A problem may be detected from various sources. One of the sources could be proactive Problem Management where a potential problem has been identified through proactive monitoring. In most scenarios, whenever an incident is being resolved, if an existing workaround is not found, a problem is created for the issue. Often major incidents that require investigation are also sources of identifying a problem. In some scenarios problems can be identified on receiving a request from business to analyze certain issues. Sometimes, problems can also be identified by other service management processes like Event Management, etc.

Whenever a new incident is received, the Problem Management process is triggered to first look for an entry in the known error database (KEDB). If a Known Error Record can be identified or it is recognized that this problem is already within the Problem Management process, it should be reverted to Incident Management, else a new Problem Record must be created in the IT Service Management tool for further investigation and resolution.

For every newly created Problem Record, there must be a unique identifier in the IT Service Management tool which helps in fetching all the required information pertaining to a specific Problem Record. A cross-reference must be made to the incident(s) which initiated the Problem Record and all relevant details must be copied from the Incident Record(s) to the Problem Record.

A Problem Record should typically include the following list of required information:

• User detail
• Detailed description of problem
• Service details
• Equipment used
• Problem symptoms
• Category and Priority of the problem
• Date/time initially logged
• Business impact
• Service impact
• Affected hardware/software
• Affected location
• Incident description
• Incident record numbers or another cross-reference
• Details of all diagnostic or attempted recovery actions taken
• Effort spent on repetitive ticket resolution.

Once the Problem Record is logged in the IT Service Management tool, the Problem Manager must categorize and prioritize the problem based on their severity and impact on the business. In case, the problem is classified to be major, the agreed approach for the same must be taken.