ITIL 4 Foundation Practice Exam 2025 - Free ITIL 4 Practice Questions and Study Guide

An incident in ITIL is accurately described as an unplanned disruption to service. This definition emphasizes that incidents are unexpected interruptions that negatively affect the quality of service or the availability of resources. In ITIL, incidents require immediate attention to restore normal service operation as quickly as possible, minimizing impact on the business.

Understanding this definition is vital for effective incident management, which is one of the key areas in ITIL service management. It focuses on rapidly resolving disruptions to maintain service quality and ensure customer satisfaction. By identifying incidents quickly, organizations can implement appropriate response measures to mitigate potential downtime and maintain continuity of service.

The other choices reflect activities related to service management and operations but do not fall under the definition of an incident. A planned change to system configuration refers to a modification that is intended and scheduled, while scheduled maintenance activities are pre-arranged tasks. Routine system performance reporting involves regular checks and documentation about system operations, but none of these options pertain to an unplanned disruption, which is the essence of what constitutes an incident in ITIL.