Incidents

What Is an Incident?

An incident is defined as any unplanned interruption to an IT service or a reduction in the quality of that service. The ITIL framework describes incidents as events where a service is not functioning as expected or its performance is degraded, impacting users’ ability to carry out normal business activities.

Core Characteristics:

Common Incident Examples:

Incidents vs. Problems vs. Service Requests

Understanding the distinctions is essential for efficient resource allocation, SLA compliance, and user satisfaction.

Comparison Matrix

Classification Decision Tree

Is it unplanned?
    ↓
    Yes → Is service degraded/interrupted?
        ↓
        Yes → INCIDENT
            ↓
            Multiple similar incidents?
                ↓
                Yes → Create PROBLEM record
    ↓
    No → Is it a standard request?
        ↓
        Yes → SERVICE REQUEST

Why Correct Classification Matters

Impact of Misclassification:

Incident Management Lifecycle

Complete Process Flow

1. Detection and Logging
    ↓
2. Classification and Categorization
    ↓
3. Prioritization
    ↓
4. Initial Diagnosis
    ↓
5. Escalation (if needed)
    ↓
6. Investigation and Resolution
    ↓
7. Recovery and Validation
    ↓
8. Closure
    ↓
9. Documentation and Review

Stage 1: Detection and Logging

Detection Methods:

Logging Requirements:

Stage 2: Classification and Prioritization

Priority Matrix:

Impact Assessment:

Urgency Factors:

Stage 3: Initial Diagnosis and Triage

Diagnostic Workflow:

Receive Incident
    ↓
Search Knowledge Base
    ↓
    ├─→ Known Issue? → Apply Solution → Test → Close
    │
    └─→ Unknown? → Perform Basic Troubleshooting
            ↓
            ├─→ Resolved? → Document → Close
            │
            └─→ Unresolved? → Escalate to Specialist

First-Line Support Actions:

Stage 4: Escalation

Escalation Types:

Escalation Criteria:

Stage 5: Investigation and Resolution

Resolution Approaches:

Stage 6: Recovery and Validation

Validation Checklist:

• Service functionality restored
• Performance within acceptable parameters
• User confirms resolution
• No secondary issues introduced
• Monitoring shows stable state
• Documentation updated

Stage 7: Closure and Documentation

Closure Requirements:

Major Incident Management

Definition and Criteria

Major Incident Characteristics:

Major Incident Process

Enhanced Workflow:

Major Incident Declared
    ↓
Assemble Incident Response Team
    ↓
Establish Communication Plan
    ↓
↓ (Parallel Activities) ↓
│                        │
Investigation        Communication
│                        │
    ↓                    ↓
Resolution        Status Updates
    ↓                    ↓
Validation        Final Notification
    ↓
Post-Incident Review
    ↓
Lessons Learned Documentation

Major Incident Team Roles

Communication Plan

Stakeholder Update Frequency:

Communication Templates:

Automation and AI in Incident Management

Benefits of Automation

AI-Powered Use Cases

1. Intelligent Ticket Routing

Incident Detected/Reported
    ↓
AI Classification
    - Natural Language Processing
    - Historical Pattern Analysis
    - Severity Assessment
    ↓
Automatic Routing
    - Right team
    - Right priority
    - Context included
    ↓
Notification Sent

Technologies:

• Natural Language Processing (NLP)
• Machine Learning classification
• Rule-based routing engines

2. Chatbot First-Line Support

Capabilities:

Example Interaction:

User: "I can't access my email"
Bot: "I'll help you with email access. Let me check a few things:
      1. Can you access other systems? [Yes/No]
      2. What error message do you see? [Describe]"
    → Guides through diagnostics
    → Provides solution or escalates

3. Automated Incident Detection

Detection Methods:

4. Predictive Incident Management

Approach:

Historical Data Collection
    ↓
Pattern Analysis (ML)
    ↓
Risk Prediction
    ↓
Proactive Action
    - Preventive maintenance
    - Resource allocation
    - Early warning

Benefits:

• Prevent incidents before they occur
• Reduce mean time between failures (MTBF)
• Optimize resource planning
• Improve service availability

Automation Maturity Model

Best Practices

Organizational Best Practices

1. Clear Escalation Policies

2. Knowledge Management

Knowledge Base Structure:

