This blog post argues that while severity level classification is a helpful way to prioritize incidents during an incident response, traditional methods (like SEV 1-5) have limitations. It introduces tags as a more flexible and informative way to classify incidents.
Here are the key takeaways:
Classifying incidents by severity helps prioritize critical issues.
Traditional severity levels can be limited and lack nuance.
Tags allow for more specific and customizable classification.
Tags can be automated based on incident data.
Using tags can streamline incident routing to the right team member.
The blog post concludes by offering a scenario where an engineer uses tags to improve his on-call experience by automatically routing low-priority incidents to another team member. It emphasizes that tags are a powerful tool for a more efficient incident response process.
Understanding an incident’s impact on your customers and team is crucial for effective response. Severity level classification is a common approach to prioritizing incidents based on their urgency. However, traditional methods can be limiting.
This blog explores using tags to enhance severity level classification and streamline incident response. We’ll cover:
- Why incident classification is essential
- Limitations of traditional severity levels
- Using tags for flexible and informative classification
- An example: Auto-tagging incidents for efficient routing
The Significance of Incident Classification
When responding to incidents, grasping their impact on customers and your team is paramount. Incident classification, often implemented through severity levels, helps prioritize incidents effectively.
Here’s how it benefits you:
- Prioritization: Classifying incidents by severity ensures critical issues receive immediate attention.
- Stakeholder Communication: Classifications facilitate clear communication about incident severity to stakeholders.
- Improved Routing: Incident classification enables efficient routing to the most qualified team members.
Limitations of Traditional Severity Levels
While severity levels are a foundation, they have limitations:
- Limited Scope: Traditional classifications (e.g., SEV 1–5) may not capture urgency, broader system impact, or cascading effects.
- Manual Assignment: Assigning severity levels manually can be subjective and time-consuming.
Enhancing Classification with Tags
Tags offer a more flexible and informative approach to incident classification. Here’s why:
- Customization: Create tags specific to your needs, encompassing urgency, system impact, or other relevant factors.
- Automation: Automate tag assignment using rules based on incident data, reducing manual effort and improving consistency.
- Richer Context: Tags provide a more comprehensive picture of an incident, aiding better decision-making.
Using Tags for Streamlined Incident Routing: A Scenario
Imagine Kevin, an engineer on-call, bombarded with database incidents on a Friday afternoon. Most aren’t critical and fall outside his expertise in core system functionality. To improve efficiency and avoid disruptions to his weekend plans, Kevin implements tags for:
- Incident Type: e.g., “query_optimization”, “disk_failure”, “deadlock”
- Severity: e.g., “low”, “critical”
- Urgency: e.g., “immediate”, “investigate_later”
He creates rules to automatically assign these tags based on specific criteria in the incident data. For instance, a rule might assign a “critical” severity tag if a database cluster goes completely offline, impacting a large number of users.
Another rule might assign a “query_optimization” tag and “low” severity tag if the incident involves a slow-running query affecting a limited number of users, based on a threshold for the visited_returned_ratio metric.
With this system in place, Kevin can route incidents automatically. Critical incidents would still be sent to him, even if they involve databases. But low-severity query optimization incidents would be routed to Kai, the designated expert. This allows Kevin to focus on critical issues and enjoy a relaxing weekend, knowing less urgent tasks are handled efficiently.
This scenario is just a starting point. You can customize tags to fit your specific needs and environment. For example, you might include tags like “customer_facing” or “internal_api” to indicate which systems are affected.
Conclusion
Severity level classification is a cornerstone of incident response. However, traditional approaches have limitations. Tags offer a powerful alternative, enabling flexible, informative classification and automated routing for a more streamlined incident response process. By implementing a tag-based system, you can ensure critical incidents receive prompt attention while empowering your team to handle less urgent tasks efficiently.
Squadcast is an Incident Management tool that’s purpose-built for SRE. Get rid of unwanted alerts, receive relevant notifications and integrate with popular ChatOps tools. Work in collaboration using virtual incident war rooms and use automation to eliminate toil.
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