Entry #4
Sudipto Banerjee
Director- Consulting, ITIL Ambassador, IT Service Management/ Project Management, Certified Scrum Product Owner
What is Known Error Database?
The purpose of a Known Error Database is to allow storage of previous knowledge of incidents and problems – and how they were overcome – to allow quicker diagnosis and resolution if they recur.
Office of Government Commerce. (2007). Service Operation Book (1st ed.) [E-book]. The Stationery Office.
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The KEDB consists of Known Error Record. Each such record should capture precise details of the fault and the symptoms that occurred, along with accurate details of any resolution or workaround that can be taken to reinstate the service and/or resolve the problem.
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As I was taking strides into the world of IT Service Management, the KEDB was one of the tools that I really found handy in my day-to-day work. Afterall, I was not a product specialist and I believed in my then role, there was still so much to learn. But I will say this, the KEDB to me, was, and remains one of the most underrated tools available to the BAU (Business as Usual) team. Over the years, I have observed that the significance of a robust KEDB is sometimes not championed enough by the IT Service Management leadership.
All BAU team members should be fully competent and acquainted with the value that the KEDB can offer and the way it should be used. They should be able readily to retrieve and use data. It is also advised to have a robust team in place to vet each Knowledge Article and a leaderboard for Knowledge contributors can be published every quarter.
In my opinion, a KEDB is not merely a database of unrelated articles that sometimes teams are forced to write just to meet some performance review criteria. Used in the optimal manner, it can lead to lesser incidents, faster turnaround times, meeting XLAs, improved customer reviews and last but not the least, help the BAU member grow into his/ her role and give them a platform which helps grow the overall Incident/ Problem Practice at the organization.
Note: The KEDB forms part of a larger Service Knowledge Management System (SKMS) as per the ITIL Guidance. Also, Gnōsis is the commonly used Greek word for knowledge.