Is it against best practice to allow groups to reopen closed incidents?

Patrick Tipps1 · ‎01-22-2025

I have been asked to do research into allowing certain assignment groups the ability to reopen closed incidents. I'm not finding a ton of information about this but I get the feeling it's a bad idea for several reasons. No one should be allowed to open up a closed incident that months old and start working on it, at least in my opinion. Can someone with more experience shed some light on the potential downfalls of doing this?

Dr Atul G- LNG · ‎01-28-2025

Hi @Patrick Tipps1

It can impact the SLA since you need to configure it if an incident gets reopened after being closed.
You will need to modify the out-of-the-box (OOTB) code to allow reopening.
The incident count won’t increase, as users can add another question or issue by reopening the previous incident.
It can be difficult to track why an incident was reopened after being closed.
There could be issues with metrics and reporting.
Lastly, this is not considered a best practice from an ITIL process perspective.

*************************************************************************************************************
If my response proves useful, please indicate its helpfulness by selecting " Accept as Solution" and " Helpful." This action benefits both the community and me.

Regards
Dr. Atul G. - Learn N Grow Together
ServiceNow Techno - Functional Trainer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dratulgrover
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LearnNGrowTogetherwithAtulG
Topmate: https://topmate.io/atul_grover_lng [ Connect for 1-1 Session]

****************************************************************************************************************

View solution in original post

Dr Atul G- LNG · ‎01-22-2025

Hi @Patrick Tipps1

Yes, it is not a good pratice to reopen say closed Incident even its day old or year old.

This will impact the team performance and also sla will not work correctly.

*************************************************************************************************************
If my response proves useful, please indicate its helpfulness by selecting " Accept as Solution" and " Helpful." This action benefits both the community and me.

Regards
Dr. Atul G. - Learn N Grow Together
ServiceNow Techno - Functional Trainer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dratulgrover
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LearnNGrowTogetherwithAtulG
Topmate: https://topmate.io/atul_grover_lng [ Connect for 1-1 Session]

****************************************************************************************************************

Ankur Bawiskar · ‎01-22-2025

@Patrick Tipps1

not a good practice as incident has slas etc

check these links for explanation

Can we reopen a Closed incident ?

Reopening an incident

If my response helped please mark it correct and close the thread so that it benefits future readers.

Regards,
Ankur
✨ Certified Technical Architect || ✨ 9x ServiceNow MVP || ✨ ServiceNow Community Leader

Ankur Bawiskar · ‎01-22-2025

@Patrick Tipps1

Hope you are doing good.

Did my reply answer your question?

If my response helped please mark it correct and close the thread so that it benefits future readers.

Regards,
Ankur
✨ Certified Technical Architect || ✨ 9x ServiceNow MVP || ✨ ServiceNow Community Leader

Patrick Tipps1 · ‎01-28-2025

Hi Ankur,

Yes, the overall question is answered from the post on the first link (incidents shouldn't be re-opened), but I have to talk to management about specifics as to why they can't be. I need something official that can possibly be shared. The link at the bottom of the first post would be perfect if it weren't broken. Unfortunately, the second link you shared contains information about reopening a resolved incident, not a closed one.