--- title: "Known Errors Need CIs: Stopping The Same Outage Twice" description: A known error that isn't linked to CIs is documentation nobody finds. Linked to the right CIs, it warns the service desk and the change board in time. image: https://www.apexconfiguration.com/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/Collaborative%20Office%20Moment%20at%20Service%20Desk.png --- [![APEX CONFIGURATION GROUP](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Act3%20child/images/ACG-logo.png?width=135&height=93&name=ACG-logo.png "APEX CONFIGURATION GROUP")](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/) [![APEX CONFIGURATION GROUP](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Act3%20child/images/ACG-logo.png?width=135&height=93&name=ACG-logo.png "APEX CONFIGURATION GROUP")](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/) - [Home](https://www.apexconfiguration.com) - ServiceNow - [ServiceNow CMDB](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/servicenow-cmdb) - [CMDB Health Check](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-health-check) - [CMDB Design & Implementation](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-design-implementation) - [Managed Service](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/managed-cmdb-services) - [Automation & Optimisation](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-automation-tools) - Maximising ServiceNow - [CMDB Health Dashboard](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-health-dashboard-servicenow) - [CMDB Dependency Mapping](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-relationship-table) - [CMDB Configuration Items](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-configuration-items) - [CMDB Workspace](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-workspace-servicenow) - [CMDB Best Practice](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-best-practices) - [ServiceNow Discovery](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/servicenow-discovery-setup) - [Service Mapping](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/servicenow-service-mapping) - About - [How We Help](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/about-apex) - [What is a CMDB?](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/what-is-cmdb) - [Benefits](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/benefits-of-cmdb) - Resources - [Blog](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/blog) - [Contact Us](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/contact-us) [Contact Us](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/contact-us) [Contact Us](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/contact-us) - [Home](https://www.apexconfiguration.com) - ServiceNow - [ServiceNow CMDB](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/servicenow-cmdb) - [CMDB Health Check](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-health-check) - [CMDB Design & Implementation](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-design-implementation) - [Managed Service](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/managed-cmdb-services) - [Automation & Optimisation](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-automation-tools) - Maximising ServiceNow - [CMDB Health Dashboard](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-health-dashboard-servicenow) - [CMDB Dependency Mapping](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-relationship-table) - [CMDB Configuration Items](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-configuration-items) - [CMDB Workspace](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-workspace-servicenow) - [CMDB Best Practice](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-best-practices) - [ServiceNow Discovery](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/servicenow-discovery-setup) - [Service Mapping](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/servicenow-service-mapping) - About - [How We Help](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/about-apex) - [What is a CMDB?](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/what-is-cmdb) - [Benefits](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/benefits-of-cmdb) - Resources - [Blog](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/blog) - [Contact Us](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/contact-us) [Contact Us](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/contact-us) [tel:+442080588135](tel:+442080588135)[mailto:contact@apexconfiguration.com](mailto:contact@apexconfiguration.com) [CMDB](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/blog/tag/cmdb)[CMDB Data Quality](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/blog/tag/cmdb-data-quality) [ServiceNow](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/blog/tag/servicenow)[Incident Management](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/blog/tag/incident-management)[Problem Management](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/blog/tag/problem-management) # Known Errors Need CIs: Stopping The Same Outage Twice [![Krzysztof Chrzanowski](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/hs-fs/hubfs/krzysztof-chrzanowski.webp?width=40&height=40&name=krzysztof-chrzanowski.webp)](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/blog/author/krzysztof-chrzanowski) by [Krzysztof Chrzanowski](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/blog/author/krzysztof-chrzanowski) 5 min read Oct 10, 2026, 9:00:01 AM Last updated on 10 Oct 2026, 09:00:01 A known error only prevents a repeat outage if it's linked to the configuration items (CIs) it affects. Linked properly in the configuration management database (CMDB), it appears when the service desk logs an incident against one of those CIs, when someone raises a change against one, and when a new device with the same model or version is discovered. Left unlinked, it's an article in a knowledge base that the people about to repeat the outage will never open. Problem management has done the hard work of finding the cause. The CMDB is what puts that knowledge in front of the next person to touch the component. ## Key Takeaways - A known error only prevents a repeat outage if it's linked to the CIs it affects. Then it appears when an incident or change names one of them, and when a new device with the same model or version is discovered. - Known errors usually fail in one of three ways. Nobody finds them, they're linked to the service instead of the component, or they don't follow the defect to new devices. - At an IT services organisation, a second outage of the same kind led the customer to invoke a contract clause and leave. The lesson from the first incident existed, but it wasn't attached to the infrastructure where the next change was made. - Link each known error to the specific CIs affected, to the defining attributes such as model, firmware or software version, and to the services above them. - Show the known error on incidents and changes, and check newly discovered CIs against open known errors. - Close a known error only when every linked CI shows the fixed version. This article covers why known errors fail to prevent repeats, what a repeat can cost, and how to link known errors to CIs so they surface at the moment they're needed. If you want the background first, our guide to [configuration management databases and what they contain](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/what-is-cmdb) explains CIs, attributes and relationships. ## Why known errors don't stop repeat incidents Most known errors fail in one of three ways, and none of them is a problem-solving failure. **Nobody finds them.