---
sourceDocument: Australia IT Service Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/it-service-management

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia IT Service Management

ft:clusterId :

    - itsm

bundleId :

    - itsm

workflow :

    - Technology


---

# Life cycle of an Incident

# Life cycle of an Incident {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated January 30, 2025  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read  
Incident Management is responsible
for managing the life cycle of incidents, from creation to closure.  
The Incident Management process has many states, and each is vitally important to the success of the process and the quality of service delivered. The different states can be represented in a diagram as follows:Figure 1. Incident management state model flow  
Note:  
The state names in the diagram correspond to the states described in the following table.  
{#c_IncidentManagementStateModel__table_t51_21c_b5__entry__2}

| State | Description |
|-|-|
| New | Incident is logged but not yet investigated. |
| In Progress | Incident is assigned and is being investigated. |
| On Hold | The responsibility for the incident shifts temporarily to another entity to provide further information, evidence, or a resolution. When you select the On Hold option, the following On hold reason list appears. * Awaiting Caller * Awaiting Change * Awaiting Problem * Awaiting vendor {#c_IncidentManagementStateModel__ul_ixw_vbx_5zb} If the On hold reason is Awaiting Caller, the Additional comments becomes mandatory. Note: If the caller updates the incident, the On hold reason field is cleared and the state of the incident is changed to In Progress. An email notification is sent to the user whose name is mentioned in the Assigned to field as well as to the users in the Watch list. An incident can be placed in the On hold state one or more times prior to being closed. |
| Resolved | A satisfactory fix is provided for the incident to ensure that it does not occur again. |
| Closed | Incident is marked Closed after it is in the Resolved state for a specific duration and it is confirmed that the incident is satisfactorily resolved. |
| Canceled | Incident was triaged but found to be a duplicate incident, an unnecessary incident, or not an incident at all. |
[Table 1. Incident states]

{#c_IncidentManagementStateModel__table_t51_21c_b5}