Process User Training: Problem Management
This is the second blog in a multi-part series on our customizable ITSM Process User training. The first blog in the series covered the Process User Incident Management training and this blog will cover Problem Management on the Now Platform. Ensuring that process users are fully trained is critical to the success of your business. The training we create is customized according to your specific implementation of a ServiceNow application and can be delivered in many formats, matching your enablement strategy. This training is available On Demand on Now Learning as non-individualized learning experiences but can also be customized and delivered to your specifications.
Problem Management on the Now Platform
The goal of Problem Management is to minimize service disruptions by proactively analyzing service performance trends and configuration, speed up service restoration by publishing known errors and workarounds for all IT staff to use and accelerate root cause resolution with structured problem analysis and by correlating problems with recent service activities.
This path and all courses within are targeted to the process user. These courses provide an overview of the problem management lifecycle and the activities performed during each phase of the lifecycle. Included are demonstrations performed on an out-of-box Now Platform instance. Courses describe performing root cause analysis, creating a problem record, associating related records, proposing workarounds, and accepting or rejecting a problem fix. The path concludes by discussing conditions for closing a problem record.
In these courses, you will learn to locate the Problem application and describe the high-level functions of each module, understand the key stages and activities in the lifecycle of a typical problem investigation and use the Now Platform to create, update, and close a problem record.
These courses demonstrate Process User procedures performed on an out-of-box configuration of the Now Platform with little to no custom configuration, your actual platform configuration will vary with the needs of your organization.
This course introduces the Problem Management lifecycle, the purpose of each stage, and the major activities performed during each stage. Also included are a description of typical problem management stakeholders and a tour of the Problem Management application. In this course, you will learn to locate the Problem application and describe the high-level functions of each module, understand the key stages and activities in the lifecycle of a typical problem investigation and describe how each type of stakeholder interacts with the problem management process.
Problem Management: Create and Assess
This course demonstrates how to create a new problem record and record all relevant problem details. Activities addressed include creating a problem, receiving a problem and assigning assessment, checking for duplicates, associating incidents, flagging a major problem, starting SLA clocks and documenting and communicating a workaround. After completing this training, you should be able to list the activities performed during this stage of the problem management lifecycle and name the two States typical of a problem record in this stage.
Problem Management: Perform Root Cause Analysis
This course includes a description and demonstration of the activities to support the identification of the root cause of a problem. Activities addressed include creating a root cause analysis task, creating general tasks, receiving and assigning tasks, assessing, working and completing tasks, updating problems with analysis findings and creating known error knowledge articles. After completing this training you will be able to identify the State of a problem record after the problem has been confirmed as well as complete all the activities previously mentioned.
Problem Management: Apply Fix or Accept Risk
This course addresses the criteria for choosing whether or not to implement a fix, and who is authorized to accept risk for a problem. This course includes a demonstration of creating a change record from a problem record. After completing this training you will be able to identify the Problem Management stakeholders who have permissions to accept risk for a problem record, identify the correct resolution code to use when accepting risk and identify the State of a problem for which a fix has been started.
Problem Management: Resolve and Close
This course covers what happens when a problem has been resolved, the resolution can be validated, and the record closed. This course addresses how problem records are managed, and solutions recorded and communicated. After completing this training you will be able to identify the State of a resolved problem record, list three reasons to re-analyze a problem, name the State of a problem record that is being re-analyzed and identify which stakeholders have the ability to validate and resolve a problem record.
What’s Next?
In the next entry in this series, I will cover the Request Management training that can be accessed on Now Learning or customized and delivered to your specifications by our Custom Training team. Training packages scale from a small group of process users or internal trainers to thousands of process users spread across the globe. Training is delivered via various formats including in‑person, virtual, on‑demand, and train‑the‑trainer. To receive information on tailoring this training to your needs please contact trainingae@servicenow.com.
