What is an Issue Tracking System (ITS) and How Does it Work?

Dealing with issues is a part of almost every business. Whether it’s a bug, a customer complaint, or a project glitch, it’s inevitable and needs to be tackled effectively.

So, what would keep businesses organized in such situation? That’s where an Issue Tracking System (ITS) steps in. From tracking to managing issues, it keeps the situation well-regulated.

In this blog, we will talk about what an Issue Tracking System is and how it actually works.

Let’s find it out!

Issue Tracking System (ITS): How does it work?

Let’s explain the matter to you in a step-by-step approach.

Step: 01

Customers or team members submit issues to the platform in the opening stage. The issues could be anything like bugs, feature requests, or problems that need to be resolved.

Commonly, the platform operates through a ticketing process where every issue or inquiry converts into a ticket. Here, the issues can arise from various communication channels like support portal, email, live chat, etc.

Usually, each issue contains a description, priority level, category, and other relevant details. Plus, an Issue Tracking System generates a unique ID (per issue) for easy tracking.

Step: 02

Once an issue is submitted to the platform as a ticket, it’s time for issue categorization. Here, every issue is categorized based on its nature and urgency.

In the issue creation phase, an issue reporter could categorize the priority level of an issue as normal, medium, or critical. After submission, the support or development team assesses an issue’s details and sets the priority level according to their preferences.

Deploying this categorization, your team members could give attention to high-priority issues promptly and handle low-priority issues in a timely manner or schedule them for later resolution.

Moreover, this categorization helps you allocate your resources effectively for issues. For instance, the right person or team can take ownership of an issue.

Step: 03

After successful submission and categorization, it’s time to assign the issue. At the beginning of this step, either an individual or a group of experts see the full picture of an issue.

Then the ownership of the issue is assigned to the right person or a team of experts. Here, the assignment of an issue depends mainly on its simplicity or complexity.

In terms of a simple and well-defined issue, the responsibility is often assigned to an individual team member with the expertise to handle it efficiently.

Again, for a more complex or critical issue, it is escalated to higher-level support or handed over to a team of experts to tackle it collaboratively.

Sure thing—this assignment clarifies responsibilities and quickens the resolution time.

Step: 04

Here comes the fourth step, the investigation phase. This phase sets the stage for issue resolution. It’s a bit like detective work—you need to look at all the evidence (clues) and make sense of it.

To elaborate, the assigned person or team dives into the details of an issue. The main task is to identify the root cause of issues and brainstorm possible solutions.

To ease this step, the assigned party looks at the related documentation, review logs, or error messages related to the issue. Sometimes, they need to collaborate with other team members or departments to gather better insights.

Again, if the issue is technical or software-related, they might try to recreate it within their controlled test environment. Rolling this out will help them better understand the issue’s behavior without disturbing the main system or inconveniencing users.

The whole investigation process needs to be proceeded correctly. A well-planned investigation helps to identify the most efficient approach to solving an issue.

Also, the assigned individual or team documents all the findings or observations. This ensures transparency, future reference, and a clear picture of what’s happening with an issue.

Step: 05

Once the root cause is identified and a possible solution is determined, it’s time for the real action—resolving the issue. In the resolution phase, the assigned party needs to move from detective to resolution maestro.

Like the investigation stage, the issue resolver party might communicate with other team members or the customer to gather more information.

Here, the assigned authority works on developing a fix or constructing a solution to the identified problem. Based on the issue’s characteristics, the solution might involve some code changes, configuration updates, or even tweaking the process for better fixing.

But hold on. It’s not just fixing calling it a day. It’s a back-and-forth process.

Once the resolution tasks are completed, it’s necessary to proceed with testing. Usually, the fix is tested in a controlled environment to make sure it works properly and won’t create any new problems.

If the fix passes the test, awesome! It’s ready for the next phase. If something is still not quite right, the issue is sent back for adjustments and retesting.

It’s all about making sure the problem is completely solved, and the system is running smoothly.

In this resolution phase, the individual or team of experts needs to input the current status of the issue in the tracking system, including progress updates, action taken, test results, and any notes for team communication.

Step: 06

You may label this step as the quality checkpoint. In this phase, an issue needs to undergo the review and approval procedure to make sure the resolution meets the necessary standard.

To begin, a designated reviewer or team assesses the fix to determine whether it aligns with quality standards, checks the necessary documentation, and double-checks every necessary piece of stuff to ensure nothing is missed.

It’s like tuning an instrument before a concert to ensure everything sounds right before the show begins.

If the review is satisfactory, the designated team or individual gives it a final thumbs-up for approval. The thumbs-up suggests that the resolution is approved and prepared for deployment.

FYI, the review phase might need extra steps or the involvement of senior team members in terms of more complicated cases.

Step: 07

After the approval, here comes the 7th step, the end phase. Here an issue gets deployed and officially logged as closed in the system.

While deploying, the fix is added to the main system if its software program matters. This type of fix let’s all users reap the benefits. The designated individual or team might conduct a final review to ensure everything is working seamlessly after the deployment. It’s a wise move!

Again, for non-software issues, the solution is deployed as needed.

Once it’s done, the designated party updates the issue’s status to “closed” in the Issue Tracking System and notifies all the relevant parties. Closing an issue signals that it’s been fully taken care of and has nothing to do with it.

Step: 08

After the end phase—deploying and closing an issue—there is one more step. Consider this step as wrapping up and learning from the experience.

Here, the responsible party documents everything and gathers feedback. This phase ensures continuous learning and process improvement.

Firstly, the responsible party documents all key details of the issue, including the resolution steps and challenges faced by the resolver. Additionally, they gather and record insights gained during the process.

In case of a major or complicated issue, the documentation group or responsible party might go the extra mile. In this regard, they need to conduct a post-mortem analysis for a deeper review.

This type of documentation can become part of the knowledge base. It might serve as a library for future reference for the issue resolver.

Next, the responsible party might contact the reporter or customer who reported the issue to ask for feedback. This is crucial as it shows whether the solution meets the reporter’s needs or whether the reporter is satisfied with the resolution.

Plus, feedback gives the team ideas on how to improve the resolution process.

With documentation and feedback, the process of tracking an issue can finally be closed—that’s it!

Wrapping up

So, we are confident that you do have a clear grasp of the Issue Tracking System. Now it’s your time to pick the best software system for tracking and managing your issues (if needed).

First-rate Issue Tracking Software will surely be a task-simplifying tool for your customer service team, ensuring your business remains organized in such situations.

That’s all for today. Thanks for your time reading this blog.