Everything You Need to Know About Known Error Database (KEDB)

A Known Error Database (KEDB) is essentially a repository where IT support teams store information about known issues, problems, and their corresponding solutions or workarounds. 

The database acts as a central reference point that allows IT professionals to track recurring problems, along with the steps needed to resolve them. 

Each entry in the KEDB contains detailed descriptions of the error, its root cause, and the resolution method, allowing for quicker troubleshooting when the issue arises again.

KEDB is a key component of the problem management process within the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) framework. ITIL emphasizes the importance of systematically managing issues to prevent them from recurring, and KEDB directly supports that goal by providing a historical record of previously encountered issues and how they were resolved.

If you're interested in learning more about how to implement ITIL frameworks, including the effective use of tools like KEDB, consider enrolling in  QuickStart’s ITIL 4 Foundations Certification Course. This training offers essential insights into IT service management best practices, helping you take your organization's IT processes to the next level.

This article delves into how KEDB works, its benefits, and why it's a critical asset for organizations striving for operational efficiency.

What is a Known Error Database (KEDB)?

A Known Error Database (KEDB) is a critical component of IT Service Management (ITSM), serving as a centralized repository that stores information on all known errors affecting an organization’s IT environment. 

These known errors typically result from identified problems within the infrastructure, applications, or services, and the KEDB documents not only the errors themselves but also their causes, symptoms, and temporary solutions or workarounds.

By capturing this information, a KEDB allows IT teams to easily access previously encountered issues and apply pre-established solutions, significantly reducing the time it takes to resolve incidents. 

So, instead of starting from scratch each time a recurring issue surfaces, support personnel can refer to the KEDB to find detailed information about the error and its resolution, which speeds up the incident management process.

Each entry in a KEDB is typically made up of several key components, ensuring that IT staff have all the necessary details to address a recurring issue effectively.

Some of the core elements of a KEDB, include:

• Error Description: A summary of the issue, including affected systems or applications.
• Incident History: A log of previous occurrences, detailing when and how often the error has affected the system.
• Resolution: If available, the permanent solution to the problem that eliminates the error altogether.
• Root Cause: An explanation of the underlying problem that causes the error, identified through problem management processes.
• Symptoms: Details on how the error manifests itself, including any error messages or performance issues users might experience.
• Workaround: A temporary solution that can restore service or mitigate the impact of the error until a permanent fix is developed.

Key Concepts: Incident vs. Problem

With anything IT, incidents and problems are bound to happen. 

An incident is an unplanned interruption or reduction in the quality of an IT service that affects users. Incidents are usually urgent because they disrupt normal business operations and can result in downtime, reduced productivity, or even financial losses.

Examples of incidents include:

• A printer suddenly malfunctioning across an office network.
• A server crashing, causing a website outage.
• Users being unable to access an important application.

However, a problem refers to the underlying cause of one or more incidents. It may not be immediately obvious and often requires in-depth analysis to uncover. 

Problems are typically more complex and may take longer to resolve than incidents. In ITIL's problem management framework, the emphasis is on diagnosing and permanently eliminating the cause of the issue, rather than just fixing the symptoms.

Examples of problems include:

• A bug in an application that leads to repeated crashes.
• A failing piece of hardware causing sporadic disruptions.
• A misconfigured server that causes intermittent service outages.

Basically, incidents are disruptions that need immediate resolution, while problems represent the underlying causes that require thorough investigation and a long-term fix. Therefore, the Known Error Database (KEDB) serves as a vital tool for managing both, helping organizations quickly resolve incidents and prevent problems from causing future disruptions.

How Does a KEDB Work?

Think of the “Known Error Database” as a dynamic tool that evolves as incidents and problems are encountered, analyzed, and resolved. In a way, it serves as a living record of known issues within an IT environment and plays a crucial role in speeding up the resolution of recurring incidents.

