Mastering Stability: A Guide to Problem Management in BMC Helix ITSM
In the fast-paced world of IT service management, firefighting is often seen as a badge of honor. But if you’re constantly putting out the same fires, you aren’t just a hero – you’re stuck in a loop. That’s where Problem Management in BMC Helix ITSM comes in.
While Incident Management focuses on restoring service as quickly as possible (the “band-aid”), Problem Management is the “surgery” that identifies the root cause to prevent issues from coming back.
Here is a classic example I heard about years ago: Every so often, developers would complain that the machines in their lab were slow. After a bit, they sped up again, so the incidents were closed. But then the Problem Managers took a look at it – and found out that the slowdown happened on Wednesday afternoons, when the virus checker update was running. They moved the update to the weekend (using Change Management), to a time when fewer people were working, and the complaints stopped. That’s what Problem Management does.
The Problem Management Lifecycle
- Identification: Problems are identified through recurring incidents, major system failures, or proactive trend analysis within the Helix dashboard.
- Classification: Like incidents, problems are categorized and prioritized based on impact and urgency.
- Investigation & Diagnosis: This is the “detective” phase. Teams use Root Cause Analysis (RCA) tools to pinpoint exactly what went wrong.
- Workaround Creation: If a permanent fix takes time – or if a decision is made not to implement the permanent fix due to costs or other factors – a workaround is documented in the knowledge base so Service Desk agents can help users immediately.
- Resolution: A formal change request is often initiated to implement a permanent fix.
- Closure: Once verified, the problem record is closed.
Best Practices for Success
- Don’t over-complicate the RCA. Not every minor glitch needs a 10-page post-mortem. Focus your Problem Management energy on high-impact “Major Problems” or high-frequency “Nuisance Problems.”
- Link, Don’t Duplicate: Always link incidents to the parent Problem Record. This provides a clear picture of the total business impact.
- Collaborate Across Silos: Use the social collaboration features in Helix to loop in developers or vendors directly within the ticket.
- Measure What Matters: Track your Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR) for problems and, more importantly, the reduction in recurring incidents.
The Bottom Line
Problem Management in BMC Helix ITSM transforms your IT department from a reactive cost center into a proactive, value-driven machine. By shifting focus from “What happened?” to “Why did it happen?”, you ensure a smoother experience for your users and a quieter night for your on-call engineers.
Ready to stop firefighting? Start by auditing your top three recurring incidents this month and logging them as Problems in Helix. Your future self will thank you.
See this video for information on how to log a problem record:
And for full documentation – https://docs.bmc.com/xwiki/bin/view/Service-Management/IT-Service-Management/BMC-Helix-ITSM-Service-Desk/servicedesk261/Managing-problem-investigations-and-known-errors/
As always, contact [email protected] for more information.