ITIL4F ITIL Guiding Principles Practice Question
An IT service is available as agreed but does not meet the required performance levels. Which element of warranty is failing?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse availability (service being up) with capacity (service performing well), leading candidates to incorrectly select 'Availability' when the question explicitly states the service is available but underperforms.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Capacity
Warranty in ITIL 4 consists of four elements: availability, capacity, security, and continuity. Capacity specifically ensures that a service can support agreed-upon performance levels, such as throughput, response times, or transaction rates. If a service is available (i.e., accessible when needed) but fails to meet performance requirements, the capacity element of warranty is failing, not availability.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Capacity
Why this is correct
Capacity management ensures that IT services and the IT infrastructure are able to deliver agreed-upon performance targets and handle specified workloads. When a service is available but fails to meet its required performance, such as response times or throughput, it indicates an insufficient allocation or management of resources. Therefore, the service's inability to meet agreed performance levels, despite being operational, is a direct failure in capacity planning and execution.
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Security
Why it's wrong here
Security management focuses on protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information and IT assets from threats and vulnerabilities. While security controls can sometimes impact performance, the primary concern described in the question is a failure to meet agreed performance levels, not a compromise of data or systems. The issue is about the service's operational capability under load, not its protection against malicious acts or unauthorized access.
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Availability
Why it's wrong here
Availability management is concerned with ensuring that IT services and infrastructure components are accessible and operational for users when they are needed, for the agreed duration. The question explicitly states the service "is available as agreed," meaning it is accessible and running. The problem lies in its performance *while* available, not its presence or uptime, thus ruling out availability as the primary issue.
- ✗
Continuity
Why it's wrong here
IT Service Continuity Management (ITSCM) is dedicated to ensuring that an organization can continue to provide a minimum agreed level of service following a disaster or significant disruptive event. The scenario presented does not involve a disaster, major outage, or the need for service recovery. Instead, it describes a service that is operational but consistently failing to meet its performance targets under normal conditions, which is distinct from continuity planning.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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