5 Reasons Your Company Needs Incident Management

Anyone who has worked in IT for any length of time knows that in an instant, something can go wrong. When that happens, or when anything breaks, that’s where incident management comes in.

Incident management is a process that is part of IT Service Management (ITSM). Incorporating incident management into your business has several benefits.

Lots of problems can result in downtime for a company. System failures, network issues, and cybersecurity breaches are some examples of potential problems. One of the functions of incident management is finding and addressing issues quickly. Fast response time to incidents results in a major decrease in downtime.

Depending on what the incident affects, it can damage the reputation of the business. Take, for instance, a major data breach. In that scenario, the company would lose the trust of the customers. By using incident management, teams can find and fix issues in very little time. The less time it takes to fix something, the less time that something can hurt the business.

Some incidents can result in poor customer service. If something happens that takes down the phone system, customers can’t call in for service. If an app is down, customers may have trouble paying their bills. In some cases, these issues might cause a customer to choose a different service. Prompt action results in fewer problems experienced by customers. Reducing customers' negative experiences improves customer satisfaction.

Several industries, such as health care, have significant compliance regulations. Not being in compliance can result in huge fines and sometimes legal action. Incident management can make sure a company stays in compliance and can avoid fines.

One of the major parts of incident management is the idea of continuous improvement. With incident management, a company can find where it can improve current processes. This improvement could result in increased productivity and increased revenue.

Incident management might not seem like a sexy topic, but it’s very relevant today. With companies becoming more technical, having a good incident management system is vital. It will not only help reduce current issues but will also help improve the way a business functions.

Cover image by: Adi GoldsteinUnsplash