What does effective incident response prevent in IT service environments?

Effective incident response is crucial in IT service environments as it directly addresses the management and resolution of incidents, which are disruptions that affect normal service operations. The primary goal of a successful incident response process is to restore services as quickly as possible and minimize the negative impact on the business. By doing so, it helps prevent service outages from extending longer than necessary.

When incidents are handled efficiently with a well-defined response strategy, service disruptions can be mitigated quickly, which ultimately reduces downtime and ensures that the business can continue to operate smoothly. Quick resolution of incidents is vital for maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction and operational productivity. Thus, a well-implemented incident response process is instrumental in minimizing the duration of service outages, making option A the correct answer.