Introduction to NonStop Operations Management

Problem Management
Introduction to NonStop Operations Management–125507
6-8
Step 2—Gathering the Facts and Reporting the
Problem
Following are suggestions for problem reporting requirements:
•
Develop a standard online or hard-copy problem report form to log problems.
Require that all problems be documented with this form. The form should record the
facts about the problem and the facts about the situation surrounding the problem.
Facts about the problem include what happened, where, when, and the magnitude of
the problem. Facts about the situation include:
•
Who reported the problem
•
How critical the situation is
•
What events led up to the problem
•
What recent changes might have caused or contributed to the problem
•
What information the event messages, error logs, and memory dumps provide
•
What the current hardware and software configuration is (for example, release
levels and product numbers)
Keeping detailed records can be tedious; however, it saves your staff time and effort.
Detailed records help you and your staff determine the cause of a problem, ensure
that all identified problems are resolved, determine if procedures need to be
improved, and identify recurring problems in order to eliminate the problems or to
resolve the problems more quickly.
Figure 6-2 illustrates a sample problem report form.
•
Create and maintain an outage log. Outage logs provide a useful tool for tracking
outages. They provide an accurate assessment of system availability and can be used
for trend analysis, to set and maintain service-level objectives, and to determine
improvement areas. For example, improvements could include operator training,
change management, operational tools and utilities, or additional system software or
hardware.
Section 4, “Operations Documentation,” provides guidelines for creating and
maintaining outage logs.
•
Designate the people responsible for logging problems. For example, you could
require that all problems found by operators be logged in an operator log, and all
problems encountered by users be logged by help-desk operators.
•
Train the staff and users on problem reporting procedures. Everyone needs to
understand fully how the problem reporting system functions in order for you to
create a smooth flow of work.