Finding the Root Cause of an IT Problem

September 8, 2016 8:00 am

Do you ever think you have gotten rid of a computer virus just to find your computer acting the same way as it did when you had the virus? We have all been there. The reason why this happens is usually because you have actually taken care of the symptoms rather than the actual root cause. Because this is such a common issue, we have decided to go through a few steps to help you find out the root issue to your IT problem and how to prevent them from reoccurring.

We have combined a few steps to help analyze the root cause. Read along to find out.

  1. Find out what the issue is.

You have to first figure out what the symptoms are in order to figure out what the problem is.  For example, if your computer is infected, ask yourself, “why is it infected?” You may figure out that it is because your malware program is outdated.

  1. Find out why the problem exists.

This step doesn’t necessarily give you the root cause of your IT problem but, it could definitely be a first step direction to it. In continuation with the first example, here are a few questions you can ask yourself to figure it out: (a.) “Why is my antimalware outdated?” Maybe you simply didn’t update the program. (b.) “Why didn’t I update it?” Maybe you forgot to, or the program didn’t offer one. (c.) “Why didn’t the program offer an update?” Maybe there is no longer an update for this version of malware program.

  1. Find out the root cause.

Once you have figured out all the reasons why this problem exists, you are able to determine what the root cause is. Using the example, once you have figured out that you malware program no longer offers an update, you may wonder “why doesn’t it offer an update?” and through research find out that the service company may no longer exist. This means that the virus system kept coming back because you have a program that is no longer working for your system.

After figuring out the root problem, it’s important to design a plan to prevent the problem from returning. Maybe, after you figure out that you need to download a new malware, you can design a maintenance plan to remember to check for updates and to see if your malware program is still relevant.

If you need help figuring out what the root cause of your IT problem is, or you need help designing a solution for your problem, contact M&H.

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