ITIL 4 Foundation Practice Exam

What is the primary purpose of a risk assessment?

1. To increase product sales

2. To identify, analyze, and evaluate risks

3. To implement a service improvement plan

4. To manage customer expectations

The correct answer is: To identify, analyze, and evaluate risks

The primary purpose of a risk assessment is to identify, analyze, and evaluate risks. This process is critical in helping organizations understand potential events that could adversely affect their objectives, services, or operations. By identifying risks, organizations can gain insight into what could go wrong and how likely it is to happen. The analysis phase involves examining the nature of the risks and their potential impacts, which aids in prioritizing them based on their severity. Finally, evaluating these risks allows an organization to make informed decisions about how to manage them, whether that means accepting, mitigating, transferring, or avoiding them. This systematic approach is fundamental to effective risk management and supports the long-term sustainability and resilience of the organization by allowing for proactive measures rather than reactive responses. Other aspects like increasing product sales, implementing service improvement plans, or managing customer expectations, while important, do not directly encapsulate the founding principles and goals of risk assessment, which centers around understanding and managing risks.