Problem Management

What this chapter covers

Problem Management is 15% of the ServiceNow CIS-ITSM exam. It covers how the application is built (the problem and problem task tables, roles and links to incident, change and knowledge), what to agree with the customer when scoping it, and how the problem lifecycle is configured from New through Root Cause Analysis to Closed.

Questions are short scenario or recall questions. Some are single answer and some are multiple select, and the multiple select ones state the count, such as "(Choose two.)". There are no exhibits.

How the topics fit together

Incident Management restores service; Problem Management finds out why it broke and stops it happening again. The problem record links the incidents it explains and the change that fixes it.

• Problems are raised from incidents, trend reports or proactive analysis.
• Problem coordinators drive the record through its states; problem tasks hand pieces of analysis to other teams.
• A workaround can be shared before the root cause is fixed, and a known error article helps agents handle new incidents.

How to use these pages

Each topic page has the same shape, so you can skim for what you need.

• What it is: the idea in plain words.
• How it works: the mechanism, with tables and examples.
• What to remember for the exam: the facts to memorize and how questions are phrased.
• Common mistakes: the classic traps.
• Check yourself: three questions to test your understanding.