The Objective of Major Incident Management


The objective of Major Incident Management is to restore normal service operation, as quickly as possible via workaround or permanent fix, whilst maintaining Stakeholder confidence.

In the latest version (2020) of MIM®'s, The Global Best Practice in IT Major Incident Management®, stakeholder confidence is a crucial addition to the primary objective of Major Incident functions.

Whilst the training has always included managing stakeholder relationships and leadership skills for Major Incident Managers,  previous versions didn't explicitly include the objective of stakeholder confidence,

The primary objective of Major Incident Management® in earlier versions of our Global Best Practice in IT Major Incident Management® Training and Certification programme: namely 2016, 2017 & 2019:

The objective of Major Incident Management is to restore normal service operation, as quickly as possible via workaround or permanent fix.

The difference may seem minor, but the sentiment is a fundamental shift in mindset. 

Following the Major Incident Process is relatively simple, yet managing multiple relationships with diverse groups of people, who are often geographically dispersed, comes with far more complexity. This is a critical factor for successful Major Incident functions and leaders. 

When we lose the confidence of Stakeholders, several short and long-term issues can begin to occur. For example:

  • Service Managers go directly to the Technical Resolving Groups, bypassing the Major Incident Manager, leading to more prolonged outages as the Technical Staff are interrupted.  
  • Members of the leadership team take over control of Major Incident bridge calls.
  • Customer satisfaction decreases and eventually customers pull contracts with service providers, or in-house IT functions may be outsourced.

Learn more about The Global Best Practice in IT Major Incident Management® and how thousands of professionals and companies are powering up their Major Incident services.