A Known Error

ITIL defines an "Incident" as any unplanned interruption to an IT service or reduction in the quality of an IT service and ITIL defines a "Problem" as the cause of one or more of those incidents. The primary objectives of taking on Problem Management are to prevent problems and resulting incidents from happening, to eliminate recurring incidents and to minimize the impact of incidents that cannot be prevented. Problem Management is dependent on a mature Incident Management process.
Although it is possible to start early with Problem Management, this process is highly integrated with Incident Management. So, it is best to implement Problem Management after you have implemented Incident Management. You will require incident data, impact, and
Unlike Incident Management metrics like "percentage solved within target time",
Problem Management metrics are typically not included explicitly in Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
Setting up a Known Error Database (KEDB) is another key activity. A Known Error is a Problem that has a documented root cause and workaround or solution. The KEDB maintains information about problems (i.e., isolation and resolution procedures) and the appropriate workarounds, scripts, references to patches, FAQs and resolutions. The KEDB or knowledge database must facilitate flexible retrieval of information, preferably by keyword search.
However, the KEDB may not add much value if the Incident Management process is too immature to efficiently use them. Many organizations have set up a KEDB system, without real success, due to the fact that the Incident Management or Service Desk staff was too immature to help capture information and use the system to aid in first-line diagnostics. So, setting up a KEDB system in itself is not enough. A knowledge management mindset and culture is needed as well. Incentives and metrics would have to be introduced to motivate the right behavior in Incident and Problem management