Incident Management in Service Operations Workspace

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Incident Management in Service Operations Workspace

    ServiceNow’s Incident Management in Service Operations Workspace allows customers to efficiently create, view, and manage incident records through a structured interface featuring multiple tabs. This workspace centralizes critical incident details, communication, investigation, and reporting to streamline resolution and improve service outcomes.

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    Key Features

    • Overview Tab: Displays essential incident fields such as Summary, Impact, Cause, and Resolution. Users can add comments and work notes. The tab’s layout is customizable to fit specific needs.
    • Investigation Tab: Enables detailed analysis of affected Configuration Items (CIs) belonging to cicomputer or ciserver classes. It shows metrics for primary or other selected affected CIs, helping diagnose issues. This tab requires Agent Client Collector (ACC) or Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (MECM) and supports macOS, Windows, and Linux.
    • Communicate Tab: Facilitates stakeholder communication during incident phases. Available for major incidents when Major Incident Management is enabled or for incidents with Task and Incident Communications Management apps installed and configured.
    • Post Incident Report Tab: Allows generation, configuration, publishing, and exporting of post incident reports for major incidents after resolution. These reports help identify root causes, resolutions, and process improvements to prevent recurrence. This feature requires Major Incident Management to be active and configured.
    • Details Tab: Shows detailed incident data such as assignment information and related records, with configurable fields.
    • Related Records Tab: Provides a list view of all records associated with the incident, including SLAs and affected CIs.
    • Contextual Side Panel: Offers quick access to caller details, assets, recommendations, collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, and expert on-call contacts to accelerate incident resolution.

    Practical Usage

    • Customers can create incidents and directly manage related problems, changes, or service requests from the incident record, ensuring seamless workflow integration.
    • Remedial actions through Playbook in the Investigation tab assist in resolving CI-related issues efficiently.
    • Major Incident Management capabilities provide structured handling of high-impact incidents with enhanced communication and reporting features.

    Benefits

    This integrated approach in Service Operations Workspace enables faster incident analysis and resolution, improved collaboration among stakeholders, and better post-incident learning. Customizable tabs and contextual information empower agents to work effectively and reduce downtime for end users.

    You can create and manage your incidents in Service Operations Workspace.

    Figure 1. Tabs of an incident record page in Service Operations Workspace
    Tabs of an incident record

    Overview tab

    This tab displays the following information about an incident:
    • Summary
    • Impact
    • Cause
    • Resolution

    From the Compose section, you can add comments and work notes for the incident.

    The Overview tab displays the field information along with the field labels, including when you're in read mode.

    For more information on the fields displayed on the Overview tab, see View and update incident information on the Overview tab.

    You can customize the display of the information on the Overview tab. For more information, see Customize the Overview tab for an incident.

    Investigation tab

    This tab enables you to investigate any affected CIs with the ci_computer or ci_server class associated with the incidents. The tab displays the metrics information of the associated primary CI or any affected CI that is selected, which helps you to analyze and resolve the issue. You can use the various remedial actions on this tab to resolve the CI-related issues.

    By default, the tab displays metrics information of the primary affected CI associated with the incident. But you can also select and view the information for any affected CI with the ci_computer or ci_server class that is associated with the incident. For information about how you can set up Investigation Framework, see Setting up Investigation Framework in Service Operations Workspace.

    Note:
    • The tab is visible only if the Agent Client Collector (ACC) or Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (MECM) adapters are installed and configured.
    • The tab displays the metrics information for the CI only in the following conditions:
      • Agent Client Collector or Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (MECM) is installed for the associated CI. This helps to retrieve the metrics data for the CI.
      • The associated CI class is a CMDB CI computer.
    • This feature supports only the macOS, Windows, and Linux operating systems.

    You can also customize the display of the metrics information on this tab. For more information, see Customize the Investigate tab.

    For more information on the metrics displayed on this tab, see Features of the Investigation tab.

    Communicate tab

    This tab displays all the communication tasks and options that enable you to communicate with the stakeholders in the various phases of an incident. This tab is available only if any of the following conditions are met:For more information on the features of the Communicate tab, see Communicating with stakeholders about incidents and major incidents.

    Post incident report tab

    This tab enables you to generate, configure, publish, and export a post incident report for a major incident after it's resolved. The post incident report enables you to review the cause and resolution of the major incident and also identify potential process gaps. Based on this information, you can take preventive measures to avoid the issue in the future or to handle the major incident in a better way. This tab is available only if the following conditions are met:For more information on the features of the Post incident report tab, see Review and update a post incident report.

    Details tab

    This tab displays detailed information about the incident. For example, the short description, assignment details, and related records. For more information on how you can configure fields in this tab, see Configure a task record form in Service Operations Workspace.

    Related records tab

    This tab provides a list view of the records associated with the incident. For example, task SLAs, affected CIs and related interaction list.

    Contextual side panel

    From this section, you can view record information and recommendations, collaborate using Microsoft Teams, and reach out to experts on-call to resolve incidents quickly.

    For more information about Incident Management, see Incident Management.