What is Incident Resolution and Prevention (IRP) in context of CMMI for Services?

CMMI FAQ 0

13th August, 2013

The purpose of Incident Resolution and Prevention (IRP) process is to ensure timely and effective resolution of service incidents and prevention of service incidents as appropriate.

Incident Resolution and Prevention (IRP) process area is available at CMMI Maturity Level 3 under the Service Establishment and Delivery category.

How to implement Incident Resolution and Prevention (IRP) as per CMMI:

Steps for implementing Incident Resolution and Prevention (IRP) in projects are as follows:

1. Establish Incident Resolution and Prevention approach. Service agreement should define amount of time needed to fully address an incident of the service delivery and the approach for Incident Resolution and Prevention.
   It includes the categorization of incident, responsibility for processing incidents, incident reporting mechanism for client and end users, tools used for incident management, notification mechanism for customers and end users affected by incident, criteria for determining severity and priority levels, and amount of time defined for the resolution of incidents in the service agreement.
2. Establish an Incident Management System. An incident management system (automated or manual) should be setup for processing and tracking incident information. It includes the storage media, procedures, and tools for accessing the incident management system. Incidents can be managed through Incident Management Logs or through automated tool.
3. Identify and Record Incidents. Incidents shall be identified, logged and categorized. Work manager shall log all the identified incidents into the Incident Log and will categories them.
4. Analyse Individual Incident Data. Work manager shall analyze individual incident data to determine a course of action. Minor or known incidents analysis can involve selection of incidents type/category. Major incidents can be assigned to a separate group/team for resolution. Based on analysis resolution team/group should be selected based on their skilled to handle the incident. Incident Log shall be updated for the analysis and the action planned for the resolution of the incident.
5. Resolve Incidents. Work manager shall resolve incidents based on the course of action determined by individual incident analysis.
6. Monitor the Status of Incidents to Closure. Work manager shall record, track, and escalate as necessary, and close the status of the incident until they meet the terms of the service agreement and satisfy the incident submitter as appropriate. Work manager shall review the resolution and confirm the results with relevant stakeholders. Work manager shall close incidents that meet the criteria for closure.
7. Communicate the Status of Incidents. Work manager shall communicate the status of the incident to relevant stakeholders using the Status Reports, MOM and or Incident Log.
8. Analyse selected incidents and establish solutions for future incidents. Work manager shall analyse the underlying causes of selected incidents to determine the best course of action to address incidents in the future so that their impact will be minimized most effectively.
9. Establish and apply solutions to reduce incident occurrence. Work manager shall establish and apply the workarounds and other reusable solutions as planned. Planning should involve who will act, when, and how. Work manager shall prepare an action plan for execution of the workarounds and other reusable solutions. Action plan shall be verified and validated to ensure that it effectively addresses the underlying cause. Communicate the action proposal to relevant stakeholders.
   Action plan/proposal shall be implemented and shall be monitored for their effect on the incidents. Manage the actions until the underlying causes are addressed. Record the actions and result.

Source: CMMI-SVC Model, CMMI Institute.

Interpretation by the author.

Benefits of Incident Resolution and Prevention (IRP) in the organization

Incident Resolution and Prevention (IRP) when conducted in the organization has following benefits:

• Conflict Management by proactive planning about incident management
• More control over incidents by recording, analysing and monitoring
• Helps in reducing similar incidents over a period of time

Want Incident Resolution and Prevention (IRP) training in your organization

DQS India, CMMI Authorised Partner, provides Incident Resolution and Prevention (IRP) training for organization for better management of the Incidents in the organization. Training covers the best practices for selecting the tools, incident categorisation and prioritization, different techniques to manage incidents, incidents analysis, future incidents management in order to reduce them etc.

Training is delivered through highly qualified and experienced CMMI Authorised Trainer and CMMI Consultants.