Writing for Tech Target, IT operations manager Adam Fowler discusses three myths of IT incident management that can cause an organization considerable harm, if not properly corrected:
Myth 1: Only major disruptions should be logged: The truth is, even small disruptions can have a big effect on a user’s experience, so all issues should be recorded and made available in reports. While people don’t need to receive an email every time something breaks, they should still be made aware of where they can look to find out what has occurred, and these logs can provide a strong basis for future funding requests.
Myth 2: A quick fix is all that’s needed: While it’s important to get things up and running again, quick fixes often just mask or temporarily patch over an issue, and rushing can lead to mistakes that only make things worse. Take the time to do a proper investigation, and ensure backups are in place so that you can restore back to a known point if something goes wrong.
Myth 3: Investigations should stop once a fix is in place: Once things are back up and running, don’t walk away, but instead invest some effort into recording what led to the issue, and how it was resolved. It’s important to investigate the root cause, ensure any fix will offer a robust long term solution without having negative effects on other services, and confirm whether these fixes could also apply to other systems.
In all cases, details and solutions should be logged to ensure people know why actions were taken, and provide clear indications to the next person who might have to investigate an issue.
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