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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How these questions are written — where each question comes from, what the verification ledger records, and what happens when one is found wrong.
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
Practise this
Reading one question is not practice. The trainer will draw a short set from objective 6 and space the ones you get wrong.
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