The lifecycle of a support case -- be it an Incident (INC), Cloud Change (CC), Existing Hotfix (HF), or Other need (SR) --  follows a prescribed process at Pega.

This article describes the lifecycle of the Incident (INC), the most complex type of support case. The other types of support cases have a similar but simpler lifecycle.

Support engineers take complete responsibility of an incident, which starts with ownership of the case followed by the triage process. During the triage process, the support engineer clarifies the reported problem and all the associated details and qualifies the problem by collecting and examining case artifacts such as log files, screenshots, and documents.

After completing the triage process (incident clarification and qualification), the support engineer starts the research phase (root cause analysis) and seeks to find a solution or one or more suggested approaches for resolving the problem.

The support engineer's primary focus is to restore the system to an operational state. When the incident enters the resolution phase, the support team might provide both a short-term solution and a long-term solution, such as a patch release.

Assign

In the Assign stage of the Incident (INC) lifecycle, a frontline support engineer assigns the INC to a support team, if that frontline support engineer does not immediately resolve the issue as a known problem. Depending on the issue and its severity, the frontline engineer might direct you, the client reporting the incident, to the Pega Community and the Pega Support Center (PSC) to complete self-service support, as described in Support self-service offerings.

The support team leader assigns the INC to a support engineer, who is responsible for the case until its resolution. The INC assignee begins the next stages of the INC lifecycle.

Clarify

In the Clarify stage, the support engineer acquires all the required information for the INC: Client Information, Issue Summary, Product information, Client Environment information, Business Impact, and other basics about the case.

Qualify

In the Qualify stage, the support engineer collects additional relevant supporting information that might be needed for the case. This additional information provides the details that are required to conduct investigation of the INC: screenshots, log files, documents, and other information.

Research

In the Research stage, the support engineer works with you, the client, in performing root cause analysis of the problem that you reported. Iterative cycles of collaborative investigation lead to resolution of your case.

Resolve

During the Resolution stage, the support engineer works with you, the Pega client, until the INC is resolved to your satisfaction. 

The INC is resolved when you, the Pega client, accept the solution given to you. The case Resolution can be any one of the following types: Explanation, Resolved Completed, Pega Platform Patch Release, Hotfix, or an Enhancement Request.