Observed Benefits of a Realistic Problem Management

Implementation

Presenter – Harry Sachs

• 29 years IT industry experience:• Software Development• System Management• Network Management• System Performance, Capacity and Modeling• System Architecture• Problem Management

G o a l

• Significant Reduction of Major Incidents.

Implementation

• Dedicated, Supported Resource

• Focused on:• Problem Resolution • Problem Process creation and improvement

• Realistic Scope Limits

Clear Definitions

• Major Incident• Revenue-generating outage during bus hrs.• Resolved by Operations Technical Support.

• Problem• Issues selected by Problem Review Board.• Impact on customer, revenue, or resources.• Managed by Problem Analyst.

Scope• Understand impact of events

• Internal control• Processes, training, etc…• Can change

• External control• External service providers, weather, etc…• Can not change

• Over-looked• “Murphy’s law”…• Can sometimes change going forward

Monitoring Progress

• KPI Recording and Reporting• Major Incident KPI

• # Major Incidents• # Incident Reviews• # Permanently Resolved

• Problem KPI• New• Closed• Outstanding

Communications

• Major Incident Reviews

• Management Reports• Casino Major Incident Reports• Major Incident Summary• Problem Summary• Quarterly KPI

• Enhanced User Support problem updates

Observed Benefits

• Significant Reduction in Major Incidents

• Significant Reduction in Problems

• Culture of Continuous Improvement

• Enhanced team communications

• Enhanced management awareness

• Enhanced customer relationships

MI Qtr/Prev Yr Qtr % Reductions

MI Reduction Quarter Months Fiscal Year

11% Q4 Jan-Mar 2011-12

48% Q1 Apr-Jun 2012-13

54% Q2 Jul-Sep 2012-13

3% Q3 Oct-Dec 2012-13

Adjusted for External eventsMI Reduction Quarter Months Fiscal Year

11% Q4 Jan-Mar 2011-12

48% Q1 Apr-Jun 2012-13

54% Q2 Jul-Sep 2012-13

24% Q3 Oct-Dec 2012-13

# MI Qtr to prev Qtr

24 Month KPI Summary

2012 Q4 (Jan-Mar) Q1 (Apr-Jun) Q2 (Jul-Sep) Q3 (Oct-Dec) Total Yr to Date

Prev Curr Prev Curr Prev Curr Prev Curr Prev CurrMajor Incident KPI

Major Incidents 44 39 50 26 39 18 33 32 166 115

Incident Reviews 27 22 32 21 24 15 28 18 111 76

Permanently Resolved 1 5 2 1 0 3 2 3 5 12

Problem KPINew 4 5 0 0 1 3 2 0 7 8

Closed 0 3 3 8 2 2 4 1 9 14

Outstanding 10 2 10 3 8 2 8 2

(Current values as of Dec 31, 2012.)

Year to Date: 2012 - 2013

Questions Comments Feedback

Summary: Problem Management Benefits

• Reduced Major Incidents per quarter• > 50 ~ 20

• Reduced Outstanding Problems• 8 2

• Enhanced communication• User; Technical Support; Management

• Culture of continuous improvement