Knowledge Base
├── Known Errors (Problem Solutions)
├── Workarounds (Temporary Fixes)
├── Standard Procedures (Step-by-step)
├── Troubleshooting Guides (Diagnostic)
└── FAQs (Common Questions)

Quality Criteria:

• Accurate and tested solutions
• Clear, step-by-step instructions
• Regular updates and validation
• User-friendly language
• Searchable and well-tagged

3. Communication Standards

Communication Principles:

Technical Best Practices

4. Monitoring and Detection

Monitoring Coverage:

5. Post-Incident Reviews

Review Process:

Incident Closed
    ↓
Review Meeting (within 48 hours)
    ↓
Analyze:
    - Timeline and response
    - Root cause
    - What went well
    - What could improve
    ↓
Action Items:
    - Process improvements
    - Training needs
    - Tool enhancements
    ↓
Document and Share Lessons

Review Questions:

Performance Metrics and KPIs

Key Metrics

Reporting and Dashboards

Executive Dashboard Elements:

Challenges and Solutions

Common Challenges

Integration Challenges

Common Integration Points:

Industry Standards and Frameworks

ITIL Framework

ITIL Incident Management Principles:

NIST Guidelines

NIST Incident Response Lifecycle:

1. Preparation
2. Detection and Analysis
3. Containment, Eradication, and Recovery
4. Post-Incident Activity

Applicable to: Security incidents, cybersecurity events

ISO 20000

Requirements:

• Documented incident management process
• Priority assignment criteria
• SLA compliance tracking
• Continual improvement activities

Real-World Examples

Example 1: E-commerce Platform Outage

Scenario: Payment gateway failure during peak shopping season

Response:

Detection: Automated monitoring alerts within 2 minutes
Classification: P1 - Critical (revenue impact)
Team: Major incident team assembled
Communication: Customer notification, status page update
Investigation: Identified third-party API failure
Workaround: Switched to backup payment provider
Resolution Time: 45 minutes
Post-Incident: Implemented automatic failover

Example 2: Email System Degradation

Scenario: Slow email delivery affecting 2,000 users

Response:

Detection: User reports to service desk
Classification: P2 - High impact
Diagnosis: Database performance issue
Resolution: Database optimization and index rebuild
Communication: Status updates every 2 hours
Resolution Time: 6 hours
Follow-up: Scheduled preventive maintenance

Example 3: Security Incident

Scenario: Ransomware detection on file server

Response:

Detection: Security monitoring alert
Classification: P1 - Critical (security)
Immediate Actions:
  1. Network isolation of affected systems
  2. Security team mobilization
  3. Executive notification
Investigation: Phishing email vector identified
Remediation: Malware removal, system restoration from backup
Resolution Time: 24 hours
Follow-up: Security awareness training, email filtering enhancement

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What’s the difference between an incident and an outage?

A: An outage is a type of incident where a service is completely unavailable. All outages are incidents, but not all incidents are outages (e.g., performance degradation is an incident but not an outage).

Q: How quickly should incidents be logged?

A: Incidents should be logged immediately upon detection—within minutes for critical issues. Automated systems log instantly; manual reports should be logged within 15-30 minutes.

Q: Who can report an incident?

A: Anyone—end users, IT staff, automated monitoring systems, external partners. All incident sources are valid.

Q: Should workarounds be documented?

A: Yes. Workarounds should be documented in the knowledge base as temporary solutions until permanent fixes are implemented.

Q: How long should incident records be retained?

A: Typically 1-3 years for trend analysis and compliance, though requirements vary by industry and regulation.

Q: What happens if an SLA is breached?

A: Document the breach, notify stakeholders, analyze root cause, and implement corrective actions. Many organizations have escalation or credit policies for SLA breaches.

References

• What are incidents? - Jira Service Management (Atlassian)
• How ITIL Differentiates Problems and Incidents - Global Knowledge
• Automated Incident Management - Workato
• What is Incident Management? - AWS
• Incident Management - ServiceNow Community
• AI for Incident Response - Microtica
• Incident vs Service Request - Freshworks
• Incident Management - IT Process Wiki
• Reduce MTTR With Incident Management Automation - Moveworks
• Using AIOps for Better Incident Management - PagerDuty
• 6 Top Incident Management Use Cases for AI Copilots - BigPanda
• 5 Steps of Incident Management Process - Pulpstream
• 5 Steps of the Incident Management Lifecycle - RSI Security