What is an IT incident manager?

IT incident management systematically identifies, assesses, and resolves disruptions in an organization's technical systems. These incidents can range from minor issues like software glitches to major problems like network outages. The primary goal of incident management is to minimize the impact on business operations and restore normal service as quickly as possible.

An incident manager is at the helm of these efforts, establishing effective protocol, thoughtfully distributing tasks, and guiding teams through the resolution process.

Today, we’ll examine the role that an incident manager plays within an organization, best practices for disruption mitigation, and how to continually refine management processes to improve future performance.

What is an incident manager?

An incident manager’s primary responsibility is to lead the IT team in promptly addressing and resolving any disruptions that arise within a company’s technical infrastructure. This involves establishing clear protocols for incident detection, response, and resolution.

They further serve as the central point of contact for updating key stakeholders, like senior management and other relevant parties. Additionally, incident managers are responsible for continually fine-tuning strategies, employing ongoing education, refining documentation, and evaluating new technologies. 

Where do incident managers fit within an IT organization?

Precise placement can vary depending on an organization’s size and structure, but incident managers typically report to higher-level IT management, such as the operations manager, service delivery manager, or director. 

Furthermore, they’ll collaborate with various teams regularly to ensure that incident management processes are comprehensively covered. They may work with support teams to resolve disruptions, security teams to ensure continuous technology safeguarding and service providers to verify uninterrupted system integrity.

Incident manager required skills

A competent incident manager should possess a desirable combination of level-headedness and people skills to properly perform their job duties. They’ll need to make crucial decisions, provide leadership, and communicate with team members under pressure to resolve incidents as quickly as possible.

Organization

Effective organization ensures that disruptions are managed systematically to reduce the impact on business operations. A well-organized incident manager can establish transparent workflows, prioritize tasks, and allocate resources effectively, ensuring that the response team stays coordinated throughout the incident resolution process.

Risk management

By mitigating IT risks before they escalate into incidents, incident managers can significantly reduce the likelihood and impact of disruptive events. Understanding risk also enables incident managers to prioritize resources effectively, focusing on areas with the highest potential for disruption. A firm grasp of risk management principles helps incident managers prepare for various scenarios, ensuring they’re better equipped to respond swiftly.

Problem-solving

When faced with an incident, managers must quickly assess the situation, gather relevant information, and determine the root cause of the problem. By employing critical thinking skills, they can develop creative solutions to address the underlying issues and mitigate the impact of the incident.

Communication

Unambiguous communication ensures that all relevant parties are promptly informed about the incident, its impact, and the ongoing response efforts. By maintaining open lines of communication, incident managers can coordinate activities, delegate tasks, and provide timely updates. Moreover, effective communication helps to manage stakeholder expectations, build trust, and mitigate the potential for confusion within the organization.

Decision-making

Incident managers must make rapid, yet well-informed decisions, to effectively manage disruptions and minimize damage caused. These decisions often involve prioritizing response activities, allocating resources, and determining appropriate courses of action. By making timely and decisive decisions, incident managers can maintain control of the situation, keep the response team focused, and mitigate the potential for escalation.

Collaboration

Managers should foster collaboration among technical teams, support staff, stakeholders, and external partners to ensure a cohesive response to incidents. By working with these stakeholders, incident managers can leverage the response team's collective knowledge, skills, and resources to address complex technical issues and minimize system downtime.

Incident manager required certifications

Requirements for employment will vary between organizations, but boasting an impressive array of degrees and/or certifications certainly won’t hurt your chances anywhere. Here are some relevant certifications that can improve your incident management skills.

Bachelor’s degree: A four-year degree from a reputable university serves as a solid foundation on which to build your knowledge and resume. Though most schools won’t offer education built specifically around incident management, a degree in IT, Cybersecurity, Information Systems Management, or other related fields can prepare you for success as an incident manager.

ITIL certification: The ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) Foundation certification provides a comprehensive understanding of IT service management principles, including incident management processes and best practices.

CISM certification: CISM (Certified Information Security Manager) certification validates expertise in information security management, which is crucial for incident managers dealing with security-related incidents.

GCIH certification: The GCIH (GIAC Certified Incident Handler) certification from GIAC (Global Information Assurance Certification) validates skills in detecting, responding to, and mitigating incidents.

Incident manager average salary

Acting as an incident manager is a demanding job that requires a diverse skill set, and the salary tends to reflect this degree of difficulty. Exact compensation will depend on variables such as in which state you reside, what industry you’re in, and how much experience you offer, but according to salary.com, the median rate in the United States is $132,547 per year. 

In San Francisco, where the cost of living is extremely high, the median jumps to $165,684 per year, while in Charleston, West Virginia, where expenses are more reasonable, it dips to $119,293. 

