04 Session 4-Problem&Change Management

Problem Management
Foundations in IT services
Copyright IBM Corporation 2007. All rights reserved
Problem Management
Problem Description
Severity
Time Opened
Group Assigned
Contact Information
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/tividd/td/EA/EA50fg/en_US/PDF/EA50fg.pdf
Problem Management
SCIM
System, Component, Item, Module
Time Closed
filled in by the resolution team after the problem has been resolved.
Change Integration
Duration for resolution

At this time, the resolver also adds information on how the problem was resolved, and
automatically the system calculates the duration of the problem. This brings up an important
point about problem tickets in general.
Resolution
Problem Management
Incident/Problem review meetings
Communication in problem management is extremely important with both the customer and
within the supporting IT organization. There are multiple meetings held on a daily basis to
discuss the problems that have occurred in the previous day, get updates on created tickets,
or review closed tickets.
Root cause analysis review meetings
Generate and post operational and management reports

Provide ad hoc Incident and Problem reports
Problem analysis and trend reporting, which lead to identifying common

problems and recommendation of improvements to prevent future Incidents
and Problems
Maintain a current list of infrastructure IT elements
Problem Management
Identify and report Problems that impact customers business. (assign
business criticality by element, or a step from BSM/ Business Service
Management)
Identify and escalate duplicate and reoccurring Problems for expedited
resolution (provide preventative or automated actions)
Manage Problems to resolution
Review and validate Severity levels set by customer or IT Infrastructure
support staff
Identify Problem trends, accuracy of information, and completeness of
problem tickets (also part of ITIL/ Information Technology Infrastructure
Library)
Identify responsibilities between service providers and customer within
procedures
Problem Management
Problem Flow
End user reports

problem
Close Problem
Ticket with
resolution of
problem.
level l help desk

performs problem
determination with
provided procedures
and opens Problem
ticket
level l help desk

contacts Distributed
Operations (level 2)
and routes problem
ticket
No
Automated
resolutions
such as
Server up
down
Dist Ops:
Performs problem determination with provided
documentation
May Engage Duty Managers as part of situation mgmt
Opens Problem ticket if necessary
Pages out infrastructure support SME
Duty Managers:
Perform situation management
Informs and sends Out executive alerts for both
infrastructure and application if escalation is required
Problem
Resolved?
Yes
Yes
Dist Ops contacts project

manager and engages
appropriate support group per
provided documentation and
routes Problem ticket. If
problem not resolved, Duty
Managers provide periodic
status to management and
customers. If the problem
meets exec alert criteria,
Duty Managers send exec
alert updates for application
and infrastructure by
following escalation
procedures
Problem
Resolved?
No
Integration Opportunity
All event related tickets
could be automated
Problem Management
If an event is closed in the BSM Tool, the Event Management Tool is

automatically updated regarding the change
If the event is closed in the Event Management Tool, the BSM Tool is
automatically updated regarding the change.
If an event status changes in Network Management Tool, both the Event
Management tool and the BSM Tool would be automatically updated
regarding the change.
BSM Tool
Problem
Tool
Auto-ticket generation
from BSM Tool or Event
Management Tool.
Bidirectional
Event
Synchronization
Do escalation, notification,
and paging here.
Do filtering, correlation, duplicate

checking, and automated actions here.
User Simulated
Transactions
Bidirectional
Event
Flow
Unidirectional
Event
Forwarding
Network Events
Event
Mgmt
Bidirectional
Event
Flow
By implementing the router/fault isolation algorithm

included in Network Management Tools and adding
router/fault isolation ruleset to the Event Management ,
events storms will be minimized and root-cause
identification will be improved.
Can now correlate Monitoring Tool events with network
device outage events
IP connectivity problems can also be correlated to
monitoring heartbeat events
Bidirectional
Event
Synchronization
(All Servers &

