IT Incident Management Do’s and Don’ts

Featured article by Bernadine Racoma, Independent Technology

Creating an incident management system that works for your business is no mean feat. If you want to ensure the smooth running of your processes and quick recovery from incidents, then you should be taking into account the following do’s and don’ts.

Do Involve the Users

No one will know the pain points of the existing system like the users that interact with it on a daily basis. Involving them in the process of incident management is a great way to highlight issues that you may not have considered. They can provide information that you need to improve the existing processes, as well as the ones that come into play during an incident.

Continue to involve these users, especially in the wake of an incident. This gives them the opportunity to highlight anything that may have slipped through the cracks in terms of this management.

Do Define Best Practice

Defining the best practice for your system might seem idealistic but it can be greatly beneficial. This can include your service level expectations and what constitutes a priority for you. This will set out what you expect from the incident management process, as this is unique for every business.

Best practice is always a best case scenario, but by defining this you’re setting targets for normal functionality. This may change in the case of a major incident, in which escalation will kick in and shift the functions of the incident management team.

Don’t Ignore the Need for Improvement

If you’re involving your users and others in the organisation, then you should be ready to receive feedback. Implementing this will improve the entire process, both for the end user and for those manning the help desk. It can be difficult to take on board this feedback, but it’s essential for your processes.

Even those that are not technically minded can offer valuable insight into their experiences, which should be considered. Should you not find their contributions to be useful, you should still treat them with respect and consider their suggestions.

Don’t Underestimate the Timeframe

Implementing incident management processes isn’t a quick fix, so you have to account for the time it takes to set these up. Not only this, you also have to account for the time taken to introduce users to the new system and have it become part of their day to day role. For this to be effective, every user has to be comfortable with using each element of the process.

Bringing this system into a large organization can take a lot of resources. Make sure you’re investing in software that is user friendly enough to be picked up quickly by all members of staff. You can also identify those that may need additional training with the system, for example those that default to old reporting methods.

Each business is different in terms of what they need from an incident management platform, but these ground rules can help you to avoid the most general mistakes.