Use > Problem Management > Problem Management overview > Problem Management phases > Problem Control overview > Phase 2: Categorization

Phase 2: Categorization

After you create the problem record, the problem classification process begins. Classification identifies relationships, urgency, assesses the impact on the customer's business service, determines priority, and assigns the problem to a specialist or support group. Problem classification is an important activity because it identifies the relationships that the problem has with other services provided, and assesses the amount of effort required to research the problem and recover from it.

Categorize the problem

Problem Management has four categorization levels that refine the problem description. Statistical analysis of problems enables you to spot trends and identify areas that need further analysis. The categories are:

  • Category
  • Area
  • Subarea
  • Problem Type

For example, there are 10 out-of-box categories for Configuration Items. If the Category is problem, the Area is failure, and the Subarea is job failed, there are seven different problem Types that you can choose. This refinement provides data for trend analysis.

Classify the problem

Classification determines how much effort is necessary to restore the Configuration Items to service and return the user to full functionality. Classification is a subjective assessment based on impact, urgency, and priority. Each has a numeric assignment.

Classification Description Possible values
Impact The potential business vulnerability. There is no global value; each business must set its own impact criteria. 1 – Enterprise
2 – Site/Dept
3 – Multiple Users
4 – User
Urgency How soon the problem must be resolved to avoid business consequences. It identifies the amount of time that you have to avert or reduce the impact of the problem on customers. 1 – Critical
2 – High
3 – Average
4 – Low
Priority How an individual problem fits into the ongoing sequence of problem resolution. Indicates when a problem can be addressed. Determining the priority of a single problem depends on how many problems need attention, the risk of delay, and the resources to fix the problem. Summarizes the assessment of urgency plus impact on customers. 1 – Critical
2 – High
3 – Average
4 – Low

Problem Management calculates priority to be the average of Impact plus Urgency. Fractional results round to the lower number. For example, if the Impact is 4 and the Urgency is 3, the Priority is 3.

Problem record information

Problem records are usually linked to incident records and contain some of the same information. As the problem moves through successive phases, you should add information about the solution, workaround, and link to the known error record. There are two ways to create a problem record:

  • Open a related problem record from an existing incident record. The required information from the incident record automatically populates the problem record.
  • Open a problem record directly. You must provide all required information.

The problem record includes the following information.

Field Required? Description
Title Yes Title of the problem.
Description Yes Summary of the problem.
Affected Service Yes The service that is affected by the problem.
Status No Categorize, Assigned, Work in Progress, or Closed.
Problem ID Yes System-generated problem record number with a PM prefix.
Phase No The current workflow phase of the problem.
Target Resolution Date No Date promised to the customer. All subordinate tasks to resolve the problem must have due dates that do not exceed this date.
Primary CI No Click Fill to select the primary hardware or software resource affected.
Affected CI Count No A system-generated count of the number of CIs affected by the outage. The count does not include the Primary CI. Affected CI count is based on the number of items entered in the Assessment section. It is calculated based on what is in the Assessment section in the Affected CIs table.
The information in this field is read-only.
Category Yes This field is prepopulated with the value "problem".
Area Yes This field is prepopulated with data from an escalated incident. Service Manager displays different lists of areas depending on the category you selected.
Subarea Yes This field is prepopulated with data from an escalated incident. Service Manager displays different lists of subareas depending on the area you selected.
Problem Source No

The source of the problem. Click the drop-down list to choose one of these values:
1 – User
2 – Event
3 – Group
4 – Incident

Contact Information No If the problem is created from an interaction, this field is populated with the value in the corresponding field in the interaction record.
Related incident Count No Problem Management calculates the number of related incidents.
The information in this field is read-only.
Impact Yes A numeric value that measures the potential business vulnerability of the customer. It may reflect the effect on related agreements or expected service levels. Click the drop-down list to choose one of these values:
1 – Enterprise
2 – Site/Dept
3 – Multiple Users
4 – User
Urgency No A numeric value that measures how soon the problem must be resolved to avoid business consequences. Click the drop-down list to choose one of these values:
1 – Critical
2 – High
3 – Average
4 – Low
Priority No How soon the problem needs resolution, based on impact and urgency. The values are:
1 – Critical
2 – High
3 – Average
4 – Low
The information in this field is read-only. Problem Management calculates Priority based on the Impact and Urgency values that you choose.
Root Cause Description Yes Detailed description of the problem.
Assignment Group Yes The group tasked with resolving the problem.
Problem Coordinator Yes Click Fill to select a problem coordinator.
Major Problem No When checked, indicates that the problem is a major problem, and a Problem Manager field appears. In addition, the Major Problem Review tab appears in the problem record, and the Review phase becomes mandatory.
Attachments section No Click Add File... to attach a document to the problem.
Related Records section No Service Manager automatically populates the table entry with related record information.
Workflow section No Graphic representation of the Problem Management workflow for the current record.

Note To open a problem record, your operator record security profile must include the Open privilege. The SysAdmin capability word includes this privilege.

Searching for a Configuration Item

You cannot proceed to the Error Control phase from the problem Control phase unless you specify a Configuration Item (CI) in the problem record. If you omit the CI initially, Problem Management prompts you for it when you attempt to open a known error record. Problem Management transfers the primary CI information in the problem record to the known error record. If the CI that caused the issue is an associated CI, you must make it the primary CI in the problem record, or edit the CI information in the known error record.

When you search for a CI from a problem form, There are three check boxes that add criteria to the query: CI Down, Critical CI, and Pending change. Service Manager logical fields (check boxes) can have four values: true, false, null, and unknown. If you do not select a checkbox, it has a null value and any query ignores it. If you select the checkbox, it has a value of true. If you clear the checkbox, it has a value of false.

When you search for a CI, ensure that you consider these possible checkbox values when you construct your query.

Problems with multiple Configuration Items

If a problem affects more than one Configuration Item (CI), you must repeat the steps in the Investigation phase for each CI. Problem Management enables you to open a separate task for each CI and assign an owner to complete the Investigation activities for the CI. As you open each task, Problem Management automatically links the individual task record to the main problem record.