Network
devices)
Unidirectional
Event
Forwarding
Monitoring Tool
Unidirectional
Event
Forwarding
Unidirectional
Event
Forwarding
Monitoring
Tool
Tape
Library
Monitoring
Tool
Network
Monitoring
Monitoring
Tool
Problem Management
Possible Infrastructure Service Interconnections with Problem Management
include:
Configuration Management
Event Management
Availability Management
Performance and Capacity Management
Operations Management
Security Management
Network Management
Problem Management
Possible Relationship Service Interconnections with Problem Management
include:
Reporting Management
Change Management
Knowledge Management
Notification Management
SLA Management
Problem Management
Problem Management tool sampling
BMCs Remedy
HPs Peregrine
Managed Objects
IBMs Enterprise Systems Manager
IBM MROs Maximo (TSD)
PeopleSofts Vantive
Change Management
Change Management
Change management is: any deliberate action which alters the
form, fit, or function of configuration items - typically an addition,
modification, movement, or deletion that impacts the IT
environment.
Change Management is responsible for controlling and
managing changes to the IT environment, from inception
through implementation and in some cases at the operational
stage.
A change is anything which alters the status of an IT element, or
in ITIL, a configuration item (CI).
Change Management goal is to ensure that standardized
methods and procedures are used for efficient handling of all
changes, in order to minimize the impact of change-related
incidents.
Change Management
Change Management workflow options include:

Recursive
The recursive workflow option includes those
changes that as the result of a rejection within a
workflow, where a portion of that workflow can be
reopened and reassigned. Changes that do not
meet certain criteria have the ability to be
reopened at a later date.
Change Management
Concurrent and multi branching

Concurrent workflows are those that are have automatic
closure of unused paths where an approval has multiple
paths, and unused paths can be closed by the system.
The unused paths can be automatically closed only after
agreement has been made by the change coordinator
and the customer.
Dependencies
Dependencies represent tasks and approvals that may be
dependent on other tasks and approvals being completed
beforehand, rather than having a simple linear workflow.
Change Management
Change Management
Benefits of Change Management Scheduling aspect

Minimize the risk of business continuity to IT services
Reduce number of incidents caused by changes to
none
Ensure accurate cost assessment of proposed
changes before approval
Allow technical changes at the rate required for
business need
Provide connection between business and the
supporting IT Infrastructure
Provide innovation opportunities for the business with a
supporting stable IT service
Change Management Responsibilities
Own and administer the change management process

documents
Coordinate change requirements
Audit change records for process compliance including
risk assessment
Coordinate change process and tool requirements
including customer specific elements
Administer as required user access to the
organizational standard change management tool
Change Management Responsibilities
Facilitate Change Management meeting and followups. Review and seek customers account approvals for
requested changes via the weekly change meeting
Analyze Change management standardized
operational reporting deliverables
Document action plans to resolve identified trends and
improve Change Service Levels
Provide ongoing Change process & tool training
Maintain Change Document Of Understanding
Change Management
Changes applications, infrastructure or both.
Establishing change windows during which changes may be
performed without negatively affecting projected availability or
SLA commitments
Enforcement of standard methods and procedures from request
for change through post implementation review
Establishing regular meetings and communication schedules to
evaluate proposed changes and schedules
Control and management of the implementation of those
changes that are subsequently approved
Maintenance of open channels of communications to promote
smooth transition when changes take place
Increased visibility and communication of changes to both
business and support staff.
Change Management Classification
Changes are classified by the following types:

Hardware Installations, removals, relocations or
modification of information technology processors and
peripherals
Software Modifications to the system operating code,
access methods
Applications
Network: Changes specifically related to the
installation or modifications of network components
Change Management Classification
Environment: Changes that involve the information

