IT Shared Services
Problem Management Process
TABLE OF CONTENT
Problem Process – USM-PRB-D02 Page 1 of 7
Continual Service Improvement
Member of Walgreens Boots Alliance
IT Shared Services
DOCUMENT CONTROL 3
1 DOCUMENT OVERVIEW 4
1.1 Document Ownership 4
1.2 Document Purpose 4
1.3 Target Audience 4
2 OBJECTIVES 5
3 SCOPE 5
4 KEY DEFINITIONS 6
5 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 7
5.1 RASCI Chart 7
6 PROBLEM MANAGEMENT PROCESS 9
6.1 Process flow 9
7 APPENDIX 15
7.1 Problem Triggers – Process Flow 16
7.2 Problem Triggers – Process Table 17
7.3 Create Problem – Process Flow 18
7.4 Create Problem – Process Table 19
7.5 Investigation Tasks – Process Flow 20
7.6 Investigation Tasks – Process Table 21
7.7 Close Problem – Process Flow 23
7.8 Close Problem – Process Table 24
8 GLOSSARY OF TERMS 25
Problem Process – USM-PRB-D02 Page 2 of 7
Continual Service Improvement
Member of Walgreens Boots Alliance
IT Shared Services
DOCUMENT CONTROL
Owners
Title Name Organisation Role
Document Owner Matthew Marsden Problem Manager BUK
Director of Service Management and
Approved by (Sign off) Allan Dyer
Infrastructure Opeations
Document Reviewer Bruce Scriver Senior Manager – IT Operations BUK
Document Reviewer Mark Barry Boots UK IT Service Director
Director, End User Computing, Field
Document Reviewer Neil Cornwall
Services & Global Exec Support
Document Reviewer Trish McVea Head of Application Management
Next review date:
Document location:
Version Control
Version Status Date Author Description of Change
Correct organisational template applied and
1.8 Draft 15/05/2015 Wayne Woodgate
reflected org changes throughout
Section 3, 7.3 and 8 updated. ESS
1.9 Draft 13/01/2017 Vikki Hulme
converted to ITS
Related Documents
Name Location
Incident Management process
Change Management process
Distribution
Name Organisation Role Version Sign-off Date
Approved
Name Job Title DD/MM/YYYY
Problem Process – USM-PRB-D02 Page 3 of 7
Continual Service Improvement
Member of Walgreens Boots Alliance
IT Shared Services
1 DOCUMENT OVERVIEW
1.1 Document Ownership
This document is owned by the Process Approver listed above and is maintained by Boots UK
Problem Management function.
1.2 Document Purpose
The purpose of this document is to define the Problem Management Process within Walgreens
Boots Alliance and to highlight the key behaviours expected from all partners in the investigation and
resolution of underlying causes of incidents that are impacting WBA service across the business.
1.3 Target Audience
The audience of this document comprises of the IT Service and Support functions for WBA and
those running ITIL align support processes pertaining to Incident/Problem and Change
management.
Problem Process – USM-PRB-D02 Page 4 of 7
Continual Service Improvement
Member of Walgreens Boots Alliance
IT Shared Services
2 OBJECTIVES
The primary objectives of Problem Management are to:
Prevent problems and resulting incidents from happening
Eliminate recurring incidents
Understand the root cause of Incidents so that corrective action can be undertaken
Increase the effectiveness of Knowledge Management through Known Error and workaround
identification
There can be confusion between Incident Management and Problem Management.
Incident Management deals with the restoration of service as quickly as possible.
Problem Management deals with the root cause of issues.
3 SCOPE
The Problem Management Process includes the following activities:
The initiation and classification of problem records
The management of investigation into the underlying root cause of incident records, based on
the impact and volume
The management of updating problem records
Review of recommendation documents when challenged or rejected by our Technical Teams,
whether they are technical, people or process based resolutions
The closure of problem records against success criteria
The comparison between impact pre and post problem investigation
Ensuring Knowledge Articles have been raised for Known Error tickets detailing the
workaround
Ensuring that problem management follows the governance setup with change and release
management
Maintain information about workarounds and resolutions in relation to problem records
Problem Process – USM-PRB-D02 Page 5 of 7
Continual Service Improvement
Member of Walgreens Boots Alliance
IT Shared Services
4 KEY DEFINITIONS
Change - The addition, modification or removal of anything that could have an effect on IT
Services.
Configuration Item - Any component that needs to be managed in order to deliver an IT
Service.
Incident - An unplanned interruption to an IT Service or reduction in the Quality of an IT
Service. Failure of a Configuration Item that has not yet affected Service is also an Incident.
Knowledge Management - The process responsible for gathering, analysing, storing, and
sharing knowledge and information within an organisation.
Known Error - A Problem that has a documented Root Cause and Workaround, with no
permanent resolution in place.
Permanent Fix - Action taken to eliminate the Root cause of an Incident or Problem
Problem - The cause of one or more actual or potential Incidents
Root Cause - The underlying or original cause of an Incident or Problem.
Workaround - An action which reduces or eliminates the Impact of an Incident or Problem for
which a permanent fix is not yet available.
External 3rd parties - Internal resolver groups or external suppliers that provide support for
Walgreens Boots Alliance applications and systems but do not use the Walgreens Boots
Alliance call management tool.
Resolver Group - For the purpose of this document the term refers to support teams within the
Service management tool.
For further definitions please refer to the IT Glossary of Terms document.
Problem Process – USM-PRB-D02 Page 6 of 7
Continual Service Improvement
Member of Walgreens Boots Alliance
IT Shared Services
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Term / Abbreviation Meaning
CBP Critical Business Process
ITS IT Shared Services
MSP mYservicePortal
WBA Walgreens Boots Alliance
Problem Process – USM-PRB-D02 Page 7 of 7
Continual Service Improvement
Member of Walgreens Boots Alliance
