Creating a problem investigation and known error

To create a problem investigation from scratch

1. On the BMC Helix ITSM navigation bar, select Create New > Problem Investigation.
2. Complete the required fields and any optional fields that would help describe the problem clearly.
3. Click Save ticket.
   After you save the problem investigation, you can access it in the system, and other users with appropriate permissions can view and update it.
   
   

To create a related problem investigation from an incident

1. In the incident request form, open the Related Items tab.
2. Select Create > Related Problem Investigation.
   When you create a related problem investigation from an incident, many fields such as Company, Affected Service, Operational Category, Product Category, Problem Location, and Description are copied from the incident to the problem investigation. In the problem investigation form, the Investigation Driver and Assigned To fields are not filled in. You must make a selection for the Investigation Driver field before you can save the form. You can modify the problem investigation fields before you save the form.
   
   
   

To create a known error from a problem investigation

If a specialist recommends that a change is the best way to remove the root cause of a problem, initiate a change by creating a known error and assigning it to the change coordinator of the affected service.

• To create a known error from a problem investigation, open the problem ticket, set the Status field to Completed and the Status Reason field to Known Error, and click Save. A draft known error is created.
  
  
  
  
• To create a related known error from a problem investigation, open the problem ticket, click the Related Items tab, and select Create > Related Known Error.

Some of the fields in the known error record are already filled out; for example, the Status field is set to Assigned.

If Knowledge Management is installed in your environment, you can also create knowledge articles to describe known errors. The information in the knowledge articles could be useful to subsequent users who encounter or analyze the same or similar issues and problems.

After you identify an incident request that indicates a problem, create a problem investigation. Problem coordinators should create problem investigations from the Incident Management application to ensure the information is copied from the incident request record to the problem investigation. 

To create a problem investigation from an incident request

1. Open the incident request record.

2. Create the problem investigation.

   1. From the Quick Action area, click the arrow beside Create Related Request. 
      If you are working on a hub server in a Hub and Spoke environment, you are asked to identify the company you are creating the record for.
      Select the company from the list, and click Create.
      The Problem Investigation form opens on the spoke server of the company you chose (where it will also be saved).
   2. From the menu, select Problem Investigation.

   The details are copied from the incident request to the Problem form, and a relationship is created between the problem investigation and the incident request.

3. Complete the Problem form.
4. Click Save.

Mapping values from the Incident Request form to the Problem form

The following table lists the fields that are copied from the Incident Request form to the Problem form when you create a problem investigation directly from an incident request.

The Product Categorization fields on the problem investigation record (Product Categorization Tier 1, Product Categorization Tier 2, Product Categorization Tier 3, Product Name, Model/Version and Manufacturer) generally inherit their values from the Resolution Product Categorization fields on the Incident Request form. However, if these fields are not set on the Incident Request form, the Product Categorization fields on the Problem form inherit their values from the Product Categorization fields on the Incident Request form. While resolving an incident, it is not mandatory to complete the fields in the Resolution Product Categorization section.

Mapping values from the Incident Request form to the Problem form

When creating a related problem investigation from an existing incident, the problem carries over any information from Notes and Summary fields of the related incident. The new problem is related to the existing incident with one of the Relationship Types. 

In the Problem Location field, the location of the incident is shown by default. However, if you do not create a problem from an incident, Problem Location displays the location of the logged-in user.

To create a known error

If you agree with the specialist's recommendation that a change is the best way to remove the root cause of the problem, initiate the change by creating a known error and assigning it to the change coordinator of the affected service.

If BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management is installed in your environment, you can create knowledge articles to describe known errors. This information could be useful to subsequent users who encounter or analyze the same or similar issues and problems. For more information, see Resolving-a-problem-investigation.

If you submit a known error to change management, the Change Coordinator can reassign the known error back to you if the Change Coordinator determines that the solution can be implemented within the problem management process. If this situation happens, review the known error to determine why the Change Coordinator reassigned it, and then assign the problem investigation to the appropriate specialist. For more information, see Assigning-and-reassigning-problem-investigations-and-known-errors.

1. Open the relevant problem investigation.
2. Set the Status field to Completed and the Status Reason field to Known Error.
3. Click Save.
4. When prompted by the system, click Yes.
   The Known Error form opens and a relationship is created between the known error and the problem investigation.
5. In the Notes field, enter a brief description of the known error and a detailed description of the change requirements.
6. Select the impact and urgency, and adjust the weight, if necessary.The priority and weight are calculated based on the impact and urgency.
7. Select whether view access is internal or public.
   This field is for informational purposes.
8. From the Known Error Location list, select the client company.
9. From the Categorization tab, select the operational and product categorizations.
   Operational categorization is based on a three-tier hierarchy that is defined in the Operational Catalog.
10. Ensure that the following assignments are correct:
    • Your support group appears in the Coordinator Group field.
    • Your name appears in the Problem Coordinator field.
    • The Change Coordinator's support group name appears in the Assigned Group field.
    • The Change Coordinator's name appears in the Assignee field.
11. Ensure that the known error is related to all the affected service infrastructure and to the CI in which the problem resides. 
12. Ensure that the Status is set to Assigned.
13. Click Save.