Incident vs. Service Request: Understanding the Differences with Infizo Desk

IT teams receive numerous tickets from customers facing various issues. These can range from general inquiries to requests for assistance, and many can be resolved by customers if they know how. It's essential to distinguish between an incident and a service request. This blog will explore what incident management is, what service requests are, and most importantly, the key differences between incidents and service requests, especially when managed through Infizo Desk.

What Is an Incident? What Is Incident Management?

An incident is an unplanned disruption or error that impacts the productivity of employees, departments, or the entire organization, affecting the quality of service. Incident management aims to restore services as quickly as possible to minimize business loss and ensure continuous productivity. Effective incident management is crucial for maintaining service quality and customer satisfaction.

Incidents can be costly, especially for large organizations. According to Statista, "The average loss caused by an IT security incident in mid-2017 stood at 578 U.S. dollars."

What Is a Service Request?

A service request is a formal request from a user for information, advice, or a standard change, such as installing a new work station or helping with a password reset. The purpose of service requests is to provide users with quality support in a user-friendly manner. Service requests are generally low-risk and can often be addressed without urgency.

Scenarios Illustrating Incident vs. Service Request

Scenario 1: The internet is not working.

This is an incident. The user cannot resolve it independently and needs agents to troubleshoot. Examples include a down server or slow network.

Scenario 2: Setting up a new SaaS account for a new user.

This is a service request. It involves low risk and can be handled at a convenient time.

Scenario 3: Upgrading to a higher version of the software.

This is a service request and involves planned assistance from IT.

Key Differences Between Incident and Service Requests

Nature of the Request

Service Request: Raised by the user for information or a standard service.

Incident: An unplanned event disrupting normal service.

Resolution

Service Request: Can often be resolved using a knowledge base or FAQs.

Incident: Requires intervention from IT agents.

Pressure

Service Request: Agents are under less pressure.

Incident: High pressure on agents to resolve quickly.

Predictability

Service Request: Predictable and planned.

Incident: Unpredictable and urgent.

Criticality

Service Request: Less critical and risky.

Incident: More critical and riskier.

Conclusion

Understanding the difference between an incident and a service request is crucial for efficient IT support. Proper categorization helps technicians respond appropriately, improving resolution times and minimizing risks. Infizo Desk's Incident Management Software can automate this process, offering insights into ticket resolution times and prioritizing tickets automatically. This reduces confusion and ensures that incidents and service requests are handled efficiently.

‍

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the benefits of Incident management software?

The benefits of Incident management software are given below:

1. Ticket tracking

2. Higher productivity

3. Detailed reports

4. Better decision making

5. Quality service assurance

Why are major incidents more harmful?

An Incident can impact the quality of service; a major incident can cause huge problems. It can affect the reputation of the organization, data security, regulatory compliance, and so on. Regular incidents can be solved quickly but major incidents are time-consuming and technicians are under tremendous pressure to solve incidents as soon as possible.

What is service request fulfillment?

Request fulfillment is the method of addressing a customer's request for service and is related to handling all service requests for the entire lifecycle of each service request.

The IT team is committed to answering and meeting requests while providing quality support service to customers at every level. Request fulfillment is about getting workers access to IT services as it makes them more efficient.