Problem Ticket – Should It Be Reopened?

I have come across many queries where people ask me “Can we reopen a problem ticket?”

Before I answer or give my opinion, I have a question – Why would one need to reopen any ticket? Typically this happens when a resolution provided is not as per the user’s satisfaction, i.e., issue for which the ticket was raised is not resolved or fulfilled. This is true for Service Requests or Incidents.

In case of a problem ticket, the ticket is closed only when the root cause is identified and workaround or permanent fix is provided, i.e., the underlying issue is resolved.

Thus, under what circumstances would one need to reopen the problem ticket? I got the response that in cases when the problem resolution is not effective and similar incidents still occur.

Problem resolution has two parts – first part is Corrective Action, i.e., the resolution provided is restricted to the source ticket or CI. Second part is Preventive Action, i.e., resolution is replicated across similar CIs throughout the estate. This is known as CAPA or Corrective Action Preventive Action.

Thus, despite problem resolution, a similar incident can occur under following circumstances:

1. Preventive Action is not performed
2. Root cause identified may not be the real root cause

In the first case, Problem Manager has to ensure effective CAPA.

For occurrences of second case, the old problem ticket should not be reopened. The old ticket was worked upon, served the purpose for which it was created, though the impact of its resolution could not eliminate all possible sources of the incidents similar to the one which lead to its creation. In all such cases a new problem ticket has to be created.

Please note that Problem Manager should ensure that all instances similar to the second case is proactively identified by him/her through Proactive Problem Management techniques like trend analysis.