Severity Categories
1. Introduction (For Clients & Partners)
Our Severity Categories define how we classify bugs and incidents based on their impact, urgency, and scope. By assigning a severity level, our teams can prioritize fixes efficiently and ensure that critical issues receive immediate attention. This transparent classification process helps clients and partners understand how we manage and resolve issues to maintain product stability and quality.
2. Who Is Involved
| Role | Involvement | Benefit for You |
|---|---|---|
| Product Manager | Reviews incident reports and ensures severity classifications align with business priorities. | Helps ensure that critical issues are prioritized and addressed swiftly. |
| Development Team | Analyzes bugs and assigns severity based on technical impact and potential risks. | Guarantees that resources are allocated based on the true impact of the issue. |
| QA/Testing Team | Validates the severity through comprehensive testing and quality assessments. | Provides assurance that issues are properly prioritized for resolution. |
| Stakeholders/Clients | Receive updates on critical incidents and the steps taken to resolve them. | Ensures transparency regarding how urgent issues are managed. |
3. Severity Categories Overview
Below are the primary severity levels we use to categorize incidents:
-
Critical (Severity 1):
- Definition: Issues that cause a complete system outage or critical functionality failure, severely impacting user operations.
- Response: Immediate attention with a hotfix deployed in the current sprint.
-
High (Severity 2):
- Definition: Issues that significantly impair functionality without completely halting operations.
- Response: Prioritized for resolution in the current or next sprint.
-
Medium (Severity 3):
- Definition: Issues that affect non-critical functionality or have a moderate impact on user experience.
- Response: Scheduled for resolution in upcoming sprints as resources allow.
-
Low (Severity 4):
- Definition: Minor issues, including cosmetic or trivial bugs, that have minimal impact on overall functionality.
- Response: Addressed during regular maintenance or backlog refinement sessions.
4. Process Flow / Diagram
Below is an overview of how severity categories are applied using double quotes for the Mermaid labels:
- Bug or Incident Reported: An issue is submitted through our reporting channels.
- Initial Triage & Assessment: Our teams perform a preliminary evaluation to determine the impact of the issue.
- Assign Severity Level: Based on the assessment, the issue is classified as Critical, High, Medium, or Low.
- Response Actions:
- Critical: Immediate hotfix.
- High: Prioritized for the current or next sprint.
- Medium: Scheduled for resolution in upcoming sprints.
- Low: Managed during regular backlog refinement.
5. FAQ
Q1: What are Severity Categories?
A1: Severity Categories are classifications that determine the urgency and impact of bugs or incidents, guiding our response and prioritization efforts.
Q2: Who determines the severity of an issue?
A2: The Development and QA teams conduct an initial triage, with oversight from the Product Manager to ensure alignment with business priorities.
Q3: How quickly are Critical issues addressed?
A3: Critical issues are given immediate attention and are typically resolved through a hotfix in the current sprint.
Q4: How does severity classification benefit clients?
A4: It provides clarity on our prioritization process, ensuring that the most impactful issues are resolved promptly to maintain product stability.
6. Next Steps and Additional Resources
- Bug Lifecycle: Learn more about how issues progress from reporting to resolution on our Bug Lifecycle page.
- Backlog Management: Discover our approach to managing and prioritizing reported issues on our Backlog Management page.
- Contact Us: For further questions or urgent concerns, please reach out via contact support or chat with our team on our website.