Problem v's Incident

[Lammy101]

Hi I'm new to this board and was wondering if someone could help me with defining the difference between an Incident and a Problem.

I would define it as follows but just want to check if anyone has any other definitions as seen a few out there.

An incident is a single event that causes disruption to a Service or IT infrastructure.

A Problem is a series of incidents displaying similar symptoms or a major incident that has a larger than normal impact.

Any comments would be appreciated.

[Diarmid]

Wrong!

Your definition of a problem is incorrect in at least three different ways.

There is absolutely no requirement to identify a problem from an incident on account of the severity of the impact.

There is absolutely no requirement for there to have been any incidents in order to identify a problem.

A problem is not a series of incidents in any circumstance.

"An incident is an event which has caused, or may cause , disruption to a Service or IT infrastructure" would be a slightly better definition.

There are miles of words on this subject on the forum. Have a look for them.
_________________
"Method goes far to prevent trouble in business: for it makes the task easy, hinders confusion, saves abundance of time, and instructs those that have business depending, both what to do and what to hope."
William Penn 1644-1718

[Timo]

Please don't let John see this.

I don't think there is one way to sum this up anyway. Have a look around, read ITIL books, read some white paper and see what makes sense for your environment.

[Lammy101]

Thanks for the tips, I will check it out as you suggested

[vimprash]

ITIL book (V2/V3) gives definition of Incident and Problem. Please have a look. Gather some examples from net to get more understanding, thanks.

Have a nice learning