What is the primary purpose of incident management?

The primary purpose of incident management is to restore normal service as quickly as possible following an incident. In the context of IT service management, an incident typically refers to an unplanned interruption to a service, or a reduction in the quality of a service. The goal of incident management is to minimize downtime and ensure that services are restored to their operational status efficiently, which is vital for maintaining business continuity and customer satisfaction.

Restoring normal service involves a structured process where incidents are detected, reported, logged, prioritized, and resolved. This process is essential in ensuring that the overall impact on business operations is kept to a minimum and that service quality is maintained.

While analyzing incident trends, categorizing incidents, and providing customer support are important components of the broader incident management process, the core focus is primarily on the swift restoration of services following an incident. This targeted approach helps organizations maintain operational efficiency and respond effectively to any service disruptions.