What is a workaround?
ITIL 4 Foundation, objective 7. Seven ITIL practices in detail medium
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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 A permanent fix applied under an emergency change to remove the cause of recurring incidents
That is a resolution, not a workaround. Once the cause is removed the problem is resolved and no workaround is needed.
Correct A solution that reduces or eliminates the impact of an incident or problem for which a full resolution is not yet available
Correct. A workaround addresses impact rather than cause, and it is legitimate precisely because a full resolution is not available — some workarounds also reduce how often incidents occur.
Not correct A record describing a problem that has been analysed but not yet resolved
That is a known error record. Workarounds are often documented in known error records, but the record is not the workaround.
Not correct A temporary reduction in the agreed service level, formally accepted by the customer
This describes a negotiated change to the service agreement, which is service level management territory. A workaround restores usable service without renegotiating what was promised.
Why
Workarounds are the practical bridge between problem management and incident management: documented in problem and known error records, they let the service desk restore service quickly on future incidents without repeating the diagnosis. They should be reviewed and improved over time, since a workaround can become the long-term answer.
Where this comes from
- Cited
- ITIL 4 syllabus clause 7
Practise this
Reading one question is not practice. The trainer will draw a short set from objective 7 and space the ones you get wrong.
More questions on this objective
- Which statement best describes what the incident management practice is intended to achieve? machine-checked
- How is an incident defined in ITIL? machine-checked
- Several incidents are open at once and the support team must decide which to work on first. On what basis should the order be decided? machine-checked
- A difficult incident is worked on by pulling several specialists from different teams into the same session at the same time; once it becomes clear who is best placed to continue, the others step away. What is this technique called? machine-checked
- Why does an organisation define a separate procedure for major incidents rather than handling them exactly like all other incidents? machine-checked
- A support team routinely fixes incidents by phone and updates the incident record only with the word 'fixed'. What is the most significant consequence of this? machine-checked