ITIL4F Key Concepts of ITIL 4 Practice Question
An organisation's IT service desk is receiving a high volume of calls about users being unable to log in to the payroll system following a scheduled maintenance window. According to ITIL 4, what type of record should be raised FIRST?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse the need for root cause analysis (problem management) with the immediate priority of restoring service (incident management), leading them to select option C instead of B.
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
✓
An incident record, as users are experiencing an unplanned service interruption
An incident is defined as an unplanned interruption to a service or a reduction in its quality. Since users cannot log in after the maintenance window, this is an unplanned service interruption, and ITIL 4 dictates that an incident record should be raised first to restore normal service operation as quickly as possible.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
A service request, to fulfil the users' need to access the payroll system
Why it's wrong here
A service request covers routine, pre-approved user needs such as access provisioning, not unplanned loss of access after maintenance. It is tempting because users ultimately need payroll access restored, but the incident must be logged first to restore the service before any request is fulfilled.
- ✓
An incident record, as users are experiencing an unplanned service interruption
Why this is correct
An unplanned interruption to a live service, affecting multiple payroll users, meets the ITIL 4 incident definition. Incident management restores normal service quickly, so this record type is raised first; problem or change records follow only if investigation warrants them.
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A problem record, to investigate the root cause of the login failure
Why it's wrong here
Problem management investigates root cause only after incidents are logged and often after resolution; it does not restore service. It is tempting because a maintenance change likely caused the failure, but raising a problem first delays restoration, which incident management delivers.
- ✗
A change request, to reverse the changes made during the maintenance window
Why it's wrong here
A change request authorises modifications through change control; it does not restore service or record user impact. It is tempting because reversing the maintenance change may fix the fault, but the immediate need is to log the incident and restore access before any change is raised.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This ITIL4F practice question is part of Courseiva's free PeopleCert certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the ITIL4F exam.