Here’s a closer look at how a KEDB functions in practice:

1. Logging Known Errors in the KEDB

The process begins when an IT team encounters an incident that can be temporarily fixed but has not yet been permanently resolved. After identifying the issue and applying a temporary solution (often called a workaround), the IT team documents the details of the incident in the KEDB. Remember, this entry includes:

• Description of the Problem
• Root Cause (if known)
• Symptoms
• Workaround (Temporary Fix)

This initial entry ensures that the incident and its temporary resolution are captured, making it easier for IT teams to reference it in the future.

2. Consultation of the KEDB During Incident Response

When a new incident arises, support teams typically consult the KEDB as one of their first steps in the resolution process. By reviewing the database, they can quickly determine whether the issue has been encountered before and whether a workaround or solution already exists.

For example, if a network outage occurs due to a recurring bug in a router’s firmware, IT staff can consult the KEDB to find out how the issue was previously addressed. The availability of a workaround allows them to resolve the incident faster, minimizing downtime and reducing the overall impact on business operations.

This consultation process is what makes the KEDB so valuable — support staff don’t have to start from scratch every time they encounter an issue. Instead, they can leverage the collective knowledge documented in the database to resolve the incident swiftly.

3. Tracking Incidents and Workarounds in the KEDB

When an incident is logged in the KEDB, it remains open until a permanent solution is found. During this period, the IT team continues to monitor the incident and may encounter it multiple times, applying the same temporary fix.

In addition to tracking the workaround, the KEDB may also store additional insights that help IT teams mitigate the impact of recurring incidents. For instance, it might include:

• Escalation Paths: Instructions for when to escalate the issue if the workaround is no longer effective or if the incident has escalated in severity.
• User Communication Protocols: Guidance on what information to provide to users when the incident occurs, ensuring consistent messaging.

The KEDB keeps a record of each occurrence, helping IT professionals track how often a particular error affects the environment and providing valuable data for trend analysis.

4. Implementing Permanent Solutions

While the KEDB is invaluable for addressing incidents through temporary workarounds, its ultimate goal is to support problem resolution by providing a pathway toward permanent fixes. Once the IT team identifies and implements a permanent solution—either by fixing the root cause or applying an upgrade or patch—the entry in the KEDB is updated to reflect this resolution.

The permanent solution is documented in detail, including:

• The steps taken to resolve the underlying cause of the issue.
• Any system changes, patches, or upgrades applied.
• Lessons learned from the resolution process.

At this point, the incident is marked as resolved in the KEDB. While the workaround may remain in the database as a reference for historical context, the focus now shifts to ensuring that the permanent fix prevents future occurrences of the problem.

5. Lifecycle of a KEDB Entry

A KEDB entry evolves through several stages, from identification of a problem to its resolution:

• Incident occurs: An unplanned interruption or degradation in service is reported.
• Workaround is applied: IT staff apply a temporary fix to restore service.
• Entry is logged: The incident, symptoms, workaround, and root cause (if known) are documented in the KEDB.
• Problem investigation: The root cause is investigated, and efforts are made to develop a permanent solution.
• Permanent solution is implemented: The problem is resolved at its root, and the incident is marked as closed in the KEDB.
• Entry is archived: The KEDB retains the entry for historical reference, ensuring that similar incidents can be quickly addressed in the future if needed.

6. Ongoing Maintenance of the KEDB

To keep the KEDB effective, it must be regularly maintained. Entries should be updated as new information becomes available, including changes to workarounds or the implementation of permanent fixes. 

Additionally, old or irrelevant entries must be reviewed and archived if they are no longer applicable to the current IT environment.

This regular maintenance ensures that the KEDB remains an accurate and valuable resource for the IT team, preventing the database from becoming cluttered with outdated information that could slow down the resolution process.

Why is KEDB Required?

A Known Error Database is an essential tool in modern IT service management because it streamlines the process of resolving recurring incidents, enables faster recovery from outages, and supports a proactive approach to problem management. By documenting known issues and their corresponding workarounds, a KEDB reduces downtime and prevents the repetitive task of diagnosing the same problems multiple times.

To illustrate the importance of a KEDB, let's consider a common scenario: an email outage.

Imagine that a company experiences a sudden email outage affecting all employees. The IT team jumps into action, investigates the problem, and finds that a particular misconfiguration in the email server is responsible. This configuration issue has caused similar outages in the past, but it wasn't documented in a structured way, leading to delays in diagnosing the root cause each time the issue occurred.

