This is the template we are following to determine the priority of an incident. It is dependent on both the urgency and the impact of an incident.
First, the Urgency can be approximated by the following table:
Category | Description |
|---|
High (H) | The damage caused by the Incident increases rapidly. Work that cannot be completed by staff is highly time sensitive. A minor Incident can be prevented from becoming a major Incident by acting immediately. Several users with VIP status are affected.
|
Medium (M) | |
Low (L) | |
Next, the Impact can be approximated by the following table:
Category | Description |
|---|
High (H) | A large number of staff are affected and/or not able to do their job. A large number of customers are affected and/or acutely disadvantaged in some way. The damage to the reputation of the business is likely to be high. Someone has been injured.
|
Medium (M) | A moderate number of staff are affected and/or not able to do their job properly. A moderate number of customers are affected and/or inconvenienced in some way. The damage to the reputation of the business is likely to be moderate.
|
Low (L) | A minimal number of staff are affected and/or able to deliver an acceptable service but this requires extra effort. A minimal number of customers are affected and/or inconvenienced but not in a significant way. The damage to the reputation of the business is likely to be minimal.
|
And the final Priority is a result of combining the two into this matrix:
| Impact |
|---|
H | M | L |
Urgency | H | 1 | 2 | 3 |
M | 2 | 3 | 4 |
L | 3 | 4 | 5 |
If the resulting Priority is a 1 or a 2, we would consider that an emergency or urgent incident that requires immediate attention. Priority 3 will be addressed as soon as we are able to. Other priorities will be addressed as resourcing allows.