CIS-ITSM Problem Management — 20 Questions

Question 1

An administrator is configuring Data Archiving rules for closed Problem records. Which TWO criteria or settings must be defined in an archiving rule? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

The physical shipping address for archive backup tapes. Archiving rules require specifying the target table (e.g., problem) and age/condition criteria (such as closed and older than X months).

Answer

The social media platform handle for public announcements

Answer

The airline frequent flyer account for the archivist

Question 2

Which user role is required by default to create, manage, and close Problem records in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

problem. The 'problem' role is required to manage and work on problem records out-of-the-box.

Answer

change_manager

Answer

itil

Answer

major_incident_manager

Question 3

An administrator needs to configure Problem Management properties to automatically close related incidents when a Problem is closed. Where are these global properties accessed?

Accepted Answer

Problem Administration > Properties. Problem Management properties are managed under Problem Administration > Properties in the Navigator.

Answer

ITSM Properties > General

Answer

Incident Management > Properties

Answer

System Properties > Problem

Question 4

During root cause analysis, a problem analyst identifies that a third-party application component is failing. The analyst wants to link an existing RFC (Request for Change) to the Problem record to track the remediation. How is this relationship established in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

By adding the change request in the 'Caused by change' or 'Change requests' related list on the Problem form. Problem records include a 'Caused by change' or 'Requests Change' related list and fields where change requests can be directly linked.

Answer

By executing a background script to update the sys_audit table

Answer

By changing the task type of the problem to a change request

Answer

By modifying the Problem workflow XML to inject the change task ID

Question 5

An ITIL practitioner needs to view the standard baseline workflow for Problem Management in ServiceNow. Which state comes immediately after the 'Assess' state in the baseline Problem lifecycle?

Accepted Answer

Root Cause Analysis. In the baseline ServiceNow Problem Management workflow, the state sequence is New -> Assess -> Root Cause Analysis -> Fix In Progress -> Resolved -> Closed.

Answer

Resolved

Answer

Fix In Progress

Answer

Review

Question 6

An enterprise wants to ensure that when a Problem reaches the 'Resolved' state, any workaround discovered is automatically pushed to all active related Incidents. What is the recommended baseline feature to support this workflow?

Accepted Answer

Communicate Workaround UI Action / Business Rule logic. Problem Management has out-of-the-box business logic (like business rules) that can communicate workarounds to related incidents when updated or resolved.

Answer

Data Lookup Definitions

Answer

Scheduled Job running hourly

Answer

Inbound Action script

Question 7

When managing known errors, what is the primary purpose of a Known Error Article in ServiceNow Problem Management?

Accepted Answer

To communicate workarounds and symptoms to support staff for faster incident resolution. Known Error Articles document identified errors, workarounds, and symptoms so service desk agents can quickly find temporary fixes before a permanent change is implemented.

Answer

To permanently close all related Incidents without user confirmation

Answer

To automatically deploy software patches to affected configuration items

Answer

To replace the need for creating a Root Cause Analysis document

Question 8

A Problem Coordinator wants to create a Problem record from an existing Incident. By default, which UI Action on the Incident form initiates this relationship and populates related fields?

Accepted Answer

Create Problem. The 'Create Problem' UI Action on the Incident form creates a new Problem record and maps relevant fields such as Short Description and Configuration Item.

Answer

Associate to Problem

Answer

Create Major Incident

Answer

Promote to Problem

Question 9

An organization requires that when a Problem record moves to the 'Root Cause Analysis' state, the 'Work notes' field must become mandatory. Which ServiceNow feature should an administrator configure to achieve this without writing custom client scripts?

Accepted Answer

UI Policy. UI Policies are designed to dynamically change field properties such as mandatory, visible, and read-only on a form based on conditions without scripting.

Answer

Data Policy

Answer

Business Rule

Answer

Client Script

Question 10

Which tab or related list on a Problem record displays the individual tasks assigned to various groups to investigate specific components of the root cause?

Accepted Answer

Problem Tasks. Problem Tasks are managed in the 'Problem Tasks' related list on the Problem form.

Answer

Child Incidents

Answer

Outages

Answer

Affected CIs

Question 11

An organization uses Domain Separation in ServiceNow. Problem records must be segregated by region. Where must an administrator verify domain separation configurations to ensure proper record visibility and visibility rules for Problem tasks?

Accepted Answer

Table dictionary attributes ensuring 'no_domain' is disabled and domain pathing is active on problem and problem_task. Domain separation plugin and configurations must ensure table maps and domain paths are correctly applied across task-extended tables like problem and problem_task.