Through troubleshooting, the IT team identifies a workaround—a temporary adjustment to the server configuration that restores email service for the time being. However, this workaround doesn't address the underlying misconfiguration and is only a temporary solution until the root cause can be fully resolved.

Here's how the KEDB plays a vital role in this scenario:

1. Logging the Workaround: After applying the temporary fix, the IT team documents the issue in the KEDB, including the symptoms (users unable to send or receive emails), the root cause (server misconfiguration), and the workaround steps (configuration changes that restore service). This ensures that if the issue reoccurs, the support team can consult the KEDB and apply the same workaround without having to re-diagnose the problem.
2. Faster Future Resolution: If the email outage happens again before a permanent fix is in place, the IT team doesn't need to start from scratch. Instead, they can reference the KEDB, locate the previous entry, and apply the temporary solution immediately. This reduces downtime and minimizes the impact on business operations.
3. Identifying a Permanent Solution: After further investigation, the root cause of the email outage is addressed with a permanent solution, such as correcting the server configuration or applying a necessary patch. This permanent fix is then added to the KEDB, updating the existing entry and marking the issue as fully resolved.

By maintaining a record of both the workaround and the permanent fix, the KEDB ensures that future outages related to the same issue can be avoided altogether, as the root cause has been eliminated.

Temporary vs. Permanent Solutions

One of the primary reasons for using a KEDB is the ability to distinguish between temporary workarounds and permanent solutions. This distinction is critical for managing incidents effectively and ensuring that known errors don’t continue to impact service quality over time.

As stated previously, a workaround is a temporary solution designed to minimize the impact of an issue without fully resolving the root cause. Workarounds are typically implemented when the root cause of a problem is not yet fully understood, or when a permanent fix is not immediately available. 

In the context of the email outage example, the configuration adjustment to restore service is a workaround that mitigates the immediate business impact but doesn’t solve the underlying issue.

This is why a permanent solution is needed to fully address the root cause of the problem and prevent it from recurring. This type of solution is the ultimate goal of problem management and is usually implemented after conducting a thorough root cause analysis (RCA). 

In the email outage example, the permanent solution might involve correcting the server configuration permanently or upgrading to a more stable version of the software.

Benefits of Implementing a KEDB 

Implementing a Known Error Database offers significant advantages for IT service management by improving efficiency and reducing downtime. By storing information about known issues and their solutions, a KEDB enables IT teams to resolve recurring incidents quickly and proactively manage problems.

Here are a few other notable benefits to implementing a KEDB:

1. Faster Incident Resolution 

• IT teams can quickly resolve incidents by referencing the KEDB for existing fixes. 
• Saves time spent on troubleshooting and improves response time for recurring incidents. 

2. Consistent Support 

• Ensures that IT support staff provide uniform service levels by using standardized solutions documented in the KEDB. 
• New and less experienced support staff can offer the same level of service as senior staff due to available documented fixes. 

3. Monitoring and Prioritizing Issues 

• KEDB allows tracking of incident frequency and impact, helping prioritize which problems require permanent solutions first. 

4. Incident Ticket Prevention 

• Some workarounds can be communicated to end-users directly, empowering them to fix the issue without contacting the support desk, reducing the number of incoming tickets. 

5. Improved Customer and Employee Satisfaction 

• Quick incident resolution and empowering users lead to higher customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores. 
• IT support staff feel more confident in their ability to handle issues, contributing to job satisfaction.

Implementing a KEDB

Implementing a Known Error Database (KEDB) within an organization's IT infrastructure is a strategic step toward improving problem management and ensuring faster incident resolution. 

Often, the KEDB is integrated as part of the broader Problem Management Database (PMDB), where both problems and known errors are tracked in one centralized location. This integration ensures that IT teams have quick access to not only unresolved problems but also documented solutions for recurring issues, facilitating a more streamlined support process.

While the Problem Management Database handles the lifecycle of problems from identification to resolution, the KEDB specifically focuses on known errors.

