The Incident Management process in ServiceNow is designed to manage the lifecycle of all incidents from initial report to resolution, ensuring minimal impact to business operations and maintaining high levels of service quality. This process aligns with ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) best practices. Here’s an overview of the typical Incident Management process in ServiceNow:

1. Incident Identification

• User Report: Incidents are often reported by users through various channels such as a self-service portal, email, phone, or in-person.
• Automated Detection: Incidents can also be identified automatically through monitoring tools that integrate with ServiceNow.

2. Incident Logging

• Every incident is logged in ServiceNow, capturing all relevant details such as the description of the issue, user details, categorization, and any other pertinent information.

3. Incident Categorization and Prioritization

• Categorization: Each incident is categorized (e.g., software, hardware, network) to streamline the handling process.
• Prioritization: Incidents are prioritized based on their impact and urgency to ensure that those affecting critical systems or services are addressed first.

4. Incident Assignment

• Incidents are assigned to the appropriate team or individual based on their category, priority, and expertise required.

5. Initial Diagnosis

• The assigned technician attempts to identify the underlying cause of the incident, potentially requesting further information from the user.

6. Incident Escalation (if necessary)

• If the incident cannot be resolved quickly or requires specialized intervention, it is escalated to higher-level support teams.

7. Investigation and Diagnosis

• Technicians investigate to diagnose the issue, consulting knowledge bases, running diagnostics, or collaborating with other teams as necessary.

8. Resolution and Recovery

• Once the cause is identified, a fix is implemented to resolve the incident and restore service to normal.

9. Incident Closure

• After confirming that the issue is resolved and the user is satisfied, the incident is formally closed in ServiceNow. Closure includes documenting the resolution and any lessons learned.

10. Incident Review and Continuous Improvement

• Regular reviews of incidents are conducted to identify improvement opportunities. This might involve updating knowledge bases, refining the incident management process, or addressing underlying problems that cause recurrent incidents.