ITIL Problem Management Question

[A[L]C]

Hi all,

We are currently introducing problem management in our organisation so our use at this point is limited.

We have identified that the security permissions on our file server are a mess and need to be changed. Should this be categorised as a 'problem'?

What are your thoughts?

 

[A[L]C]

Yeah wasn't sure where it would best fit tbh

 

[A[L]C]

It was identified by the datacentre team, so no users have logged an incident.

However ITIL says

"The unknown root cause of one or more existing or potential Incidents. Problems may sometimes be identified because of multiple Incidents that exhibit common symptoms. Problems can also be identified from a single significant Incident, indicative of a single error, for which the cause is unknown. Occasionally Problems will be identified well before any related Incidents occur."

It does however specifically say 'the unknown root cause'. In this example we know the root cause which leads me to think it's not a 'problem'.

edit: Actually, that's the V2 definition. The v3 is even more woolly

"A cause of one or more Incidents. The cause is not usually known at the time a Problem Record is created, and the Problem Management Process is responsible for further investigation."

 

[A[L]C]

Thanks for the opinions. I've been given the role of major incident and problem manager (with no previous experience of problem management). At the moment the senior managers seem to be classifying everything as a 'problem' so they can move the responsibility over to me.

 

[A[L]C]

Yes it's a problem even if it hasn't caused any incidents yet. You should assign a problem manager and tasks to individual people/teams with target dates. Off the top of my head the activities would need to include:

Determine correct permissions / new standards

Review server estate to determine if they meet the standards and amend server permissions if required.

Review server commissioning process to ensure future servers adhere to the new standard

Review whether the "mess" has resulted in leaked permissions or leaked data and remediate them.

Interesting, thank you. I'm not a fan of the v3 definition

 

[A[L]C]

Senior management have now deemed this as a major incident so its back on my radar