When setting up a KEDB, it's essential to follow a structured approach to ensure its effectiveness:

• Ensure that all IT teams use consistent formats when documenting known errors. Standard entries should include fields for error description, symptoms, root cause, etc.
• Make sure that the KEDB is easily accessible to all IT staff, particularly those working in incident management or on service desks.
• Provide training for IT staff on how to use the KEDB effectively.
• Select an ITSM tool that supports seamless integration of the KEDB with the broader problem management process.

Remember, the KEDB is a living document, and it needs regular updates to remain useful. Set up a review process to ensure that new known errors are added, outdated information is archived, and permanent resolutions are recorded when available. Keeping the KEDB up to date ensures that it remains a valuable resource for the entire IT team.

Handling Known Errors Without Workarounds

In certain situations, IT teams may encounter problems that don’t have immediate solutions or feasible workarounds. These types of issues, such as major outages caused by external service providers, present unique challenges. In these cases, even though a quick fix isn’t available, documenting the problem in the KEDB still serves a vital purpose.

When a major outage occurs due to factors outside the organization's control — such as failures from third-party service providers (e.g., cloud services, ISPs, or external software vendors) — the internal IT team may be limited in its ability to address the issue directly. 

In these scenarios, a workaround may not exist, and the only course of action may be to wait for the external provider to resolve the issue.

Using KEDB to Manage Incident Trends

A well-maintained Known Error Database not only helps in resolving individual incidents faster but also provides valuable insights into broader incident trends. 

By analyzing the data captured in the KEDB, IT teams can identify recurring issues, track the most frequent problems, and prioritize their efforts to deliver permanent solutions. The KEDB can also be used to understand which user groups or departments are most affected by specific known errors, enabling targeted communication and support strategies.

One of the most significant advantages of using a KEDB is the ability to track recurring incidents related to known errors. By consistently monitoring the frequency with which incidents occur, IT teams can gain a deeper understanding of which issues are causing the most disruption. This data allows teams to make informed decisions about resource allocation and problem prioritization.

For example, if the KEDB shows that a particular error affecting the email system is causing frequent outages, IT teams can prioritize finding a permanent fix for that issue. By focusing on the most impactful and recurrent problems, IT teams can reduce the overall volume of incidents, improve system stability, and increase user satisfaction.

The KEDB helps IT teams:

• Quantify Impact: Assessing the severity and impact of these incidents, such as how many users are affected and how much downtime is incurred.
• Set Priorities: Determining which known errors should be addressed with permanent fixes first, based on their frequency and impact on business operations.
• Spot Patterns: Identifying patterns of repeated incidents related to the same known error.

By using the KEDB to track these recurring problems, IT teams can shift from a reactive incident management approach to a more proactive problem management strategy, ultimately reducing the occurrence of known issues.

KEDB in Cloud and Remote Work Environments

As organizations increasingly adopt cloud technologies and even remote work models, the role of a Known Error Database becomes even more essential for managing complex IT environments. 

The distributed nature of cloud services, coupled with remote work, introduces unique challenges such as service outages from Software as a Service (SaaS) providers, performance inconsistencies, and connectivity issues that are often outside the direct control of internal IT teams. 

In this context, the KEDB can be an invaluable tool for tracking known errors and managing external dependencies to minimize service disruptions.

Cloud environments introduce a new layer of complexity that requires robust problem and incident management systems. A cloud-based KEDB allows IT teams to document, track, and manage known errors associated with cloud infrastructure and services, which are often provided by third-party vendors. These services may include SaaS applications, cloud storage, or infrastructure services like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.

Why KEDB is Essential for ITSM

A well-maintained Known Error Database is essential for organizations looking to optimize their IT Service Management (ITSM) processes. It serves as a centralized repository of documented known errors and workarounds, enabling IT teams to resolve incidents faster, maintain consistent service quality, and prevent unnecessary ticket escalation. 

For organizations that follow ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) or other ITSM frameworks, the KEDB plays a critical role in improving efficiency and overall service management.

For more insights on ITIL frameworks and best practices, explore our ITIL 4 Foundations Certification.