Problem Management
About 10% of the CIS-ITSM exam — see all 6 domains.
Purpose
Problem Management finds and removes the underlying cause of one or more incidents to prevent recurrence. It is the deliberate counterpart to Incident Management's speed-focused restoration. Problem records live on the problem table (extends task).
Lifecycle and key artifacts
Recent ServiceNow releases use a state model with distinct phases: Assess → Root Cause Analysis → Fix in Progress → Resolved → Closed (with New at entry and Cancel available). Two outputs are heavily tested:
- Workaround — a documented means of restoring service without resolving the root cause; it can be communicated back to related incidents so callers are unblocked immediately.
- Known Error — a problem whose root cause and/or workaround are documented. Recording a known error lets future matching incidents be resolved quickly by reusing the known workaround.
A problem can be created from an incident, and incidents can be linked to a problem so a single fix resolves many tickets. Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is structured, owned work — you can spin RCA tasks off the problem record.
PIR vs. Problem
The exam may contrast the Post Incident Review (PIR) — generated after a major incident to capture timeline and lessons — with formal Problem Management. PIR is a review artifact; Problem Management is the ongoing process that drives permanent fixes. They are related but distinct.
Exam focus
- Purpose = eliminate root cause / prevent recurrence (vs. Incident = restore fast).
problemextendstask.- Workaround (restores service, no root cause) vs. Known Error (root cause/workaround documented).
- Problems link to many incidents; one fix closes many; RCA is owned, scoped work.
Sample questions from this domain
Three of the 30 in this domain, with the reasoning. The full set is in the question bank.
What is the primary goal of Problem Management in ServiceNow ITSM?
- A. To restore service as quickly as possible
- B. To identify the root cause of incidents and prevent their recurrence ✓
- C. To authorize and schedule changes
- D. To fulfill catalog requests
Why: Problem Management seeks to determine the root cause of one or more incidents and prevent recurrence. Restoring service quickly (A) is Incident Management's goal. Authorizing/scheduling changes (C) is Change Management, and fulfilling requests (D) is Request Fulfillment.
Which term describes a documented temporary means of reducing or eliminating the impact of a problem for which a full resolution is not yet available?
- A. Workaround ✓
- B. Change request
- C. Known error
- D. Root cause
Why: A workaround is a temporary way to reduce or eliminate the impact of a problem pending a permanent fix. A known error (A) is a problem with a documented root cause and/or workaround. The root cause (C) is the underlying reason, and a change request (D) implements a fix.
In the modern (state model) Problem Management process, which state indicates that the team is actively investigating and diagnosing the root cause?
- A. Root Cause Analysis ✓
- B. New
- C. Closed
- D. Assess
Why: The Root Cause Analysis state is where active investigation and diagnosis occur in the modern problem state model. New (A) is the initial logging, Assess (B) determines whether the problem will be worked, and Closed (D) is the final state after resolution.