Which pair correctly matches the ITIL 4 definitions of 'incident' and 'problem'?
ITIL 4 Foundation, objective 6. Purpose and key terms of 15 ITIL practices easy
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The options
Not correct An incident is any change of state significant to service management; a problem is a repeated incident
A change of state significant to service management is an event. A problem is not defined by repetition — a single incident can have a problem behind it, and a problem may cause no incident yet.
Not correct An incident is a cause of service disruption; a problem is the disruption that users experience
This reverses the two terms. The user-visible disruption is the incident; the cause is the problem.
Not correct An incident is a problem that has been analysed but not resolved; a problem is an unresolved incident
A problem that has been analysed but not resolved is a known error, not an incident. Neither half of this pairing matches the definitions.
Correct An incident is an unplanned interruption to a service or reduction in its quality; a problem is a cause, or potential cause, of one or more incidents
Correct. This is the definitional split: the incident is the effect the user feels, the problem is the cause behind it, and a problem can exist before any incident has occurred.
Why
The word 'potential' in the problem definition matters: a problem does not require that an incident has already happened. That is what allows proactive problem management. Note also that severity is not part of either definition — a low-impact interruption is still an incident.
Where this comes from
- Cited
- ITIL 4 syllabus clause 6
- What it says
- An incident is an unplanned interruption to a service or reduction in service quality; a problem is a cause, or potential cause, of one or more incidents.
Practise this
Reading one question is not practice. The trainer will draw a set from objective 6 and space the ones you get wrong.