A document that captures information post-major incident and allows the manager to report on what happened, when, the impact and the follow-up plan, all in a standard format.
This digital summary encapsulates the Major Incident Review document, a post-incident evaluation template used for dissecting the events surrounding a significant IT disruption.
Purpose of the Major Incident Report Template
The Major Incident Review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the incident, from its onset to resolution. The document seeks to identify the root cause, affected services and users, and actions taken during the incident. It further offers suggestions for improvement and outlines future preventative measures.
Where and When to Use the Major Incident Review
The document is relevant across multiple organisational departments, notably IT, operations, and customer relations. It is typically generated after the resolution of any incident classified as a 'Major Incident' to perform a lessons-learned analysis and prevent future occurrences.
Additional Information
The Major Incident Review is broken down into several key areas:
Incident Details: Records essential identifiers like Incident ID, date and time of occurrence, and involved Major Incident Manager(s).
Impact of Incident: A brief description of the incident's manifestations.
Affected Services and Users: Lists the services and estimated user groups that were impacted.
Downtime Duration: Details the total duration of downtime in days, hours, and minutes.
Major Activities and Timeline: Lays out a chronological timeline of significant activities and decisions.
Root Cause Analysis: Highlights the root cause, if known, or the status of ongoing investigations.
Follow-up Actions: Lists the follow-up measures to be implemented.
Process Review: An evaluation of the handling and coordination of the incident.
Additional Notes: A section for any further insights or details.
Why Use the Major Incident Review?
Accountability: Provides a formalised record of incident details and actions taken, establishing a basis for accountability.
Lessons Learned: Allows for a reflective post-mortem to identify what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future.
Risk Mitigation: Facilitates the identification and prioritisation of follow-up actions aimed at minimising similar risks.
Performance Improvement: Evaluates the execution and coordination of the incident process, suggesting areas for improvement.
Compliance and Governance: Can serve as a critical document for meeting compliance standards and organisational governance regarding IT incident management.
The Major Incident Report template is a crucial component for organisations committed to robust and responsive IT governance. It helps in facilitating the continuous improvement of processes and systems, thus enhancing overall operational resilience.
