1. Looking for a way to explain ITIL and Service Management in terms that everyone can quickly understand?
You can use the following example as-is or as a template to create your own. The example is plumbing related: request for a new sink, a leaky faucet (that won’t stop), and finding the root cause (which requires new pipes).
What other real-world examples can you think of?
And remember: all colors, language, fonts, images can be updated to fit your corporate guidelines.
We’d love to see samples of what you create!

2. Service In The Real World Your Faucet is still leaking
A service manages the costs and risks to provide meaningful value for the customer.
Let’s look at a real-world example…
You Want a new Sink
Request Fulfillment is focused on fulfilling Requests, which in most cases are well-known (standard) Changes.
You search for local plumbers
You call a plumber to Request a new sink
They help you pick one that is a good fit
Your Faucet is leaking
Something is broken – this is an Incident
The sink is quickly filling up with water
You call an emergency plumbing company
They fix the faucet
Leaking appears to have stopped
Incident Management’s purpose is to fix the issue and return the service to users as quickly as possible.
Your Faucet is still leaking
The next day the faucet is still leaking despite the repair
This is a Problem
You call the emergency plumbing company
A plumber comes to investigate to determine the root cause – pressure is too strong!
Problem Management strives to prevent future Incidents from happening, and to minimize the impact of incidents that cannot be prevented.
You need this to stop!
You require new plumbing
He submits a Change for your approval and once approved replaces the pipes
You monitor the results
No more leaks!
Change Management is concerned with ensuring beneficial Changes are made, with minimum disruption to Services.