Problem
The unknown underlying cause of an incident or incidents.
The business transaction used to log such a cause.
Problems can be created with or without a preceding transaction (usually an incident).
When you create and categorize an incident, the system can automatically determine existing problems that fit into the same category or relate to the same reference object (for example, an object or installed base). You can also search manually for related problems. An incident can be assigned to one or more problems or requests for change, but can be locked to only one of these transactions at a time.
Problems are based on the master service request business object.
Integration
Incident
If first-level support cannot find an appropriate solution or workaround for an incident, they create a problem as a follow-up transaction. The incident can be locked to the problem, meaning that it can be handled centrally by the problem instead of individually. Multiple incidents can be locked to one problem.
Request for change
When the cause of a problem has been determined, a change in the infrastructure might become necessary, at which point you create a request for change as a follow-up to the problem.
Knowledge article
Once a solution to a problem is found, the service engineer can create and release a knowledge article to make that solution (or workaround) available for future incidents.