Major vs Normal Incident – When the Real Alarms Go Off!

Day 8: Major vs Normal Incident – When the Real Alarms Go Off!

🎥 SCENE: Live Production Environment – 11:13 AM

📺 On a giant screen:

❌ “Order Processing System – DOWN”
⏳ 1,200 Customers waiting…
📉 Revenue loss per minute: $1,900

🎧 Narrator (in dramatic tone):

“Not all incidents are created equal.
Some are routine…
Some… bring the system to its knees.” 😰

Welcome to the difference between a Normal Incident and a Major Incident.


🛠️ What Is a Normal Incident?

  • One user can’t log in
  • Printer not working
  • Outlook acting funny
    🧍 Handled by 1 engineer, resolved within SLA
    📄 Mostly low or medium priority
    🎯 Does not impact business operations

🔥 What Is a Major Incident?

  • 🚫 Live payment system down
  • 👥 100+ users impacted
  • 🧨 Security breach
  • 💰 Business loss happening now

💼 High visibility → escalated to Incident Manager
🎯 Priority 1 (P1) → needs resolution ASAP
🧑‍⚖️ Often involves Change, Approvers, even CAB


📊 Let’s Compare — Normal vs Major

AttributeNormal Incident 🧾Major Incident 🚨
ImpactIndividual or small groupOrg-wide, multiple users
Business LossNoYes
UrgencyLow to MediumHigh
VisibilityInternal support teamCompany-wide, leadership
Who handlesService Desk / ResolverIncident Manager + Teams
Requires RCAMaybeAlways
Time to ResolveFlexible (SLA)ASAP (P1 clock is ticking)

🎮 Real-Life Example

Scenario 1 – Normal Incident
User reports: “I can’t access shared folder”
🎧 Agent checks permissions, fixes it.
🟢 Closed in 30 mins

Scenario 2 – Major Incident
Entire office loses internet
📶 WAN router is down
📞 50 tickets in 10 minutes
Incident Manager jumps in → Emergency Change Approved → ISP called → Users updated every 30 mins
🟢 Resolved in 2 hours
📃 Root Cause documented
💡 Lessons learned reviewed


🔄 The Aftermath (Only for Major)

  • RCA (Root Cause Analysis) ✅
  • Incident Review Call 🧑‍⚖️
  • Improvement Plan ➕
  • Problem Record Created 🧠

🧘 Quick Recap

TypeEmojiKey Traits
Normal🧾Low impact, routine, quick fix
Major🚨High impact, urgent, cross-team

🎬 Coming Tomorrow:

🎥 Day 9: Service Level Agreements (SLAs) – How Time Rules ITIL

“Clock starts now… and the SLA is watching!” ⏱️


⚠️ Disclaimer:

This series is a creative representation of ITIL concepts.
Certification seekers should refer to Axelos, PeopleCert, or official training partners.

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