What defines a major incident?

A major incident is defined by its impact on services and the need for coordinated resolution efforts. This means that when a major incident occurs, it typically results in significant disruption to one or more services, affecting a large number of users or critical functions. The nature of this disruption necessitates a structured response involving various teams working together to restore services as quickly as possible.

In contrast to a regular incident, which might be handled by an individual support technician and resolved with minimal resources, a major incident requires an organized approach due to its potential impact on business operations. This might involve creating incident management teams, engaging higher levels of management, and possibly communicating with stakeholders about the situation. Thus, the focus is not only on resolving the issue at hand but also on minimizing the effects on the overall organization, ensuring that everything from communication to resource allocation is carefully managed.

The other options do not accurately represent the characteristics of a major incident. For instance, incidents that can be resolved without disruption or affect only a single user do not qualify as major incidents because they do not have the wide-reaching impact that necessitates additional coordination. Similarly, incidents that do not require management attention are generally considered routine and do not disrupt services significantly.