Part 1 - The Foundational Deliverables (The AB Grade Requirement)

The first phase of the project was to create the required content, ensuring correct classification and process alignment. This phase demonstrated our mastery of the Knowledge Management fundamentals and established the foundation for more advanced features.

Three Standard Knowledge Articles for End Users

These articles were written in clear, non-technical language to empower doctors and nurses with self-service solutions and correct reporting procedures. The topics were directly aligned with the most frequent and high-impact incidents observed in Part 1, such as What To Do When the EHR System Is Slow and How to Report an Issue to IT Support.

Three Known Error Articles for IT Support

These high-value technical documents were derived directly from the Problem Management root causes identified in the previous assignment. They covered issues like Short EHR Outage During High Load and Database Connection Errors, and included the necessary Cause and Workaround fields. This enabled the Service Desk to restore services quickly without involving Level 2 support.

Process Compliance

All six articles were created using the correct Standard or Known Error templates, were peer-reviewed for clarity, and were correctly moved to the Published state. This demonstrated end-to-end process execution and adherence to organizational knowledge management standards.

Part 2 - Advanced Features and Strategic Integration (The A Grade Achievement)

To move beyond a Very Good execution, we integrated strategic links, proving our comprehensive understanding of the Knowledge Management ecosystem. Our team achieved three of the four available A-Grade enhancement requirements.

Linking Configuration Items

We connected our Known Error articles directly to the specific infrastructure components responsible for the failure. For example, we linked the Database Not Responding Error article to the EHR Database Server Configuration Item. This instantly provides Service Desk staff with context on which infrastructure piece is impacting the user, drastically reducing diagnostic time.

Linking to Problem and Incident Records

Each Known Error article was linked to the originating Problem record and related Incident records from Part 1. For example, we linked specific incidents where staff were unable to log in to the corresponding Known Error. This creates a full audit trail, confirming that the knowledge is a genuine solution derived from historical operational data.

Utilizing Related Articles

We established a network of help by linking relevant knowledge records. For example, we linked the How to Report an Issue guide to the System Slowness guide. This improves user experience and ensures users are guided to the most relevant information without having to perform additional searches.

Reflection

Week 16 was the most strategic part of the course. The assignment validated the principle that Knowledge Management is not an optional clerical task. It is the ultimate feedback loop for IT Service Management. By converting our technical fixes into accessible documentation and systematically integrating them with the CMDB and Problem records, we demonstrated how Knowledge contributes directly to service stability.

Our work drove down repeat incidents and built a powerful foundation for continuous service improvement - the hallmark of a mature IT organization. Through this final project, I understood that true ITSM maturity is not measured by how quickly we fix problems, but by how effectively we prevent them from recurring.