PROBLEM MANAGEMENT
1. What is Problem Management in ServiceNow?
Problem Management is the ITSM process that identifies the root cause of incidents
and prevents them from happening again.
• Real-time example:
Employees report daily incidents of slow database queries. Restarting the
database (incident fix) helps temporarily, but the issue keeps coming back.
Problem Management investigates deeper, finds index corruption as the root
cause, and applies a permanent fix.
Result: No more recurring incidents.
2. What is the main objective of the Problem Management process?
The objective is long-term stability by eliminating root causes.
• Real-time example:
VPN outages occur every week. Incident teams restart VPN services each time.
Problem Management investigates firewall logs and discovers a misconfigured
firewall rule.
Fix applied → VPN stable permanently.
This shows how Problem Management prevents repeat disruptions.
3. Define a problem with an example.
A problem = underlying cause of one or more incidents.
• Real-time example:
Incident: Users cannot print.
Problem: Printer driver incompatible with latest Windows update.
Fixing the driver resolves multiple incidents at once.
4. What information is captured while creating a problem record in ServiceNow?
Key fields include:
• Problem Statement
• Impact
• Root Cause
• Workaround
• Assignment Group
• Related Incidents
Real-time example:
Problem Statement: “Frequent VPN disconnections.”
Impact: Sales team unable to connect.
Root Cause: Firewall misconfiguration.
Workaround: Temporary reroute.
Assignment Group: Network Team.
Related Incidents: 15 VPN issues logged.
5. What is the difference between an incident and a problem?
• Incident = symptom
• Problem = cause
Real-time example:
Incident: “Email not sending.”
Problem: “Mail server queue corruption.”
Fixing the queue resolves all related incidents.
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
1. Explain the Problem Management lifecycle in ServiceNow.
Stages:
1. Detection – Identify recurring incidents.
2. Logging – Create problem record.
3. Investigation – Perform RCA.
4. Workaround – Temporary fix.
5. Resolution – Permanent fix.
6. Closure – Verify and close.
Real-time example:
Payroll system crashes monthly.
Problem logged → RCA finds memory leak.
Workaround: Restart service.
Resolution: Patch applied.
Closed after verification.
2. What are the different states of a problem record, and what do they represent?
• New – Logged.
• Assess – Under review.
• Root Cause Analysis – Investigation ongoing.
• Fix in Progress – Permanent solution being implemented.
• Resolved – Fix applied.
• Closed – Verified.
Real-time example:
Database slowness problem moves through these states until patch applied and
verified.
3. Explain the role of root cause analysis (RCA) in Problem Management with an
example.
RCA identifies why incidents occur.
• Real-time example:
Incidents: “Users disconnected from VPN.”
RCA: Firewall logs show rule conflict.
Fix: Correct firewall configuration.
Result: No more VPN disconnections.
4. Explain the usage of problem tasks in problem management.
Problem tasks break down work into manageable actions.
• Real-time example:
Problem: “Email server crashes.”
Tasks:
1. Collect logs.
2. Analyse memory usage.
3. Test patch.
4. Deploy fix.
Each task assigned to different engineers for efficiency.
ADVANCED LEVEL
1. What is the relationship between Incident Management and Problem
Management?
• Incident = reactive fix
• Problem = proactive root cause elimination
Real-time example:
Incident: “Users cannot log in.”
Problem: “Authentication service bug.”
Fixing the bug prevents future login incidents.
2. At what point is a change request initiated as part of the Problem Management
process?
When permanent fix requires system modification.
• Real-time example:
Problem: “Database crashes due to outdated driver.”
Resolution requires driver upgrade → Change Request raised.
CAB approves → Fix deployed.
3. Explain me the relation between incident, Problem and change management.
Incident → Symptom.
• Problem → Cause.
• Change → Permanent fix.
Real-time example:
Incident: “Email not sending.”
Problem: “Mail queue corruption.”
Change: “Upgrade mail server software.”
4. Describe a scenario where multiple incidents are related to a common
underlying cause. How would you identify the root cause and implement a
permanent solution?
• Real-time example:
Incidents: 50 users report “Slow SAP performance.”
Problem record created.
RCA: Database index corruption.
Permanent solution: Rebuild indexes + apply patch.
Change Request raised for patch deployment.
Result: SAP stable, no future incidents.