Improving agility and efficiency using adaptive priority approach in IT service management A.B. Mogan and C. Omprakash

Practical GuidanceJune 2018

Contents1 ImprovingagilityandefficiencyusingadaptivepriorityapproachinITSM 03

2 Abouttheauthors 06

3 AboutAXELOS 07

4 Trademarksandstatements 07

02 Improving agility and efficiency using adaptive priority approach in IT service management AXELOS.COM

Improving agility and efficiency using adaptive priority approach in IT service management 03AXELOS.COM

1. Improving agility and efficiency using adaptive priority approach in ITSMThe primary goal of the incident management process is to restore normal service at the earliest opportunity. This minimizes the negative impact on business operations and resumes the appropriate level of service quality and availability. Developing a synergy between service management and network infrastructure is critical to improving operational efficiency and reducing costs. Assigning the appropriate priority to the incident and providing a timely solution is vital for minimizing service impact and improving customer satisfaction.

Incidents in the incident prioritization subprocess are logged with a priority-level based on the traditional comparison of impact vs. urgency. It is set by either the customer service representative (CSR) or an event management system, or a combination of both.

However, the traditional approach comes with its own set of drawbacks. Manual intervention and judgment can sometimes be erroneous, leading to a failure to identify the right priority for an incident. This can lead to poor service delivery and negative customer feedback.

This article discusses how to build an efficient incident prioritization model beyond the traditional approach.

1.1 Typical challenges with traditional ITSM systems and processes Difficulty in identifying the signal from the noise. Isolating service-impacting alarms is a major challenge. Increased non-

service-affecting alarms (noisy events) cause delays and visibility issues for service-affecting alarms, leading to customer dissatisfaction.

Difficulty in identifying the impact and number of affected customers. It is a real challenge to identify the actual number of end users affected by an incident. The existing monitoring tools are unable to provide essential information in real time or near real time.

High MTTR leads to high operational expense. More time is spent on identifying and isolating an issue than on fixing it. Hence, the higher mean time to resolve (MTTR) leads to higher operational cost.

With the exponential growth of incident volume, operational teams find it difficult to identify high-priority issues within the stipulated time frame. They face a real challenge in creating multiple tickets and follow-up emails. There is a constant need for an expert system that can automatically categorize, correlate and assign the appropriate severity to an incident.

1.2 Prioritization of incidents based on an advanced datasetA typical ITSM system determines the incident priority using the traditional method of a 3x3 impact vs. urgency matrix. Without a proper strategy for establishing the correct priority, it is difficult to meet service level agreements and trigger incident escalations appropriately.

One solution is to enrich the incident with an intelligent dataset. This can be the first step towards identifying the issue and resolving the incident.

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Business area

Service impact

Number of impacted customers

Service category

Key service Impact Urgency Priority

Residential Local 0-500 DTV Tier 2 4-Minor/Localized

Low Low

IT Urban 501-5000 CRM Tier 2 2-Significant/Large

Medium Medium

IT Regional 5001-50000 Billing Tier 1 1-Extensive/Widespread

High High

B2B Multiple countries

50001-999999999

Customer-facing mail B2B

Tier 1 1-Extensive/Widespread

Critical Critical

Figure 1.1 Sample dataset used for an adaptive priority identification

The new adaptive priority model considers a variety of business-critical factors, such as:

Customer segment affected

Service impacted

Number of customers affected

Service category

Business category

Type of service affected.

These factors automatically identify and assign the right priority to an incident. Enriching every incident with additional intelligent data helps in effective root cause mapping. A prioritization scheme can help the service desk to stabilize their day-to-day operation and make it proactive and more agile.

Table 1.1 Prioritization scheme

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1.3 Benefits of an adaptive incident priority modelImproving service availability: The correct prioritization approach can help the real-time impact assessment and the quick resolution of tickets, which improves service availability. Using an adaptive priority model in incident and problem management processes helps to reduce the average number of P1 and P2 tickets.

Improving system productivity: In any IT organization, the correct prioritization model plays a vital role in effective and efficient utilization of human resources while maintaining stringent SLAs. This results in increased agility and efficiency, leading to increased customer satisfaction.

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2. About the authorsOmprakash C, Technical Architect, ITSM Delivery, Prodapt Solutions.

Technical architect with more than 14 years of IT experience, specialized in the implementation of ITSM solutions like BMC Remedy, ServiceNow & IBM SCCD/Maximo. Successfully led many ITSM implementations, development, consolidation and transformation projects across various industries.

Mogan A.B., Manager, Strategic Insights & Thought Leadership, Prodapt Solutions.

ITIL v3, ITIL® intermediate certified presales professional with more than 9 years of IT experience. Successfully handled various roles in solution designing, consulting, solution integration and development, and has strong ITSM solution implementation knowledge. Proven expertise in building & delivering actionable insights on robotic process automation (RPA), AI & Machine learning, O/BSS, advanced correlation, and ITSM.

Improving agility and efficiency using adaptive priority approach in IT service management 07AXELOS.COM

3. About AXELOSAXELOS is a joint venture company co-owned by the UK Government’s Cabinet Office and Capita plc.

It is responsible for developing, enhancing and promoting a number of best practice methodologies used globally by professionals working primarily in project, programme and portfolio management, IT service management and cyber resilience.

The methodologies, including ITIL®, PRINCE2®, MSP® and the new collection of cyber resilience best practice products, RESILIA®, are adopted in more than 150 countries to improve employees’ skills, knowledge and competence in order to make both individuals and organizations work more effectively.

In addition to globally recognized qualifications, AXELOS equips professionals with a wide range of content, templates and toolkits through the CPD aligned AXELOS Membership and our online community of practitioners and experts.

Visit www.AXELOS.com for the latest news about how AXELOS is ‘Making organizations more effective’ and registration details to join AXELOS’ online community. If you have specific queries, requests or would like to be added to the AXELOS mailing list please contact Ask@AXELOS.com.

4. Trade marks and statementsAXELOS®, the AXELOS swirl logo®, ITIL®, PRINCE2®, PRINCE2 Agile®, MSP®, M_o_R®, P3M3®, P3O®, MoP®, MoV® and RESILIA® are registered trade marks of AXELOS Limited. All rights reserved.

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About this Practical Guidance This paper explores the challenges of using traditional ITSM systems and processes and puts forward the benefits of using an adaptive incident priority model.