Activity: 05.04 - Diagnose Root Cause
The main objective of this activity is to identify the underlying root cause and arrive at a work around to restore the service as soon as possible using various investigation and analytical techniques. The documented root cause analysis is further investigated to arrive at a permanent solution.
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Description

Root Cause Analysis defines the activity to be undertaken to identify the cause underlying the problem. The Problem Assignee, in partnership with technical specialists from Delivery Team, must undertake a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to identify the underlying reason of the problem.

Root cause can equate to:

  • The factor that caused a problem or defect and should be permanently eliminated
  • The factor that set-in motion the cause and effect chain that creates a problem
  • The “true” reason that contributed to the creation of a problem, defect or non-conformance.

The results of the root cause investigation should be formally documented. Once the Root Cause Analysis is completed, actions are identified to address the underlying problem. The actions can be either corrective, immediate (workaround, permanent action (on the affected process or technology configuration items), and preventive (on any process or technology configuration items).

The Problem Record and the known error database must be updated with these details, so that if the same problem happens in future, the service can be restored as quickly as possible.