technology facilities.
Infrastructure: Changes that involve management
infrastructure components
Operations: Changes to operational procedures that
may affect systems availability or accessibility or
changes that may impact the normal, operational
delivery of a service.
Information : Changes that may be registered in order
to ensure the availability of specific services at special
times or changes performed by external parties
(De)Activation: all changes for activation or deactivation of service.
Hardware Change
The most frequent change is a hardware
change which can be one of many
including:
physical equipment move
physical configuration modification
new equipment installation
planned hardware maintenance (regular
reboots)
microcode changes (firmware)
Software Change
Software change which can be one of
many including:
release upgrade
new software installation
fixes to solve problems (including scripts and
integration code)
system parameters changes (configuration
changes)
Network Change
Network changes are usually performed
on a monthly basis, only because of their
impact to the entire enterprise. Some
examples include
Firewall changes
Port changes
Network device reboots
Network device configuration changes
Environment Change
Environment changes include the following
examples and seldom occur (usually
annually or bi-annually):
building modification
cooling system enhancement or maintenance
electrical power maintenance
cabling modifications
physical access protection modifications
Operation Change
Operations changes include the following
examples:
new or modified naming conventions and or
standards
new or modified logon procedures
operational procedures major modification
(disaster recovery plan, escalation, etc.)
new or modified automation routines
housekeeping jobs which affects the
availability (reorganizations, data set moves,
etc.)
Change Management
Classification of changes based on severity include:
Emergency Changes
Emergency changes are those that are vital to meeting a business need and cannot
conform to the normal change process, particularly the assessment and approval phases.
An emergency change must relate to the immediate or imminent resolution of a known
production incident where outage of a system, application, network or other service
component has occurred or potentially will occur.
An emergency change can be executed after approval of the appropriate management
representative, the change coordinator or the customer.
Exception Changes
Exception changes are changes that are vital to meeting a business need but cannot
conform to the normal change process, particularly lead times. While not required to be
installed immediately, an exception change cannot meet the lead time associated with the
proper risk analysis of the change.
In most cases, changes require at least one week lead time to allow for time to be reviewed
by the change coordinator, and also to be represented at the weekly change meeting.
Normal Changes
Finally, normal changes are changes that fully comply with the change process,
procedures and policies. These are also called planned changes.
Change Management Roles

Process Role
Executing Competency
Change Activator / Installer
Platform system engineer architect
Change Approver
Change team; Platform system engineer; service manager
Change Assessor
Change team; Platform system engineer; service manager
Change Assignee
Systems Management Expert
Change Controller
Change team
Change Coordinator
Platform system engineer (acting service manager); service

manager
Change Group Leader
Platform system engineer (team/change leader)
Change Requester
Platform system engineer (acting service manager); service

manager
Requester / Closer
Customer (CSC); Platform system engineer; Service

Manager
Change Scheduler
Change Team, Platform system engineer, Service Manager
Change Tester
Platform system engineer
Change Management Considerations

Lead Times
to ensure that there is sufficient time to handle the change in a proper
manner, e.g: Approval.
Escalation Policy
to provide additional attention and visibility to issues that have exceeded
predefined policy rules
Notification Policy
is to ensure the responsible role within the process is notified of the
occurrence of an event that requires further action by that role within the
process
Endorsement Policy
necessary where exceptional circumstances dictate that the normal
change process cannot be followed
Change Meetings
Changes executed and scheduled for customers are reviewed by the
service coordinator of the account together with the customer
Change Control
Everything should under control
Change Management
Change Management
Possible Infrastructure Service Interconnections with Change
Management include:
Configuration Management
Software Distribution
Call Management
Operations Management
Business Process Management
Resource Management (w/ Utility Computing)
Change Management
Possible Relationship Service Interconnections with Change
Management include:
Reporting Management
Request Management
Knowledge Management
Asset Management
Notification Management
Problem Management
Change Management
Change Management tool sampling
HPs Peregrine Service Center
Mercury Change Control Management (formerly Kintana)

BMC Remedy Change Management Application
BMCs Topology Discovery
Sunviews ChangeGear

04 Session 4-Problem&amp;Change Management

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Problem Management

Duration for resolution

Root cause analysis review meetings

Generate and post operational and management reports

Problem analysis and trend reporting, which lead to identifying common

End user reports

level l help desk

level l help desk

Dist Ops contacts project

If an event is closed in the BSM Tool, the Event Management Tool is

Do filtering, correlation, duplicate

By implementing the router/fault isolation algorithm

(All Servers &

Change Management workflow options include:

Concurrent and multi branching

Benefits of Change Management Scheduling aspect

Change Management Responsibilities

Own and administer the change management process

Change Management Responsibilities

Change Management Classification

Changes are classified by the following types:

Change Management Classification

Environment: Changes that involve the information

Change Management Roles

Change Activator / Installer

Platform system engineer architect

Change team; Platform system engineer; service manager

Change team; Platform system engineer; service manager

Systems Management Expert

Platform system engineer (acting service manager); service

Change Group Leader

Platform system engineer (team/change leader)

Platform system engineer (acting service manager); service

Customer (CSC); Platform system engineer; Service

Change Team, Platform system engineer, Service Manager

Platform system engineer

Change Management Considerations

Mercury Change Control Management (formerly Kintana)

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04 Session 4-Problem&Change Management

04 Session 4-Problem&Change Management