problemmanagement

Problem management is a discipline within information technology service management (ITSM) that focuses on the lifecycle of problems—the underlying causes of incidents—and on preventing incidents or minimizing their impact on business services. Its objective is to identify root causes, eliminate recurring incidents, or implement workarounds to restore service faster and reduce disruption.

It differs from incident management, which concentrates on restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible after an incident. Problem management begins with detecting problems, often triggered by major incidents or by trend analysis of recurring incidents. It then involves logging and classifying problems, prioritizing them, performing root cause analysis, and determining appropriate remedies, including workarounds. When a permanent solution requires change, coordination with change management is carried out, and records are created or updated in the Problem Management database and Known Error Database with documentation for future reference.

Key outputs include Problem Records and Known Error Records, which document root causes, workarounds, and proposed fixes. The process may conclude with a permanent solution implemented through changes, or with the closure of a problem if no further benefit is expected. Proactive problem management uses data such as incident trends, event management, and service metrics to identify potential problems before they cause incidents.

Roles commonly involved include a Problem Manager who oversees the lifecycle, supported by technical experts and interfaces with Incident Management, Change Management, and the Configuration Management System. Metrics used to assess effectiveness include the number of problems detected, time to root cause, recurrence reduction, and the impact on incident frequency and service availability.