Data lookup for prioritizing problems

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated February 1, 2024
  • 1 minute to read
  • To follow ITIL guidelines, problem records are prioritized by the impact and urgency of the problem.

    Problem prioritization is available on new instances.

    On the problem form, users select values from the Impact and Urgency fields that determine which priority value is generated for the problem.

    Table 1. ITIL problem order
    Field Definition
    Impact Impact is a measure of the effect of an incident, problem, or change on business processes.
    Urgency Urgency is a measure of how long the resolution can be delayed until an incident, problem, or change has a significant business impact.
    Priority Priority is based on impact and urgency, and it identifies how quickly the service desk should address the task.

    Priority is calculated according to the following data lookup rules:

    Table 2. Priority Data lookup rules
    Impact Urgency Priority
    1 - High 1 - High 1 - Critical
    1 - High 2 - Medium 2 - High
    1 - High 3 - Low 3 - Moderate
    2 - Medium 1 - High 2 - High
    2 - Medium 2 - Medium 3 - Moderate
    2 - Medium 3 - Low 4 - Low
    3 - Low 1 - High 3 - Moderate
    3 - Low 2 - Medium 4 - Low
    3 - Low 3 - Low 5 - Planning

    By default, the Priority field is read-only and must be set by selecting the Impact and Urgency values. To change how the priority is calculated, you can either alter the priority lookup rules or disable the Priority is managed by Data Lookup - set as read-only UI policy and create their own business logic.

    In the Problem Priority Data Lookup [dl_problem_priority] table, you can modify the data lookup rules for the task priority.

    Work notes for problem priorities

    When you initially create and save a problem, the Work notes field is not mandatory. If you change the priority of the problem by selecting different Impact or Urgency values on a problem form that was saved, the Work notes field becomes mandatory.
    Note:
    This feature is available only in new instances starting with Jakarta or a later release. The Problem Management Best Practice – Jakarta plugin (com.snc.best_practice.problem.jakarta) plugin must be activate.