constitutes as an "Incident". It is very common for organizations to mix up SD and Incident Management role. SD being the single point of contact, needs take care of all routine incidents.

Incident Management role should be limited to incidents that can spin out of control causing monetory damages. Remember this is defined differently based on your organization's needs. Some companies select a dollar amount loss that calls for Incident Management involvement. Some use number of users impacted etc.

The new role you want is a Problem Management role. Most of the items that you are looking for fall under Problem Management. It is a good idea to make a distinction. I will suggest using people who actually know all the organization and are at somewhat senior level. Its a very important role, but can also be overlooked by management resulting in the complete shut off of the PM group.

[Rache]

Thanks for that Im still working on the paper i think i will propose it is in the problem team and the role certainly will not involve handling of simple day to day incidents

Thanks