Answer

System Security > Access Control Lists exclusively

Answer

System Definition > Tables for problem and problem_task with Domain separation set to 'Edge'

Answer

Service Portal > Pages configuration

Question 12

An administrator wants to customize the mandatory fields required when closing a Problem record. Where should this requirement be configured to maintain best-practice upgradeability?

Accepted Answer

Problem Administration > Properties. ServiceNow provides Problem Properties to define close-out requirements (e.g., require workaround or root cause before close) without altering baseline business rules directly.

Answer

System UI > UI Actions > Close Problem

Answer

Global Client Script on the Task table

Answer

Dictionary Overrides on the State field

Question 13

What is the primary function of the 'Known Error Database' (KEDB) module in ServiceNow ITSM?

Accepted Answer

To store known problems and their documented workarounds for searching and incident deflection. The KEDB stores known errors with verified workarounds so IT staff can search them when resolving incidents.

Answer

To log hardware failures directly from network monitoring tools

Answer

To store employee training documentation for the service desk

Answer

To automatically approve change requests linked to problems

Question 14

A Problem record is linked to multiple incidents. When the Problem is resolved, a custom requirement dictates that an email notification must be sent to the callers of all associated active incidents. Which ServiceNow component is best suited to trigger this efficiently?

Accepted Answer

A Business Rule on the Problem table that fires an event for each related active incident. A Business Rule running on the Problem table when state changes to Resolved can query related incidents and trigger event notifications.

Answer

A Client Script utilizing GlideAjax to send emails synchronously

Answer

A Record Producer attached to the Incident table

Answer

An Email Client Template configured on the Problem form

Question 15

An IT manager wants to report on the average time it takes problems to move from the 'Assess' state to 'Root Cause Analysis'. Which reporting feature in ServiceNow should be used to track this stage duration?

Accepted Answer

Metric Definitions / Metric Instance table. Metric Definition (or Performance Analytics indicators) tracks the duration records spend in specific field values or states.

Answer

Data Archiving rules

Answer

Sys_audit table queries in standard List View

Answer

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) on the incident table

Question 16

A team uses Problem Tasks to divide root cause investigations. A requirement states that a Problem record cannot be moved to 'Fix In Progress' until all child Problem Tasks are in either 'Closed Complete' or 'Closed Skipped' state. How should an administrator configure this validation?

Accepted Answer

A Before Update Business Rule on the Problem table checking active child task counts. A Business Rule (before update on the problem table) checking related problem_task states ensures the transition criteria are met.

Answer

An Access Control List (ACL) with script execution

Answer

A Dictionary Override on the State field

Answer

A UI Policy with an advanced script condition

Question 17

Which module allows service desk agents to view problems that have been published as known errors?

Accepted Answer

Known Errors. The 'Known Errors' module in Problem Management provides access to published known error records.

Answer

Problem Properties

Answer

Incident Overview

Answer

Change Schedule

Question 18

A security requirement states that when a Problem record is marked with a Priority of 'Critical', only members of the assigned Problem group can view the record, overriding standard department-based ACLs. How should this be implemented?

Accepted Answer

By writing a script in a read ACL on the Problem table that checks if priority is critical and the user is in the assignment group. A custom or modified read ACL on the problem table can evaluate whether the user belongs to the assigned assignment group when priority is critical.

Answer

By updating the Problem Management properties file

Answer

By configuring a UI Policy to hide the entire form for non-group members

Answer

By using Data Filtration rules on the Task table

Question 19

An organization wants to categorize problems using a hierarchical tree structure (e.g., Hardware > Server > Memory). Which feature should an administrator configure to support dependent category dropdowns on the Problem form?

Accepted Answer

Dependent field attribute configured on the Dictionary entry. Dependent dropdowns in ServiceNow are configured using 'Dependent field' attributes on the dictionary entry of the child field.

Answer

Catalog Client Script

Answer

Data Lookup Matchers

Answer

Client Script with GlideRecord queries

Question 20

An organization wants to enable the 'Create Problem' button on incident forms only when the Incident Category is set to 'Network'. Where should this condition be evaluated?

Accepted Answer

In the Condition field of the 'Create Problem' UI Action record. UI Actions have a 'Condition' field where administrators can write server-side evaluation scripts or conditions (e.g., current.category == 'network') to control button visibility.

Answer

In the Data Policy configuration

Answer

In a Client Script using g_form.setDisabled()

Answer

In a UI Policy applied to the Incident form