** The known error is written up and published, but it's only discoverable by searching for the right words. An engineer under pressure searches for the symptom they're seeing, which may not be the one in the article. **They're linked to the service, not the component.** A known error against a business service tells you the service has a problem. It doesn't tell you which of the forty servers underneath it carries the defect, or that three other services use the same component. **They don't follow the defect.** The defect lives in a firmware version, a software release or a model of hardware. When a new device with that version is deployed, nothing connects it to the known error. Each of these is fixed by linking the known error to CIs, and to the attributes that identify every CI carrying the same defect. ## What a repeat outage can cost At an IT services organisation with an estate of around seven million CIs, a development environment had been mapped to infrastructure that also hosted production. A low-risk change against the development environment took production down. What made it expensive was that it had happened before. The same kind of outage had already hit the same customer. This time the customer invoked a clause in its contract and left. A first outage is a failure. A second outage of the same kind is a failure to use what the first one taught you. The lesson from the first incident existed. It just wasn't attached to the infrastructure where the next change would be made. We fixed the underlying mapping with custom pattern extensions and top-down, pattern-based scanning, so the environments reflected how the application really ran. ## Linking known errors to CIs properly A well-linked known error connects to three kinds of configuration data. | Link | What it does | | --- | --- | | The specific CIs affected | Surfaces the known error and its workaround when an incident or change names one of them | | The defining attributes, such as model, firmware or software version | Identifies every other CI carrying the same defect, including ones discovered later | | The services above the affected CIs | Tells service owners they're exposed, even if they haven't had the incident yet | The second row is the one most organisations skip. It's also the one that stops the defect spreading, because it matches on what the device is rather than which device it happens to be. ## Making known errors appear at the right moment These are the controls we set up so a known error reaches the person who needs it, without them having to look. 1. **Link every known error to its CIs before it's published.** Make the affected CIs a required part of the known error record. A known error with no CIs goes back to the problem manager. 2. **Record the defining attributes.** Note the model, firmware or software version that carries the defect, and run a report of every CI that matches. Link those too. This depends on the attributes being populated, which our page on [CMDB configuration items](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-configuration-items) covers. 3. **Surface it on incidents.** When the service desk logs an incident against a linked CI, show the known error and its workaround on the incident. The first responder gets the answer without searching. 4. **Surface it on changes.** When a change names a linked CI as affected, flag it to the requester and the change advisory board. A change that touches a component with an open known error deserves a second look. 5. **Check new CIs against open known errors.** When Discovery adds a CI whose attributes match an open known error, link it and tell its owner. 6. **Retire known errors using the CMDB.** Close a known error only when every linked CI shows the fixed version. The CMDB tells you whether the fix has actually reached everything, rather than whether someone said it had. These steps depend on incidents being resolved against the right CI in the first place. We cover that in [why problem management can't find root cause without a CMDB](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/blog/problem-management-root-cause-cmdb). ## Measuring whether known errors are working Track these as key performance indicators (KPIs): - Known errors with at least one linked CI, and with defining attributes recorded - Incidents matched to a known error at the time they were logged - Changes flagged because an affected CI carried an open known error - Incidents on a known defect after the known error was published The last measure is the one that matters most. Every incident on it is an outage the organisation already knew how to prevent. For how the change side uses the same relationships, see [why change impact analysis is only as good as your CMDB](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/blog/change-impact-analysis-cmdb). ## How Apex helps Our data quality assessment measures your CMDB against weighted critical success factors, KPIs and metrics, including the attributes and relationships that known errors depend on. It shows where known errors can't reach the CIs they describe, and why. It's scoped at an initial consultation against your estate. For a quick, scored view, our two-week CMDB health baseline tells you which CIs are trustworthy and which are guesses, in a report you can take to your change advisory board. [Book a CMDB diagnostic call](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/cmdb-diagnostic-call) or [arrange a meeting with one of our consultants](https://www.apexconfiguration.com/book-a-meeting). ## Frequently asked questions ### Why should known errors be linked to CIs? So they appear automatically when someone logs an incident or raises a change against an affected CI. Without the link, the known error only helps someone who already knows to search for it. ### Should known errors link to specific CIs or to attributes? Both. Specific CIs cover the devices known to be affected. Attributes such as firmware or software version identify every other CI with the same defect, including ones added later. ### When should a known error be closed? When every linked CI shows the fixed version. Use the CMDB to confirm the fix has reached everything, rather than closing on the first successful deployment. ### Can a known error warn the change advisory board? Yes. 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