In incident management, what is meant by escalation?

Escalation in incident management refers to the process of transferring an incident to a higher-level support group for resolution. This is often necessary when the initial support team lacks the expertise, authority, or resources to effectively resolve the issue. Escalation ensures that incidents are addressed by personnel who possess the appropriate skills and knowledge needed to tackle more complex problems.

In many organizations, an escalation hierarchy is established to streamline this process, where incidents are examined and prioritized based on their urgency and impact. This not only helps in resolving issues promptly but also ensures that user satisfaction remains high. By escalating incidents appropriately, organizations can utilize their resources more efficiently and improve overall incident management processes.

Other options do not accurately capture the essence of escalation. For instance, simply increasing user complaints does not involve management or resolution of the incidents. Merging similar incidents can help in streamlining the incident log but does not involve transferring the incident for more advanced resolution. Closing out less urgent incidents doesn't represent escalation either, as it pertains to incident lifecycle management rather than addressing issues by higher-level support.