Use case description

The "Processing Incidents" use case outlines the crucial steps involved in processing and analyzing incidents. While the use case mainly includes actions for the Service Desk Agent, the end user has an important role in providing further information to the Service Desk Agent. 

Example scenario

Imagine a scenario where a business application experiences an ongoing outage. To address the issue, an incident has been raised to notify the Service Desk personnel of the issue. The Service Desk personnel then begins processing the incident to work towards finding a resolution.

Use case diagram

Workflow

1. The ticket is assigned to a support group and support person.
   1. A Quickfill can optionally be used for setting the support group and the support person.
2. The ticket is categorized by defining a "Service".
   1. The end user may have provided initial "Service and Category" information if the Efecte self-service portal was used for creating the incident. 
   2. A Quickfill can be optionally used for setting the category.
   3. Target response and target resolution times are calculated automatically for the ticket based on the SLA. The Service determines the SLA. In the case of several applicable SLAs, the strictest SLA is used for calculating the target times. 
3. The ticket priority is defined by changing the value of the attribute "Priority". 
   1. A Quickfill can be optionally used for setting the priority.
4. Assets are linked to the ticket. Assets can also have been selected in the Efecte self-service by the End user.   
5. The ticket is analyzed, and recovery actions are started, if possible.
   1. The support person adds the analysis results as comments to the ticket.
   2. If needed, the support person sends a Request for Information (RFI) by email directly from the ticket to the end user.
   3. The support person receives a response from the end user by email directly to the ticket.
   4. The support person starts recovery actions if possible.

Results

• The ticket information is complete: assigned, categorized, prioritized, and analyzed. This allows the Support person to start working on a resolution to the incident.
  • When a Service is selected for a ticket, a Service level agreement with business hours is linked to the incident. This enables the calculation of both a Response target time and a Resolution target time for the incident.
• If necessary, the customer is requested to provide additional information, and they have provided a response with the requested details.
• Incident recovery actions have been started.  

Benefits

• Prioritization ensures the incident is processed and resolved with appropriate priority in relation to other incidents. 
• Categorization benefits in several ways:
  • Incident categorization ensures that each incident is correctly identified and directed to the appropriate team or technician for resolution. This saves time and increases the efficiency of the incident management process. 
  • Better Communication: Incident categorization helps to standardize communication between IT teams, allowing them to use a common language when discussing incidents. This facilitates collaboration and helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page. 
  • Accurate Reporting: Incident categorization enables the accurate tracking and reporting of incidents, which helps IT teams to identify patterns, trends, and areas where they can improve their services. For instance, analyzing the frequency and scope of business application incidents can help to direct attention toward software asset management and operational processes. This helps IT teams identify improvement areas and implement strategies to enhance their services.
• The information entered at this phase can be used to analyze similar issues in the future, either by using the AI-based Efecte Virtual Coach or by manually finding the ticket.