Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

What it is

Root cause analysis is a structured process to identify the fundamental cause of an issue, using methods like the five whys or a timeline review, so the fix prevents recurrence.

Why it matters

Fixing symptoms closes one ticket. Fixing the root cause closes every future ticket like it.

Best practices

1. Follow the evidence – LogsLogsTimestamped records of events a system emits as it runs., traces, diffs, and data, in that order.
2. Ask why until it's a system issue – Stop when you reach something you can change.
3. Share findings with support – So they recognize the pattern next time.

How Decimal helps

Decimal produces a cited root cause for technical tickets, which engineers can verify and act on instead of starting from scratch.