Major Incident Management: Complete Guide for 2025

May 20, 2025
12:57 pm

7 min read

In today’s digital world, businesses rely heavily on technology to run their daily operations. But issues can happen at any time. Sometimes they’re small—like forgetting an email password. Other times, they’re much bigger—such as a server crash that affects the entire company. While minor problems may only impact one person or a small team, major incidents can interrupt business and slow down important work.

That’s why major incident management is so important. It helps organizations respond quickly to serious issues, reduce their impact, and get systems back to normal as soon as possible.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about major incident management—what it is, examples, the step-by-step process, best practices, and how using the right software can make the process easier and more effective.

What is Major Incident Management?

Major incident management refers to the structured approach used to identify, manage, and resolve serious IT disruptions that significantly affect business operations, customer satisfaction, or revenue generation.

These types of incidents typically impact critical systems or a large user base and require immediate action to limit damage and restore services quickly. The main objective is to bring operations back to normal with minimal interruption to the business.

Two main characteristics define a major incident:

High Impact: It affects key services or systems and disrupts the work of multiple users, teams, or even the entire organization.
Urgency: It calls for fast, coordinated efforts due to the potential risk it poses to business continuity.

While these factors generally indicate a major incident, the actual classification can vary by company depending on its size, industry, or how much risk it’s willing to tolerate. What one organization sees as a major incident, another may view as a standard issue—making clear internal definitions and escalation procedures essential.

Examples of Major Incidents

Major incidents can take many forms depending on the nature of the business and its IT infrastructure. Here are some common examples across various organizations:

Network Disruptions A full or partial breakdown of internet or internal network access in one or more office locations. This type of incident can halt communication, limit access to essential systems, and affect productivity across multiple departments.
Critical Server Downtime When key servers crash or become unresponsive due to factors like hardware failure, software bugs, or power issues, it can cause service interruptions or even lead to data loss, especially if backups are outdated or unavailable.
Cybersecurity Threats Security-related incidents—such as phishing attacks, ransomware infections, or unauthorized access—can compromise sensitive data and disrupt normal workflows. For example, if employees start receiving suspicious emails, it may point to a larger phishing campaign that needs immediate attention.
Software or Platform Failures When essential applications—like cloud storage, email services, CRMs, or payment systems—experience downtime or slow performance, day-to-day business activities can grind to a halt. Delays in restoring these tools often result in missed deadlines or lost revenue.

Why Major Incident Management Matters

You might wonder—if your company already uses an incident tracking system, why is a separate process for major incidents necessary? Here’s why having a dedicated major incident management approach is so important:

1. Reduced Business Impact

A well-defined process allows teams to act quickly and restore services with minimal disruption.
Pre-assigned roles and clear action plans help resolve issues faster and avoid confusion during critical moments.
Preparedness measures—such as backup strategies and recovery protocols—can limit potential data loss and ensure business continuity.

2. Stronger IT Resilience

Reviewing each major incident after it’s resolved uncovers the underlying causes and system weaknesses.
These insights help IT teams build better defences and avoid repeat incidents.
Over time, this leads to stronger, more reliable IT systems that can handle unexpected challenges better.

3. Better Collaboration and Communication

Having predefined communication channels ensures that everyone—from the IT team to senior management—is kept in the loop.
When roles and responsibilities are clearly outlined, the response becomes more organized and effective.
Regular reviews and documentation also help share knowledge across teams and improve future responses.

Additional Benefits

With a focused approach to managing major incidents, organizations can also lower overall operational costs, improve compliance with industry standards, and strengthen data protection efforts.

9 Best Practices to Strengthen Major Incident Management

Effectively handling major incidents requires a proactive approach, streamlined collaboration, and the right systems in place. Below are nine tailored best practices that can significantly enhance your organization’s major incident management process:

1. Enable Multi-Channel Incident Reporting

Allow employees to report incidents using the communication tools they’re most comfortable with—whether it’s via phone, email, live chat, or even integrated chatbot systems. Choose the reporting method based on the urgency and type of incident, while aligning with internal protocols.

2. Clearly Define Incident Response Roles

Assign specific roles within your incident response framework to avoid confusion during critical moments. For example:

Incident Lead: Oversees the full incident lifecycle and manages coordination across teams.
System Experts: Provide deep technical insight into the malfunctioning service or system.
Communication Officers: Ensure updates are consistently relayed to stakeholders, end-users, and management.

3. Set Up Structured Escalation Paths

Design escalation guidelines that trigger appropriate responses depending on how severe or widespread the issue is. Ensure teams understand when and how to escalate incidents for quicker decision-making and faster intervention.

4. Maintain Open and Regular Communication

Frequent updates throughout the incident lifecycle help maintain transparency and trust. Keep all stakeholders informed about the progress, workaround options, and estimated resolution times through pre-defined communication channels.

5. Train Teams for Real-World Scenarios

Regularly educate your support teams and IT staff on how to use incident tracking tools and collaborate during high-pressure situations. Scenario-based training can better prepare them for real-time challenges.

6. Tailor Reports and Dashboards for Impact

Use customizable dashboards to showcase key incident metrics like resolution time, affected services, and user impact. Give different teams access to specific reports that help them make timely, data-informed decisions.

7. Integrate with Existing IT Infrastructure

Your incident management solution should work seamlessly with current systems like monitoring platforms, service desk tools, and asset databases. Integration improves visibility and accelerates response coordination.

8. Record and Analyze Every Major Incident

Thorough documentation of what happened, what was done, and what could be improved is critical. These post-incident insights help refine your process, reduce response times, and prevent future occurrences of the same issue.

