Documentation forSolarWinds Service Desk

Problems

On this page

Introduction

A problem is defined by a series of incidents where the root cause is unknown. In SolarWinds Service Desk (SWSD), they can be seen from the All Problems index page.

Navigation

Service Desk > Problems.

All Problems index page

The All Problems index page contains all problem tickets in your organization.

See List view for information on how to filter, edit, and customize contents of the index page to best meet your needs. You can also learn how to search, add new records, perform actions such as import and export, and find a description of the index page using the buttons in the upper right corner.

Best practices

It is easier to manage one problem versus many incidents.  For example: If you notice 15 individual users created incidents that relate to the inability to connect to the internet, you can therefor create one problem that the internet at a specific site is currently down.  See Create a new problem for more information.

Using SWSD that focus on incidents and problems, you can see the history of your company assets.  For example: In the case that multiple incidents are created regarding problems with a specific printer (asset), you may decide to replace the printer rather than fix it.  You may also decide to no longer purchase this specific printer if you see a history of issues with this asset. To access problem management reports, navigate to Analytics > Reports > Problems/ Changes/Releases.

SolarWinds strongly recommends creating relationships to associate all problems, changes, and releases.  This provides an overall view of the workings of your organization.  For example, these relationships can provide you with information on how assets and individuals work together and affect each other.  For example:

  1. Multiple Incidents regarding a network outage can result in creation of a Problem.

    The Problem could result in the decision to replace the internet provider with a new company. 

    Replacement of the new internet provider could result in the release of new services.

  1. Change. When reviewing asset-related reports you recognize a higher than average number of incidents related to the HP x001 series printers.  The IT department determines it is best to replace all such printers to avoid future issues. 

  2. Proactive change. The IT department ascertains it is time to update the servers with a new OS.  A release is sent out to update all affected users of the change that will take place and includes time and date. 

Create a new problem

If you are adding a new problem, enter as much detail as possible and attach any relevant items.  By defining the root cause, symptoms, and workaround, you are adopting a proactive approach to problem management. By evaluating tools and processes that identify underlying conditions or issues you prevent a greater problem.

  1. Click Add .

  2. At a minimum, enter all required data into mandatory fields (designated by a red asterisk).

  3. As recommended above, add as much detail as possible and attach relevant items. Click the grey text icon in the lower right of a rich text field to display a toolbar you can use to format content in the field.

    In addition to using the rich-text field toolbar to format content, you can use it to embed videos, such as Vimeo, YouTube, or Microsoft Stream videos.

  4. Click Create to save your data.

Problem details page

From the Problems index page you can click on the title of any problem to open its details page.

Tabs in the details page

The tabs at the bottom of the details page provide information specific to the open problem, such as:

  • Notes. The Notes tab contains a rich text field where you can add information about the problem. You can also click the grey text icon in the lower right of the rich text field to display a toolbar you can use to format content in the field. The toolbar allows you to format content, embed videos, and add links and attachments. See Comments.
  • Details. The details tab is used to show the requester, assignee, priority, site, and department.
  • Related. The related tab shows ITSM objects related to the problem, for example, incidents, changes, and configuration items.
  • Tasks. The tasks tab shows active and complete tasks associated with the problem. You can add tasks with assignee names, due dates, descriptions. You can also choose to send a reminder to the assignee.
  • Audit. The audit tab contains a complete record of every problem-related action stored in SWSD.

The information contained in the tabs (excluding Notes) will export with a PDF if the tab selected during the export process.

Actions from the details page

From the details page, lets you:

  • Clone the problem. Let's you make a complete copy of the problem so you can simply modify it to contain content for a new problem.
  • Export to PDF. When you select Export to PDF, a menu displays that lets you select which tab(s) you want to export. For example:
    • Details tab
    • Comments tab
    • Related tab
    • Tasks tab
    • Audits tab

Related topics