An Incident is an unplanned interruption to an IT Service or a reduction in the quality of an IT service. Failure of a Configuration Item that has not yet impacted service is also an Incident. Example: Failure of one disk from a mirror set, unable to send mails using MS Outlook, slow systems, virus attack in the organization network, etc. | A Problem refers to an underlying issue that could have led to rise of multiple Incidents by different End Users related to some common errors or issues. Example: Multiple Users having issues sending mails at the same time using MS Outlook is a Problem. |
An Incident needs to be resolved immediately. This can either be through a permanent fix, a workaround, or a temporary fix. | A Problem can be handled in the following ways: - Do nothing: If the Problem does not affect the business or if the cost of fixing the Problem exceeds its benefits.
- Deploy workaround: If the determination of root cause exceeds the benefits.
- Determine root cause and fix the Problem: if the benefit is worth it.
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Incident Management is fire-fighting, where the aim is to bring the service back to track. | Problem Management involves deeper analysis to understand the root cause of the issues and find a permanent resolution (in most cases) or provide a workaround. |