What is an incident in ITSM?

An incident is an unplanned interruption or degradation of an IT service, with a goal of rapid restoration.

What is a problem in ITSM?

A problem is the underlying cause of one or more incidents, focusing on root cause analysis and prevention.

Difference Between Incidents, Problems, and Requests

Q: What is a service request?

A service request is a formal user request for something new, such as access, information, or a standard change.

In ITSM, incidents, problems, and requests describe different types of work. Understanding the difference helps teams classify tickets correctly, set expectations, and design effective workflows.

What Is an Incident?

An incident is an unplanned interruption or degradation of an IT service. The goal is to restore normal service as quickly as possible.

What Is a Problem?

A problem is the underlying cause of one or more incidents. Problem management focuses on root cause analysis and long-term fixes.

What Is a Service Request?

A service request is a formal request from a user for something new—such as access, information, or a standard change (for example, a new laptop or software access).

Why the Distinction Matters

Different priorities and SLAs apply to each type
Incidents focus on speed; problems focus on prevention
Requests often follow predefined workflows and approvals

Examples

Incident: Email service is down for all users
Problem: Mail server bug causing repeated outages
Request: New mailbox for a team member

Industry Insight

Atlassian notes that clear separation of incidents, problems, and requests improves reporting and process optimization.

Learn ITIL Concepts

ITIL terminology is documented on Wikipedia.

How TicketingNext Supports ITIL Processes

TicketingNext lets you model incidents, problems, and requests with distinct workflows and SLAs. See TicketingNext features or explore use cases.

Need clearer classification? Contact our team.