A request is not a small incident
A service request is a request from a user for something normal and part of the agreed service delivery — access, information, a standard provision. An incident is an unplanned interruption. Requests are predictable and should be standardised and automated; incidents are not.
Why it is like this
Mixing them corrupts both measures: service availability drops because joiners asked for laptops, and the request backlog hides inside an incident queue that is tuned for urgency.
Not to be confused with
A matter of urgency or size. A failed laptop is an incident; a request for a second laptop is a request, however urgently it is needed.
In practice
Because requests are predictable, their fulfilment is the natural first candidate for automation — which is also why misclassifying them removes the automation opportunity.
Source: ITIL 4 Foundation (AXELOS / PeopleCert), 2019 edition — service request management practice. Read on .
ITIL® is a registered trade mark of the PeopleCert group. ytyk.org is not affiliated with, endorsed by or licensed by PeopleCert. These cards are independent commentary written in our own words; no part of the ITIL publications, and no ITIL diagram, is reproduced here.
Say it back Check yourself
What distinguishes a service request from an incident, and what follows from the distinction?
Answer out loud or in writing first, then open the points below.
The points a good answer makes
- A request is normal, expected, part of agreed service delivery
- An incident is an unplanned interruption or quality reduction
- Requests are predictable, so they can be standardised and automated
- Mixing them distorts availability metrics and hides the request backlog
Urgency is not the distinguishing feature — expectedness is.