Problemaufnahme

Problemaufnahme is a term used in German IT service management referring to the intake and documentation of reported problems into a problem management system. It serves as the initial phase of problem management, aiming to ensure consistent capture of issues and enable subsequent root cause analysis and permanent solutions.

It applies to internal IT operations, service desks, and development environments; sources include user reports, monitoring alerts, incident records, and automated detections. The goal is to collect sufficient data to assess impact, reproduce the issue, and determine priority.

Typical steps involve: receipt and recording of the problem with a descriptive title and symptoms; assignment of attributes such as affected service, component, environment, impact, and urgency; linking to related incidents and known errors; initial validation to exclude duplicates and determine if a workaround exists; prioritization based on impact and urgency; and escalation to problem management or technical teams for root cause analysis.

Outputs of Problemaufnahme include a formal problem record, a known error entry if applicable, and notes of any temporary workarounds. It also establishes a traceable history for later analysis and reporting, and serves as input for change management when a permanent fix requires changes to systems or processes.

In practice, organizations tailor the process to their tooling and governance. The term is common in German-speaking IT service contexts and is closely related to incident management, root cause analysis, known errors, and change management.