Major Incident Policy
A Major Incident is an incident that impacts more than one client group such that service is interrupted or there is imminent threat of interruption. Major Incidents are worked continuously until resolution. An Incident Coordinator will run a conference bridge in which engaged resolvers are required to participate.
When a Major Incident is identified, immediately call the IT Help Center (617-353-4357) and ask to speak with an Incident Coordinator to begin the Major Incident process. If it is after hours, leave an emergency message by choosing option 4 to have an on-call Incident Coordinator paged.
Important: If there is an existing INC record for the incident the caller is reporting, please do not modify the Impact or Urgency of the INC record without first speaking with an Incident Coordinator.
You can sign up for our techstatus email list to be informed of Major Incidents when they’re reported.
Incident Coordinator responsibilities:
• Running the conference bridge
• Keeping the incident record up to date
• Communicating with the impacted user communities
• Communicating with management
• Engaging internal and external escalation points as needed
Resolvers and Participants on the call are required to:
• Be on the bridge to work within 15 minutes of being alerted
• Keep the participants updated on the work you are doing
• Stay on the bridge while working
• Remember that the only goal is to restore service – do not collect diagnostic information if it will interfere with resolution time. Root Cause analysis can take place after Major Incident resolution through an After Action Review (AAR).
• Do not make any changes or reboot a server without informing the Incident Coordinator
• Update the ticket with as much information as possible while you are working
P1 vs P2 Major Incidents:
Depending on the impact and urgency, a Major Incident will be categorized as a P1 or P2. Incident Coordinators utilize a priority matrix to determine the appropriate impact and urgency.
All P1 tickets are considered Major Incidents. P2 tickets are considered major if the impact is “multiple groups” or “campus.”
P1 Major Incidents are worked 24/7. P2 Major Incidents are worked until completed, including after hours, but if a P2 is discovered after hours the conference call will not be started until the next business day.
Major Incident Process Flow Chart:
(Click on the chart to zoom in on it.)
