ITIL-4 - Understand 7 ITIL practices (43% of the exam) - Section 7.1

Explain incident management and problem management in detail, including the distinction between an incident, a problem, and a known error.

Explain incident management, whose purpose is to restore normal service operation as quickly as possible, and problem management, which reduces the likelihood and impact of incidents by managing problems and known errors through identification, control, and error control. Distinguish the goal of a fast workaround in incident management from root-cause analysis in problem management, which candidates frequently confuse.

Incident managementProblem managementKnown errorWorkaroundRoot cause

Practice question for this objective

Free sampleUnderstand 7 ITIL practiceshard

ITIL 4 describes three phases of activity in problem management. Which statement correctly identifies these phases and what error control specifically addresses?

AThe phases are logging, categorisation, and closure, and error control is the phase that formally closes each problem record once a workaround has been documented.
BThe phases are detection, diagnosis, and recovery, and error control is the phase that restores service to affected users as quickly as possible.
CThe phases are problem identification, problem control, and error control, and error control analyses problems to identify a workaround before any known error is recorded.
DThe phases are problem identification, problem control, and error control, and error control manages known errors and reassesses them for potential permanent resolution. Correct

Problem management comprises problem identification, problem control, and error control, with error control managing known errors and reassessing them for permanent resolution. ITIL 4 structures problem management into problem identification, problem control, and error control; error control manages known errors, keeps workarounds current, and reassesses them for a cost-justified permanent resolution.

Why A is wrong: This is tempting because logging and closure are common record activities, but ITIL 4 names problem identification, problem control, and error control as the phases, and error control is about managing known errors, not closing records.

Why B is wrong: This is tempting because these words sound operational, but rapid restoration is the goal of incident management, and these are not the three problem management phases defined in ITIL 4.

Why C is wrong: This names the correct three phases, which makes it tempting, but it misassigns the work: analysing to find a workaround sits in problem control, while error control manages the resulting known errors.

Why D is correct: This is correct: ITIL 4 lists problem identification, problem control, and error control, and error control manages known errors and periodically reassesses whether a permanent fix is justified.

See more ITIL-4 practice questions, answers explained.

Exam traps in Understand 7 ITIL practices

Answers that look right on this material and are not. Each one is a distractor from a different question in the ITIL-4 bank for this domain.

Incident management identifies and controls the underlying causes of failures, while problem management restores service to users as quickly as possible.
Why it is wrong: This swaps the two purposes; identifying underlying causes belongs to problem management, and rapid restoration belongs to incident management.
Hold off on any workaround until the root cause is fully understood, to avoid masking the underlying fault.
Why it is wrong: Understanding root cause is valuable, but delaying restoration contradicts the purpose of incident management, which prioritises returning service over waiting for a full diagnosis.
Hold the workaround until the root cause of Dev's profile failure has been fully diagnosed and permanently corrected
Why it is wrong: Tempting because permanent fixes feel thorough, but this delays restoration and misreads incident management, which prioritises speed of recovery over diagnosis; root-cause work belongs to problem management and must not block service restoration.

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