Problem Management
Problem management identifies root causes behind recurring incidents, reducing repeat disruption and improving long-term service stability.
Don Francis
Problem Manager
As a Problem Manager, I focus on stopping repeat incidents by understanding what really went wrong, not just closing tickets. I prioritise investigations, coordinate technical and business stakeholders, and make sure root causes are addressed so the same failure does not keep coming back. I also maintain known errors and workarounds so service can stay stable while lasting fixes are delivered.
Problem management in ITIL 4 is the practice of reducing the likelihood and impact of incidents by identifying root causes, managing workarounds, and initiating actions to remove those causes over time.
The goal of problem management is to:
- eliminate recurring incidents and reduce incident volume
- improve service reliability and customer experience
- make root cause and workaround information visible and usable
- feed learning into change and improvement activity
Problem investigation and known errors
These examples illustrate how structured problem records, proportionate root cause analysis, and clear ownership reduce repeat outages and shorten recovery when issues do recur. They show how problem work connects incident data, change, and service improvement.
