Configuring incident priority and weight ranges

When configuring BMC Helix ITSM: Service Desk, the system administrator assigns numerical weights to each Impact category and each Urgency level.

When the person creating the incident ticket selects the Impact and the Urgency level for an incident, Incident Management adds the numerical weights together to calculate the Priority, such as Critical. For example, consider the following system, which is configured as described below:

• The Impact category of Significant/Large is configured with a weight value of 5.
• The Impact category of Minor/Localized is configured with a weight value of 1.
• The Urgency level of Critical is configured with a weight value of 20.
• The Priority of Critical is assigned to any combination of Impact and Urgency that equals 25.

In this system, any time that an incident ticket is created with an Impact of Significant/Large and an Urgency of Critical, the system automatically assigns the Priority of Critical because the combined weight of Impact and Urgency equals 25. If, however, an incident ticket is created with an Impact of Minor/Localized and an Urgency of Critical, the Priority is not set to Critical because the combined value of Impact and Urgency is 21. In this case, the Priority assigned to the incident depends on how the administrator configured the system to assign a Priority based on a calculated value of 21.

You can make changes to individual global values. To make a change for a specific company, however, you must create a complete set of values, weight ranges, and prioritization formulas for the company.

To configure impact values

The impact values map the four levels of impact to numerical impact weights. You can set the impact weight for each of the four levels of impact. A complete set of global values are installed with Incident Management.

After you change the weight for an impact level, you must reselect the impact in each of the applicable prioritization formulas. For details, see To configure incident prioritization below.

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Incident Management > Advanced Options > Priority and Weight Ranges - Impact Values, and then click Open. 

3. In the Incident Impact form, search for the impact value, and then open it.
   The following graphic displays how you can configure incident impact.

   

4. To create a new value for a specific company, perform the following tasks.
   1. Select the company to which this impact value applies.
   2. Select the appropriate impact. For example, if the incident is causing major disruptions to the infrastructure for your entire company, you might select 1-Extensive/Widespread. If the incident is affecting one person and that person can still work, you might select 4-Minor/Localized.
5. Enter the appropriate impact weight.
   If the Impact is 1-Extensive/Widespread, you will give it a higher impact number than if the Impact is 4-Minor/Localized.
6. In the Description field, enter a descriptive note.
7. Click Save.

To configure urgency values

The urgency values map the four levels of urgency to numerical urgency weights. You can set the urgency weight for each of the four levels of impact. A complete set of urgency values is installed with Incident Management.

After you change the weight for an urgency level, you must reselect the urgency in each of the applicable prioritization formulas. For details, see To configure incident prioritization below.

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Incident Management > Advanced Options > Priority and Weight Ranges - Urgency Values, and then click Open.

3. In the Incident Urgency form, search for the appropriate urgency, and then open it.
   The following graphic displays how you can configure incident urgency.

   

4. To create a new value for a specific company, perform the following actions:
   1. Select the company to which this urgency value applies.
   2. Select the appropriate urgency.
5. Type or select the appropriate urgency weight.
6. In the Description field, enter a descriptive note.
7. Click Save.

To configure weight ranges

The weight ranges determine the descriptive priority (such as Critical) displayed on the Incident form. A complete set of priority weight ranges is installed with Incident Management.

After you change a weight range, you must reselect the impact and urgency in each of the applicable prioritization formulas. For details, see To configure incident prioritization below.

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Incident Management > Advanced Options > Priority and Weight Ranges - Weight Ranges, and then click Open.
3. In the Incident Priority Weight Ranges form, search for the appropriate weight range, and then open it. 
4. To create a new priority weight range for a specific company, perform the following actions:
   1. Select the company to which this priority weight range applies.
   2. Select the priority for which you are defining the weight range: Critical, High, Medium, or Low.
5. In the Priority Weight Range area, enter or select the lower and upper ends of the weight range as Priority Weight Range 1 and Priority Weight Range 2.
6. In the Description field, enter a descriptive note.
7. Click Save.
8. Repeat this procedure to define the weight range for each of the four priorities.

To configure incident prioritization

The Incident Prioritization form displays the prioritization formulas. A complete set of global prioritization formulas is installed with Incident Management.

If you change the weight for an impact or urgency level or if you change any priority weight ranges, you must reselect the impact or urgency in the applicable prioritization formulas.

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Incident Management > Advanced Options > Priority and Weight Ranges - Prioritization, and then click Open.
3. In the Incident Prioritization form, search for the appropriate prioritization, and then open it. 
   
4. To create a new prioritization formula for a specific company, select the company to which this prioritization applies.
5. As appropriate, select or reselect the impact level from the Impact list.
   The value of the Impact Weight field is updated to the current value from the Configure Incident Impact form.
6. As appropriate, select or reselect the urgency level from the Urgency list.
   The value of the Urgency Weight field is updated to the current value from the Configure Incident Urgency form.
7. In the Description field, enter a descriptive note.
8. Click Save.
9. Repeat steps 3 through 8 for each prioritization formula that contains a changed impact weight or changed urgency weight.