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Creating Problems from Incidents and Linking Them

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In this lesson, you will learn:

  • How to create a problem from an incident
  • What copies across
  • How to link more incidents to the problem
  • When to use Awaiting Problem

🔁 Quick look back: Last time: Scoping Problem Management: Reactive and Proactive. You learned the difference between reactive and proactive problems, and SNWR’s rules for opening them.

1 Twelve incidents, one cause

Grace finds 12 VPN incidents this month.

  • Each one is separate.
  • Each agent writes the same notes.
  • Nobody can see they’re all the same thing.

🎯 The problem: When related incidents aren’t linked, nobody sees the full picture.

👉 The fix: create one problem, and link every related incident to it.

2 From incident to problem

Creating PRB0040012 from INC0010101. From Sam's incident, Abel uses Create Problem. The new problem copies the short description, category Network, subcategory VPN and configuration item snwr-vpn-gw-01, and links back to the incident. Grace then links 11 more VPN incidents in the Incidents related list. Linked incidents can be set On Hold with reason Awaiting Problem.
Figure 1. One problem, twelve linked incidents.

3 Awaiting Problem

Some linked incidents are still open, because the VPN still drops for those people. Abel sets them to On Hold with reason Awaiting Problem.

Linked incident What to do
Already resolved with a workaround Leave it resolved. Just link it.
Still broken, no workaround On Hold, Awaiting Problem
New one comes in Apply the workaround, and link it

💡 Good to know: When you set Awaiting Problem, add a comment for the caller: “We’re fixing the cause. We’ll update you.”

  1. Open a VPN incident on your PDI. Use Create Problem from the form menu (or the workspace).
  2. Check the new problem has the category, subcategory and CI from the incident.
  3. Create two more VPN incidents. In the problem’s Incidents related list, use Add to link them.
  4. Set one of them On Hold with reason Awaiting Problem.
  5. Open the problem and count the linked incidents.

5 Quick recap

  • Create Problem from an incident copies key details across
  • Link every related incident to the problem
  • One problem gives the full picture
  • Still-broken incidents wait with Awaiting Problem
  • Tell callers why they’re waiting

6 Check yourself

Think of your answer first. Then tap to check.

1 How does Abel create a problem from his incident? Show answer

With Create Problem on the incident.

2 What copies across to the new problem? Show answer

Details like the short description, category, subcategory and CI.

3 An incident is still broken and has no workaround. Which hold reason? Show answer

Awaiting Problem.

4 Why link all 12 incidents? Show answer

So everyone sees they’re the same issue, and they’re fixed together.

Nice work! PRB0040012 is created and linked. 🎉
Next up: Problem Tasks: Root Cause Analysis

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