Simple definition
An IT problem is the actual or potential cause of one or more incidents affecting an IT service.
Technical definition
Problem management goes beyond restoring service as quickly as possible. It aims to identify root causes, document workarounds, and reduce the likelihood or impact of recurrence. A problem may be opened after repeated incidents or proactively before a major incident occurs.
How it works / role
Its role is to turn repeated or significant incidents into a structured investigation: gather symptoms, correlate events, identify causes, define workarounds, plan corrective actions, and track them to completion.
What is it used for?
Reduce recurring incidents, improve service availability, and preserve technical knowledge for support and operations teams.
Practical example
Users repeatedly lose access to an application. Each incident is restored by restarting a service, but a problem record is opened to identify the underlying memory leak and plan a permanent fix.
Common issues
- Confusing quick incident restoration with problem resolution
- Closing the problem without a sufficiently supported cause or prevention action
- Failing to link recurring incidents to the related problem
- Workaround is not documented or communicated to support teams
Key takeaway: An incident primarily focuses on restoring service; a problem focuses on understanding and reducing the cause of incidents.