The correct answer is incident management. This is because the service desk analyst is focused on restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible by implementing a workaround for a known error, which is the core objective of the incident management practice. While the issue is recurring and tied to a known error, the action taken—applying a temporary fix to resolve a specific customer complaint—is a classic incident response, not a permanent problem resolution. On the ITIL 4 Foundation exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between practices: incident management handles restoring service after an interruption, whereas problem management seeks the root cause to prevent recurrence. A common trap is confusing a workaround with a permanent fix, but remember that a workaround is always an incident management tool. Memory tip: “Incident = Immediate fix; Problem = Permanent root cause.”
ITIL4F The ITIL Service Value System Practice Question
This ITIL4F practice question tests your understanding of the itil service value system. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A service desk analyst is handling a customer complaint about a recurring issue. The analyst identifies that the issue is caused by a known error and follows the established procedure to implement a workaround. Which ITIL practice is being applied?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Service request management
The service desk analyst is handling a customer complaint and implementing a workaround for a known error. This aligns with the incident management practice, which focuses on restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible. The workaround is a temporary fix to resolve the incident, not a permanent solution, which is why incident management is the correct practice.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Problem management
Why it's wrong here
Problem management identifies root causes and known errors, but does not implement workarounds.
✗
Incident management
Why it's wrong here
Incident management handles unplanned interruptions, but implementing a workaround for a known error is a service request.
✗
Change management
Why it's wrong here
Change management controls changes to services, but implementing a workaround is typically a service request.
✓
Service request management
Why this is correct
Implementing a workaround for a known error is a standard service request.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
PeopleCert often tests the distinction between incident management (restoring service quickly with workarounds) and problem management (finding root causes and permanent fixes), leading candidates to incorrectly select problem management when a known error is mentioned.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In ITIL 4, incident management uses the 'known error database' (KEDB) to quickly apply workarounds for recurring issues, reducing mean time to restore service (MTTR). The workaround is typically documented in the KEDB and applied without a full problem investigation, as the root cause is already known. This practice is critical in high-availability environments where every second of downtime impacts SLAs.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A practitioner preparing for the ITIL4F exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
The ITIL Service Value System — This question tests The ITIL Service Value System — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Service request management — The service desk analyst is handling a customer complaint and implementing a workaround for a known error. This aligns with the incident management practice, which focuses on restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible. The workaround is a temporary fix to resolve the incident, not a permanent solution, which is why incident management is the correct practice.
What should I do if I get this ITIL4F question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. You are the IT service manager for a medium-sized e-commerce company that processes online orders. The company uses a three-tier application architecture: a web server, an application server, and a database server. Recently, the company has been experiencing intermittent service degradation during peak hours (12:00-14:00 and 18:00-20:00), causing slow page loads and occasional timeouts. The monitoring system shows that CPU utilization on the application server spikes to 95% during these periods, while the web server and database server remain below 60%. The incident management team has been opening multiple tickets for the same issue, but each ticket is resolved by restarting the application server, which temporarily restores performance. The problem management team has been assigned to investigate the root cause. They have discovered that a recent software update to the application introduced a memory leak that gradually consumes resources until the server becomes overloaded. The development team has identified a fix but needs two weeks to fully test and deploy it. Meanwhile, the business is losing revenue due to poor performance. Which of the following actions should the problem management team take FIRST?
hard
A.Conduct a root cause analysis to fully understand the memory leak.
✓ B.Implement a workaround, such as scheduling a restart of the application server every hour during peak times.
C.Increase the application server's CPU capacity to handle the load.
D.Escalate the incident to the service desk for faster resolution.
Why B: Option B is correct because the problem management team should first implement a workaround to restore service and minimize business impact while the permanent fix is being developed. Restarting the application server every hour during peak times directly addresses the memory leak symptom by freeing accumulated memory, preventing CPU saturation at 95% and avoiding timeouts. This aligns with ITIL 4's guidance to apply a workaround as an interim measure when a known error exists and a fix is pending.
Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
Question Discussion
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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.
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