When managing an overworked help desk deluged by incidents and requests, IT service managers must expand their focus beyond incident management. Without problem management procedures, IT is only plugging small holes in the service management dam when they could be cutting off problems at the source.

Problem Management versus Incident Management

ITIL defines problem management quite differently from incident management. Managing incidents means detecting and solving end user requests quickly and efficiently. IT service management, in its most primitive state, must include the ability to restore IT services to end users. However, as the service desk moves from a reactive to a controlled state, the aim focuses on optimizing service on streamlined costs.