ServiceNow calls pages and widgets with both incidents and requests - requests?

[DanielleTonn]

I come from an environment where we try to stay out of the box as much as possible and people have a hard time knowing the difference between incidents and requests.  Tell me why on the portal and employee service center do they call any pages/widgets with both listed Requests or My Requests?  It seems like it should be something like my Tickets.  I am currently creating training and trying to explain what an REQ and RITM is using request as the definition and then trying to say but when you see requests here it means both request and incident.... it is confusing.

[Siddhesh Jadhav]

Hi @DanielleTonn ,

In ServiceNow, the Service Portal / Employee Service Center uses “Requests” as a user-friendly umbrella term for anything an employee submits to IT. From an end-user perspective, an Incident and a Request are both simply requests for help.

The platform still maintains full ITIL separation behind the scenes:

• Incidents = unplanned interruptions

• Requests / RITMs = fulfillment items

The portal labels intentionally abstract those differences to keep the user experience simple. A common best practice is to refer to everything as “tickets” in training and explain that IT determines whether it becomes an Incident or a Request.

Thanks, and regards
Siddhesh Jadhav

Please accept this answer if it resolves your question.

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@DanielleTonn 

My thoughts:

-> term Requests refer to Service Requests (REQ + RITM)

-> this is by design

💡 If my response helped, please mark it as correct ✅ and close the thread 🔒— this helps future readers find the solution faster! 🙏

[VishnuTejaP7578]

@DanielleTonn 

From an end‑user’s perspective, both requests and incidents simply represent ways to ask for help or get something done. The terminology we use often depends on the user’s persona and what they can easily understand.

Example: An end user might not understand what an Asset or Configuration Item means. In such cases, we can rename that label to something more intuitive—like Product—so the user clearly understands what they are viewing.