

Instead, a problem is a new ITSM entity - and a separate record in an ITSM software tool - created from recurring incidents. But, despite how some people might describe problems, incidents don’t change state in to problems. Problems, on the other hand, come from incidents such as these. B oth of these example issues (or incidents) are l ikely to be reported to the IT service desk - either by an affected person or a monitoring or event management tool - for resolution. F or example, a faulty laptop and an inaccessible business application are both classified as incidents. Ī n incident is an issue affecting one or more employee s, customer s, third part ies, business process es or service s, or an other entity that can be adversely affected by your organization’s technology - or technology-based services - not working as they should. Yet, there’s still confusion between the two - and the ITIL incident vs problem debate continues.Ī good starting point for clearing up the confusion is to really understand the difference between an incident and a problem, beyond the ITIL 4 definitions above, and how they are handled. V arious versions of ITIL books over the last 30 years have all explain ed the separate processes (or practices in ITIL 4) for incident management and problem management (and the differences). The Difference Between Dealing with Incident Management and Problem Management This is best explain ed by looking at how incidents and problems are dealt with in the ITIL best practice guidance. And, even if i t might sound straight forward, there’s still so much more to understand about the differences between problem and incident management and the ITIL 4 management practices related to them. You probably noticed that both of the problem-focused definitions also refer to incidents - which might only add to the confusion between the ITIL incident and problem terminology. Problem management = “ The practice of reducing the likelihood and impact of incidents by identifying actual and potential causes of incidents, and managing workarounds and known errors.” Incident management = “ The practice of minimizing the negative impact of incidents by restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible. ITIL best practices indicate the proper way to handle incident management vs. ” Problems are typically identified through the analysis of incident records and other ITSM data. Problem = “ A cause, or potential cause, of one or more incidents. ” Incidents are usually identified by end users and reported via telephone, email, or an IT self-service portal. Incident = “ An unplanned interruption to a service or reduction in the quality of a service. The latest AXELOS ITIL 4 Foundation Edition publication, which inc orporates ITIL 4 best practice s, offers up the following two definitions: When looking to differentiate ITIL incident vs problem management, there’s a need to start with what incident s and problem s are. What is the Difference Between Incident Management and Problem Management?

#Record it related incidents for enterprise plus
If you want to find out more about the difference between incidents and problems, plus ITIL incident vs problem management, then this blog is for you. After all, outside of ITSM and ITIL, if something isn’t right, then it might be called a problem. T his often stems from uncertainty over the terms incident and problem - with the two words perhaps used interchangeably. However, for others, the difference between incident and problem management is not so clear. įor some, this statement makes sense because in ITIL, incidents and problems are two different things. There’s much to learn about the difference between incident management and problem management in the ITIL body of IT S ervice M anagement (ITSM) best practice guidance.
