🔍 Life cycle of an incident in ServiceNow
- The lifecycle of an incident in ServiceNow involves a series of stages that an incident record progresses through from creation to closure. The general flow typically includes the following stages:
1. Incident Logging/Creation:
- An incident is reported and recorded in ServiceNow. This can happen through various channels like:
Self-Service Portal, Email, Phone Calls, Automated Monitoring, Integration
- Key information like the affected user, description of the issue, and impact might be captured at this stage.
- The incident is usually assigned an initial state of New.
2. Categorization:
- The incident is categorized and sub-categorized to classify the type of issue. This helps in routing the incident to the appropriate team and for reporting purposes.
- Categorization can be done automatically based on keywords or manually by the user or agent.
3. Prioritization:
- The incident is prioritized based on its impact (the extent of the issue and potential damage) and urgency (how quickly the issue needs to be resolved).
- Priority levels (e.g., Critical, High, Medium, Low) determine the Service Level Agreement (SLA) targets for response and resolution.
4. Assignment:
- The incident is assigned to an individual or a group (Assignment Group) who has the expertise to resolve the issue.
- Assignment can be done automatically based on categorization rules or manually by a service desk agent or manager.
5. Investigation and Diagnosis:
- The assigned agent or team investigates the incident to understand the root cause and identify a solution.
- This may involve gathering more information from the user, performing diagnostic tests, or consulting knowledge bases.
- The incident state is often set to In Progress at this stage.
6. Resolution:
- A solution is implemented to resolve the incident and restore the affected service.
- The agent documents the steps taken to resolve the issue.
- The incident state is typically changed to Resolved.
7. Closure:
- Once the incident is resolved, it needs to be formally closed. This usually involves:
Verification:
- Confirming with the user that the issue is resolved and they are satisfied.
Closure:
- Setting the incident state to Closed. This can be done manually by the agent or automatically after a certain period if no further issues are reported by the user.
- Before closure, there might be an On Hold state if the resolution is pending user feedback, a change request, a problem investigation, or a vendor action. The SLA clock is usually paused when an incident is in the On Hold state.
- Sometimes, there might be a Pending Closure state before the final Closed state.
Additional States that might be used:
Assigned:
- The incident has been assigned to a specific technician.
Awaiting User Info:
- The incident is waiting for more information from the user.
Awaiting Change:
- The resolution requires a change request to be implemented.
Awaiting Problem:
- The incident is linked to a problem record for root cause analysis.
Awaiting Vendor:
- The resolution depends on an external vendor.
👉 Key aspects of the Incident Lifecycle:
➡ Service Level Agreements (SLAs):
- SLAs define the target times for different stages of the incident lifecycle (e.g., time to respond, time to resolve) based on the priority of the incident.
➡ Notifications:
- ServiceNow can send notifications to users and agents at various stages of the incident lifecycle to keep them informed of the progress.
➡ Automation:
- Workflows and business rules can automate many aspects of the incident lifecycle, such as routing, assignment, and notifications.
➡ Reporting and Analytics:
- Tracking the progress of incidents through their lifecycle provides valuable data for reporting on key metrics like Mean Time To Resolution (MTTR) and SLA compliance.
➡ Continuous Improvement:
- Analyzing incident data and the incident management process helps identify areas for improvement.
- Understanding the incident lifecycle in ServiceNow is crucial for IT teams to manage service disruptions effectively, meet service level targets, and ensure user satisfaction. The flexibility of the ServiceNow platform allows organizations to tailor the incident lifecycle to their specific needs and processes.