Entry-level incident managers should expect to start out somewhere in the $100,000 range, working their way up the pay scale as they continue to gain relevant experience.

Key activities an IT incident manager performs

The responsibilities of an incident manager may vary depending on the size of an organization, its industry, and the assets that it has at its disposal. That being said, some core components generally remain consistent across the incident management landscape.

• Training and development: The incident manager plays a key role in training the response team. This includes providing guidance on best practices, organizing training sessions, and facilitating knowledge sharing.

• Incident triage: When a disruption occurs, the manager is responsible for immediately assessing its impact. They’ll need to promptly gather information, analyze potential consequences, and determine the appropriate level of response.

• Escalation: Depending on the severity of the incident, managers may need to escalate the matter to higher levels of management or involve regulatory authorities. They’ll need to ensure that escalation procedures are followed and that the pertinent team members are involved at various stages.

• Resource allocation: Appropriate assets will need to be allotted to mitigate the damage caused by incidents; this duty is particularly important if a business is working with limited resources. This may include personnel, tools, and other assets needed to contain the incident effectively.

• Documentation: The incident manager is responsible for documenting all aspects of the response process, including actions taken, decisions made, and outcomes achieved. This reporting is essential for post-incident analysis, regulatory compliance, and legal purposes.

Tools incident managers use

There’s a plethora of digital tools available that can help incident managers unify procedures, automate monitoring, and collaborate more effectively.

Incident management platforms: These systems provide a centralized dashboard for managing incidents, including tracking, prioritizing, and resolving them. 

Monitoring and alerting tools: These tools can help detect abnormalities in IT infrastructure, distributing alerts to relevant parties when a potential issue is identified.

Communication tools: Platforms such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, or even dedicated incident communication applications like OpsGenie facilitate real-time communication among team members.

Automation tools: Automation software can expedite routine procedures such as system checks and configuration updates. They aim to enhance accuracy in incident response, reducing the likelihood of human errors.

Measuring incident manager’s performance

We’ve already touched on a few measures (MTTD and MTTR) that can be used to gauge an incident manager’s performance. Now, let’s go a little more in-depth, examining other vital KPIs and qualitative assessments that can assist in evaluating success.

Incident resolution rate: This metric evaluates the percentage of incidents that are successfully resolved within a specified timeframe. A high rate indicates effective disruption management and problem-solving skills, while a low rate suggests that there’s room for improvement.

Escalation rate: Managers should never hesitate to escalate when necessary, but a low escalation rate may signal that an individual possesses the necessary expertise to excel in a management role. 

Proactive prevention: The best defense is always a good offense, and a high number of preemptive resolutions is a fairly reliable indicator that a manager is attentive and fast-acting.

Documentation quality: Assessing the accuracy and thoroughness of incident documentation, including reports, post-mortems, and knowledge base entries, reflects the manager's commitment to maintaining accurate records.

Incident management safety and risk considerations

During system outages or failures, your technology is at a heightened state of vulnerability. Employing sound practices can help prevent more damage than what has already occurred, helping secure your sensitive data.

• Data security: Implement encryption, access controls, and other security measures to safeguard data from unauthorized use, especially during investigation and resolution.

• System stability: Take precautions to prevent additional downtime, such as conducting impact assessments and implementing temporary workarounds to ensure system stability and availability.

• Risk mitigation: Develop contingency plans to address high-risk scenarios effectively, including business continuity and disaster recovery measures.

• Regulatory compliance: Adhere to applicable regulations when handling IT disruptions. Ensure compliance with legal requirements while maintaining accurate records for auditing and reporting purposes.

Choose Freshservice for your IT  incident management needs

Incident management can be one of those things that businesses don’t consider much when they don’t need it, but once they do, it immediately becomes the most important department in their infrastructure. Don’t let your organization be caught off guard in this arena; extended downtime due to disruptions can lead to significant revenue loss, while also weakening confidence in your brand and its systems.

Freshservice acts as a robust incident management platform offering all the tools a manager needs, such as task management features post-incident reporting capabilities, robust automation capacity, and much more. Our advanced ticketing automation allows for easy prioritization of tickets based on urgency and potential impact to help identify the most pressing issues before they snowball. Furthermore, IT support and end-users alike appreciate our versatile knowledge base, empowering your agents to better address incidents and customers to resolve certain issues independently. 

One of our satisfied clients on G2 praises Freshservice’s incident management and self-service capabilities, saying, “It's intuitive, user-friendly, and offers a seamless experience for both IT teams and employees. Navigating through the portal is a breeze, making it incredibly easy for employees to submit their IT requests and incidents. The self-service options are particularly impressive; employees can find solutions to common issues without having to rely on IT support, saving both time and resources.”