The core distinction is that an Incident is an unplanned interruption or reduction in quality of an IT service, while a Service Request is a formal request for something new (like access, information, or a standard change). Option A is the purest example of an unplanned service interruption. Option B is a correct example of a Service Request, but the question asks for the best illustration of the *difference*, making the Incident example more foundational. Option C is also an Incident, but option A is a clearer, more complete interruption. Option D describes a password reset, which in many ITSM frameworks is actually a standard Service Request item, not an Incident.

Custom request types with forms are the primary JSM mechanism for structuring user input. By designing a form with conditional fields (e.g., “Is this for a new hire?” reveals different fields), you guide the user. Associating the request type with a specific queue (e.g., ‘Hardware Procurement’) ensures automatic, accurate routing, solving both problems described in the scenario.

The Activity Timeline on a JSM issue is designed to provide a chronological record of all events. Adding public comments or specific timeline entries (like ‘Impact identified’, ‘Fix in progress’) creates a clear, official log. While regular comments (option A) are part of the timeline, the question emphasizes a structured, chronological timeline for major incident communication, which is the core purpose of the Activity Timeline feature. Portal announcements (B) are for broad messages, not incident-specific timelines. Updating the description (C) is messy and not chronological.

SLA goals in JSM are highly configurable. Each goal has configurable ‘Start time’ and ‘Stop time’ conditions. To have the timer start when an issue reaches ‘Waiting for support’, you would edit the ‘First response’ goal for the ‘Critical’ priority and set its ‘Start time’ condition to ‘Time to first response’ -> ‘Start of time tracking’ -> ‘Issue enters status’ -> ‘Waiting for support’.

Jira Service Management (Cloud) offers a ‘Calculated’ custom field type. You can configure this field to perform operations like summing the values of another custom field (in this case, ‘Cost’). Once configured, this calculated field will display the running total directly on the issue screen, updating automatically, which is exactly what the finance team requires.

Jira Service Management’s knowledge base articles have a built-in ‘Audience’ property. Setting it to ‘Organization’ restricts visibility to logged-in users who are part of your Jira organization (internal employees). External customers/partners, who are typically added as ‘Customers’ to the service project, would not see this article. This provides precise, article-level permission control.

The dedicated ‘Approval’ action in Jira Automation is designed for multi-step approval workflows. It allows you to define sequential (or parallel) approval steps with specific groups or individuals (e.g., ‘Requester’s manager’, then ‘Finance group’). You can configure the outcome for each step (approve/reject) and set the overall rule to stop if a step is rejected, meeting all the requirements in the scenario.

Jira has a native ‘Checklist’ feature (a panel on the issue view). You can create a template checklist for a specific issue type (e.g., ‘Major Incident’). When an issue of that type is created, the template checklist is automatically added, providing a consistent, trackable list of steps that must be checked off. This is more integrated and user-friendly than a custom checkbox field (B) or a manual template (A).

Queues in JSM are essentially saved, named JQL filters that agents access from their portal. Creating a queue with a JQL filter like `status = “Waiting for Customer” AND updatedDate <= -48h` provides a dynamic, real-time list that all agents can see and act upon. This is more direct and actionable for agent daily work than a dashboard gadget (A) or a static report (D).

The core distinction is that an Incident is an unplanned interruption or reduction in quality of an IT service, while a Service Request is a formal request for something new (like access, information, or a standard change). Option A is the purest example of an unplanned service interruption. Option B is a correct example of a Service Request, but the question asks for the best illustration of the *difference*, making the Incident example more foundational. Option C is also an Incident, but option A is a clearer, more complete interruption. Option D describes a password reset, which in many ITSM frameworks is actually a standard Service Request item, not an Incident.0