9. Leverage Automation to Boost Efficiency

Automate routine alerts, ticket routing, incident detection, and even communication templates. Automation allows your team to focus on resolution rather than repetitive tasks, ultimately speeding up the recovery timeline.

Key Features to Look for in a Major Incident Management Software

Major incident management tools are designed to handle high-impact events with speed and precision. Unlike standard ticketing systems, they offer advanced capabilities that improve coordination, transparency, and recovery time. Below are the standout features that define an effective major incident management platform:

Unified Incident Dashboard
The software should offer a single, centralized interface where teams can log, monitor, and manage all incidents in real-time. This unified view ensures there’s no duplication or oversight during critical situations.
Multi-Channel Reporting Options
Robust platforms support incident reporting via multiple avenues—such as emails, live chat, online portals, SMS, or even automated system triggers—so users can flag issues in the most convenient way possible.
Simplified Incident Submission
A user-first design helps employees or customers report issues without friction. Smart forms, auto-filled fields, and built-in context gathering tools reduce the need for manual input and automatically notify the right stakeholders.
Intelligent Incident Sorting and Prioritization
Top-tier solutions use rules or AI to assess incident severity, categorize the issue type, and assign urgency levels. This helps IT teams respond to what matters most—faster.
Flexible Workflow Automation
Admins should be able to design custom workflows that define how incidents are assigned, escalated, and resolved. These automation rules streamline internal processes and reduce delays caused by human error.
Built-In Team Collaboration
Features like internal chat, shared timelines, and collaborative workspaces make it easier for cross-functional teams to troubleshoot together and stay aligned during incident response.
User Notification Tools
The platform should support outbound communications to users and stakeholders via multiple formats—such as email alerts, SMS updates, or notifications on a self-service portal—to keep everyone informed.
Pre-Built Message Templates
Ready-to-use communication templates help response teams quickly send consistent updates, reducing miscommunication and maintaining calm during stressful events.
Advanced Incident Analytics
Generate in-depth reports that track incident frequency, response time, resolution effectiveness, and team performance. These insights are invaluable for identifying bottlenecks and improving over time.
Built-In RCA Tools
Look for features that assist in Root Cause Analysis (RCA), allowing teams to dig deeper into recurring problems and uncover long-term solutions instead of temporary fixes.
Seamless Integration with IT Ecosystem
The software should easily connect with your current stack—monitoring tools, asset management databases (CMDBs), ITSM platforms, and alerting systems—for a more connected incident response process.
Mobile-Friendly Access
Whether your team is on-site or remote, mobile access to the platform ensures they can receive alerts, view updates, and act on incidents from anywhere, without delay.
Strong Data Protection Measures
Given the sensitivity of incident-related information, the platform must have enterprise-grade security protocols in place—covering encryption, access control, and audit trails—to keep data safe and compliant.

Elevate Major Incident Management with Asset Management 365

At Asset Management 365, we understand the critical role major incident management plays in keeping your business running smoothly and maintaining customer trust. Our platform empowers IT teams to quickly detect, assess, and resolve high-impact incidents—reducing downtime and ensuring continuity.

Here’s how Asset Management 365 helps your IT team take control of major incidents:

1. Built-in Automation to Speed Up Response

Our solution uses intelligent automation to detect, group, and prioritize incidents automatically. This reduces the need for manual intervention, enabling your team to focus on resolution rather than sorting and assigning tickets.

2. In-Depth Incident Insights

Identify trends, recurring issues, and impacted areas with detailed analytics. Asset Management 365 allows you to filter incidents by severity, location, and other custom attributes—helping you improve response plans and avoid future disruptions.

3. Trigger-Free Incident Workflows

Set up workflows that automatically respond to incident creation, updates, or priority changes. These workflows can assign the right teams, trigger actions in integrated systems like Azure AD, Okta, and BambooHR, and keep the resolution process running smoothly—without needing manual input to get started.

4. Keep Stakeholders in the Loop

Maintain clear and timely communication with end-users and key stakeholders during every stage of an incident. Asset Management 365 enables centralized incident tracking and coordinated updates, so everyone stays informed until resolution.

5. Grow Your Knowledge Base with Each Incident

Employees can enrich incident reports with attachments like screenshots, documents, or logs—making every incident an opportunity to learn and improve. This builds a stronger internal knowledge base and supports quicker resolutions over time.

Conclusion

Effectively managing major incidents is vital for any business that relies on IT systems. With Asset Management 365, your team gains the tools and workflows needed to act fast, collaborate better, and reduce the impact of critical disruptions.

Take Control of Major Incidents—Before They Escalate

Want to prevent major incidents from derailing your operations? Get in touch with us today—Asset Management 365 is ready to help your team stay one step ahead.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Major Incident Management?

Major Incident Management is the process of responding to high-priority IT incidents that cause significant disruption to business operations. These incidents require immediate attention, fast resolution, and often cross-team coordination to restore services as quickly as possible.

How is a major incident different from a normal incident?

A major incident typically involves a critical system outage, impacts many users or services, and has a significant business impact. Normal incidents are less severe, affecting fewer users or services and can be handled through routine support processes.

Who is responsible for managing a major incident?

A Major Incident Manager (MIM) or a designated incident response team is responsible for coordinating the resolution process. This includes communication with stakeholders, leading technical teams, documenting progress, and ensuring a timely resolution.

What steps are involved in the Major Incident Management process?

The typical steps include:

Identification and classification
Notification and escalation
Investigation and diagnosis
Resolution and recovery
Post-incident review (PIR)
These steps help ensure the incident is resolved quickly and lessons are learned to prevent future issues.