3. Problem Investigation and Diagnosis

The Investigation and Diagnosis state is where the technical SME investigates the root cause of the problem. The Investigate transition from the Investigation Queue state lets you select the technical SME and the problem manager. It also lets you update the urgency, impact, and priority; attach supporting documentation, and add work notes for the SME.

Note: If a problem is not routed directly to a technical SME after it is classified, it moves to the Investigation Queue state, where it remains until it is assigned to a technical SME.

The SME will use SSM to diagnose and resolve the problem. The CMS application can be used to help determine the level of impact and assist in pinpointing the point of failure. The Known Errors will be accessed and checked to discover whether the problem has occurred in the past and, if so, whether a resolution is already in place. Related problems should be checked to see whether similar problems have been raised previously. Information in these tables is available through the Active Problems, CI Relationships, and Incidents tabs for the problem.

The result of an investigation for a problem will be a root cause diagnosis. The resolution should be the sum of the appropriate level of resources and skills used to find it.

After the cause of the problem is discovered, it is forwarded to the error control phase. The information discovered about the cause is entered in the Work Notes field.

In addition to entering a root cause, the SME can perform other actions from this state, including:

Updating the problem with new information
Putting the problem on hold
Reassigning the problem to another SME
Attaching a file to the problem
Sending an e-mail from the problem