Incident Management Key Performance Indicators
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are useful for evaluating your Incident Management processes. To visualize trend information, it is useful to graph KPI data periodically. In addition to the data provided by Service Management, you may need additional tools to report on all of your KPI requirements.
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Percentage of incidents closed within Service Level Target time | The number of incidents that are closed within the Service Level Target time, relative to the number of all incidents closed, in a given time period. |
| Percentage of reopened incidents | The number of incidents closed that are reopened because the solution was not accepted by the customer, relative to the number of all incidents closed, in a given time period. |
| Backlog of incidents | The number of incidents that are not yet closed, in a given time period. |
| Total number of incidents | Total number of new reported incidents, in a given time period. |
These are common metrics, however, each standards organization has their own recommendations.
ITIL V3 KPIs
ITIL V3 recommends that you measure these performance indicators for Incident Management:
- Total number of incidents (as a control measure).
- Breakdown of incidents at each stage. For example, the number of incidents logged, work in progress, and closed.
- Size of current incident backlog.
- Number and percentage of major incidents.
- Mean elapsed time to achieve incident resolution or a workaround by impact.
- Percentage of incidents handled within the target response time. You can specify incident response-time targets using defined Service Level Targets.
- Average cost for each incident.
- Number of incidents reopened and as a percentage of the total.
- Number and percentage of incidents incorrectly assigned. Number and percentage of incidents incorrectly categorized.
- Number and percentage of incidents resolved remotely with no on-site visit required.
- Number of incidents handled by each incident model.
- Breakdown of incidents by time of day, which helps pinpoint peaks and ensure matching of resources.
COBIT 4.1 KPIs
COBIT 4.1 recommends that you measure these performance indicators:
- Percent of incidents resolved within the time period specified
- Percent of incidents reopened Average duration of incidents by severity
- Percent of incidents that require local support (field support or an on-site visit)
RACI Matrix KPIs
The Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed (RACI) matrix describes the roles and responsibilities of various teams or people in delivering a project or operating a process. RACI measures the performance indicators in the following table where:
- R=Responsible person
- A=Accountable person
- C=Consulted person
- I=Informed person
| Process ID | Activity | Incident Manager | Incident Coordinator | Incident Analyst | Incident Operator | Service Desk Agent | Service Desk Manager | User |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SO 2.1 |
Incident |
A | I | R | R | |||
| SO 2.2 | Incident Assignment | A | R | R | ||||
| SO 2.3 | Incident Investigation and Diagnosis | A | C/I | R | C/I | |||
| SO 2.4 | Incident Resolution and Recovery | A | C/I | R | ||||
| SO 2.5 |
Incident |
A | C/I | R | I | I | I | |
| SO 2.6 | Incident Escalation | R/A | R | I | ||||
| SO 2.7 | Service Level Targets | A/I | I | I | R | |||
| SO 2.8 | OLA and UC Monitoring | A/I | R | I | ||||
| SO 2.9 | Complaint Handling | A/I | R | C/I |
Useful incident fields
The following fields may also be useful in tracking your incident KPIs:
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First touch. Indicates that the record was resolved by the first owner, within the first hour. The First Touch flag is automatically set to true when the record is opened. It is set to false under the following circumstances:
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The OwnedByPerson field is changed from a non-blank value to another value.
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The ServiceDeskGroup field is changed from a non-blank value to another value.
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The AssignedGroup field is set to a non-blank value.
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The incident remains in the Resolution metaphase for more than one hour.
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First line. Indicates that the record was resolved by the first Service Desk assigned, without the need for any escalation. The First Line flag is automatically set to true when the record is opened. It is set to false under the following circumstances:
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The ServiceDeskGroup field is changed from a non-blank value to another value.
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The AssignedGroup field is set to a non-blank value.
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Source. Indicates the source of the incident.
- The default value of the field is Direct.
- When an incident is opened from a related change or request, the field is set to Change or Request respectively.
