Problems and service requests

Problems

In ITIL, a problem is the cause, or possible cause, of one or more incidents. Incidents get the service back; problem management stops them happening again.

1. Raise a case with Case Type Problem. The process bar becomes Log and Classify, Diagnose, Resolve, Close.
2. Link the incidents it caused: set their Parent Case to the problem.
3. In Diagnose, record the Root Cause and a Workaround that gets people working meanwhile. Once you know both, set Known Error to Yes: agents find it in Cases > Known Errors and can give the workaround straight away.
4. When the permanent fix is in, resolve the problem with what was changed.

Find them in Cases > Open Problems and Known Errors.

Service requests

A service request asks for something already on offer: a new starter's laptop, access to a system, a password reset. Some need someone's approval first.

1. Raise a case with Case Type Service Request. The process bar becomes Log and Classify, Approve, Fulfil, Close. Approval starts as Not Needed.
2. If it needs approval, set Approval to Awaiting Approval and name the Approver. It shows in Cases > Requests Awaiting Approval.
3. Record the answer: Approved, then fulfil it and resolve it with what was done; or Rejected, then cancel it.

A request awaiting approval cannot be resolved, and a rejected one cannot be resolved either: the app says so and asks you to record the approval or cancel the request.