Define the general problem

What product messages or IMS messages were issued before and after the problem occurred (for example, Job Log, Control Region, and Dependent Region)?

Are any system completion codes (ABEND) issued that explain why the system abnormally terminated the product?

Are there circumstances that caused the problem? Circumstances which might be useful information needed to diagnose the problem include

• Starting and stopping a message region

• Peak system stress

• Other system component failure

Has software maintenance been applied to any software components?

Is the problem affecting one or more of the following entities?

• Particular system

• DBD

• Area

• PSB/transaction

How often does the problem occur? Is the problem intermittent or continuous?

If the problem is in another vendor’s product, and Fast Path Offline Suite products might be involved, are any other software vendors such as IBM working on the problem? If so, what is the ETR number or who is the other vendor contact?