thinQmaster Virtual testing partner Adaptive practice exams that find your weak spots and drill them. Every answer explained. From $69
Enroll

thinQmaster

Find your exam

Five questions free, before you decide.

Step 1 · choose a vendor

In one of our camps? Your practice exams come with the tuition — they are on your study page already.

Commonly confused · Business Platforms & EA

Incident vs Service Request: What's the Difference?

An incident is something broken or degraded that must be restored. A service request is a user asking for something normal and pre-defined that is part of service delivery, such as a password reset, new laptop, or software access.

Incident

vs

Service Request

IncidentService Request
TriggerUnplanned failure or degradationPlanned, routine user need
UrgencyVaries, often highUsually lower, handled per standard
ProcessDiagnose and restoreFulfill via pre-approved workflow
ExampleEmail server downRequest access to a shared drive
ServiceNowIncident recordService Catalog request (REQ/RITM/SCTASK)
ITIL 4 practiceIncident managementService request management
Remember it

Something broke is an incident; something wanted is a request.

Exam tip

ITIL treats a password reset as a service request, not an incident. In ServiceNow, catalog orders create a request, requested items, and catalog tasks.

Tested on

More Business Platforms & EA look-alikes