- Proactive Problem Management
- Service Desk
- Supplier Management
- Capacity Management
Answer: d) Capacity Management
Here is the explanation for the correct answer.
Problem Management In ITIL: Introduction And Key Inputs
Before going deep into the technical terms, let’s first understand what problem management is. In simple words, any process is referred to as problem management if it prevents incidents from happening and minimizes the impact of incidents that cannot be avoided.
If we delve into the context of ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), the definition of problem management holds the same, but involves high-quality data as input for interpretation and analysis. Thus, data is of utmost importance when it comes to managing problems in the framework of IT Service Management (ITSM). In this article, we’ll explore more about the origin of this data and investigate the dynamics of problem management closely.
What Is Problem Management?
A common conception about problem management is that it is the set of techniques adopted to fix things when they break. Well, this is one part of it. In the world of IT services, problem management is about identifying the “root cause” of a problem. This helps IT teams in eradicating that cause and ensuring that the same issue or issues linked with that particular cause do not occur again.
This helps in maintaining stability and strengthening the trust factor with clients.
Effective Problem Management: Source Of Data Inputs
As already discussed in the intro section of this article, managing a problem efficiently heavily relies on what kind of data is provided as input. Here are some sources of data that are needed for achieving solution to a problem successfully:
Similar Complex Incidents
This is one of the most common triggers for problem management. It refers to continuous recurrence of problems that follow the same pattern. When the service desk identifies a pattern in the tickets they cannot resolve permanently, they report this to the problem management team for further investigation.
Identification Of Problems Proactively
Problem management teams identify certain trends that might result in an issue at a later stage. Thus, teams do not wait for any major failure to occur. They analyze the past data and proactively work towards the solution of the problem that is most likely to occur.
Report From Third-Party
If some application or software from an external vendor is involved, then their ‘input’ forms a crucial part of problem management. Technical specialists from external vendors usually submit their reports in the form of Problem Review and that acts as a vital piece of information for internal teams.
Continuous Improvements
Feedback is crucial for improvement in any sector. Hence, problem management is not devoid of it and relies on feedback from various involved teams for improving their current framework of tackling the issues.
Why Capacity Management Usually Stands Out?
We have understood what sources provide input data for problem management. Capacity management is usually added as a distraction while listing down the sources of inputs, as seen in our MCQ.
Capacity management is more about managing the available resources for meeting business demands, rather than providing inputs for problem management. It doesn’t provide any relevant data to solve an existing issue, but it will provide resources to implement a solution for fixing the same issue.
Hence, capacity management is not a source of the inputs for problem management, but rather provides the numbers needed to solve the problem.