New, for the Madrid release, an all new KT Problem Management ServiceNow scoped application, offering many new features that take full advantage of abilities of ServiceNow Madrid release.
Over the past months we received great feedback from many of our clients on their use and experience of KT’s ServiceNow app/plugin. A huge benefit for us was to review clients’ Problem Management standard operating procedures and to have the opportunity to silently observe how client interactions are being handled. As you can imagine, our experience ranged from observing chaos, to a snooze-fest, all with various approaches to detail on display with respect to troubleshooting and communication. A common thread throughout was the overwhelming amount of time lost to chasing irrelevant information and poor documentation. We found this research invaluable and used what we learned to improve this process for clients and the ServiceNow userbase on the platform who have embraced KT methodology.
Building Global best-practice RCA methodology into an app
Before the introduction of the KT Problem Management App, users of ServiceNow would use various fields on the platform to document knowledge, activities, tasks, and the players involved. There was no sense of structure outside of freeform text. This would result in haphazard data collection, and unstructured information retrieval when team members decided to read the case or to skim for notes or, inspiration.
Confusion would follow:
- What’s going on with this case? How far along is it?
- Where in the lifecycle of the process is the problem occurring?
- What is required to make progress and fix this problem?
- Who should be involved?
- What information do we already know?
As ServiceNow and KT continuously strive to evolve their process so that customers can experience best-practices straight out of the box, we wanted to improve our current ServiceNow apps to meet the high-speed needs of customers and link to the upcoming release of ServiceNow Madrid, which includes many improvements to the ServiceNow Problem Management module.
Knowledge that is truly shared *and* understood
ServiceNow Madrid offers the ability to show more granular problem management roles, improved search for problems, and the enhanced ability for knowledge to be shared and attached. We realized that the most important improvement for the KT ServiceNow App would be to streamline and simplify knowledge capture by improving the type, structure, and data that engineers are required to submit to articles and problem tickets, including known error articles, existing problems, and major incidents. When the improved search abilities of ServiceNow Madrid come online, the advantages of structured documentation and a systematic approach to troubleshooting can piggy-back and improve the overall experience of service desk agents, incident managers and problem team members. Because the KT methodology is logic-based and scales across all types of technologies and products, it has a broad application.
What’s new in KT Problem Management ServiceNow v2 app?
Drum roll please….
- Improved interface design, all elements accessible on a single page for easy and simple summary and updates. Requires less clicking and browsing
- Improved “IS and IS NOTs” now combines “Problem Analysis (PA)” critical thinking components along with “Distinctions and Changes”, possible cause evaluation into a single table which more closely follows the format used in classroom training
- Full “Situation Appraisal (SA)” tables for impact and control of “in flight” actions
- The addition of “Decision Analysis” components
- The addition of “Potential Problem Analysis” components to manage risks
- Key case information (cause/solution) summarized at the top for fast review
- Now includes automatic hand-over of both SA and PA data between ServiceNow incident management and problem management app, when both installed
- More closely resembles the work-flow of the incident management app, reducing training effort between the two working teams
- Aligned with the new ServiceNow Madrid “state-flow” model for tracking progress
We are excited about this launch and grateful for the feedback and participation from our customers and partners. With the fantastic new additions to ServiceNow’s search and lifecycle capability we are very excited for the expanded capability of this new app that will shine focus on remediating issues while streamlining documentation and communication.
Here’s were you can view the new KT Problem Management App V2 or, ready to go ahead and install this?
Please read on…
How to Install KT Problem Management App V2
The new Kepner-Tregoe Problem Management App can only be installed in ServiceNow instances starting with the Madrid release. It cannot be installed in earlier releases of ServiceNow. The installation route requires only a few steps and is further documented in the installation and configuration guide, found on the ServiceNow store app page.
At a glance this includes:
- Installing a dependent plugin (part of the new Madrid release)
- Installing the application
- Allowing users to access the application
Upgrade path for existing customers of KT Problem Management App v1
For ServiceNow users who wish to access and utilize KT apps, a pre-requisite of KT methodology training is required.
For previous KT plugin users, an upgrade path is available to migrate existing problem analysis records to the new scoped app. When the new v2 app is downloading, a fix script will automatically be run to migrate existing problem analysis records.
For more information on KT ServiceNow apps and related services, including required KT methodology training for activation, please contact us directly.
