IRP.SG 3 Analyze and Address Causes and Impacts of Selected Incidents

The focus of this goal is on reducing the impact or occurrence of future incidents. The practices in this goal cover the analysis of selected incidents to define how to address similar incidents in the future. The results of this analysis are fed back to those who control and address incidents, and can also lead to the prevention of certain types of incidents.

All incidents have one or more underlying causes that trigger their occurrence. Addressing an underlying cause of some selected types of incidents can reduce the likelihood of service interference, reduce the workload on the service provider, or improve the level of service.

Underlying causes can be identified for selected incidents that have already happened, and for types of incidents that have never occurred but are possible.

 

The root cause of an incident is often different than the immediate underlying cause. For example, an incident can be caused by a faulty system component (the underlying cause), while the root cause of the incident is a suboptimal supplier selection process. This process area uses the term “underlying cause” flexibly, ranging from immediate causes or conditions to deeper root causes, to allow for a variety of possible solutions ranging from workarounds to complete prevention of a class of related incidents.