How is an incident defined in ITIL?
ITIL 4 Foundation, objective 7. Seven ITIL practices in detail easy
Draft — not checked yet. This question was written from the published exam objectives and cites the clause it comes from, but nobody has yet read it against that clause and signed for it.
It is kept out of search results and out of mock exams until they have. Read the source below before you take the answer as settled.
The options
Not correct A cause, or potential cause, of one or more incidents
That is the definition of a problem. A problem is the underlying condition; an incident is the visible loss of service the condition produces.
Correct An unplanned interruption to a service, or a reduction in the quality of a service
Correct. Note the second half: full outage is not required. A service that still runs but has degraded below its agreed quality is already an incident.
Not correct A request from a user that initiates a service action agreed as a normal part of service delivery
That is a service request. Nothing has failed; the user is asking for something the provider has already agreed to supply routinely.
Not correct The addition, modification, or removal of anything that could have a direct effect on services
That is the definition of a change. Changes are planned interventions, whereas an incident is by definition unplanned.
Why
The definition has two limbs — unplanned interruption and reduction in quality — and the second is the one candidates forget. A slow but functioning service that breaches its agreed performance is an incident, not merely a complaint.
Where this comes from
- Cited
- ITIL 4 syllabus clause 7
- What it says
- An incident is an unplanned interruption to a service or reduction in the quality of a service.
Practise this
Reading one question is not practice. The trainer will draw a set from objective 7 and space the ones you get wrong.