Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) The process responsible for allowing users to make use of IT services, data or other assets. Access management helps to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of assets by ensuring that only authorized users are able to access or modify them. Access management implements the policies of information security management and is sometimes referred to as rights management or identity management. |
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Term
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Definition
| A set of actions designed to achieve a particular result. Activities are usually defined as part of processes or plans, and are documented in procedures. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) A notification that a threshold has been reached, something has changed, or a failure has occurred. Alerts are often created and managed by system management tools and are managed by the event management process. |
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Term
application management
SO |
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) The function responsible for managing applications throughout their lifecycle. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) The structure of a system or IT service, including the relationships of components to each other and to the environment they are in. Architecture also includes the standards and guidelines that guide the design and evolution of the system. |
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Term
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Definition
(ITIL Service Strategy) Any resource or capability. The assets of a service provider include anything that could contribute to the delivery of a service. Assets can be one of the following types: management, organization, process, knowledge, people, information, applications, infrastructure or financial capital.
See also customer asset; service asset; strategic asset. |
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Term
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Definition
(ITIL Service Transition) A generic activity or process responsible for tracking and reporting the value and ownership of assets throughout their lifecycle.
See also service asset and configuration management; fixed asset management; software asset management. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) Ability of an IT service or other configuration item to perform its agreed function when required. Availability is determined by reliability, maintainability, serviceability, performance and security. Availability is usually calculated as a percentage. This calculation is often based on agreed service time and downtime. It is best practice to calculate availability of an IT service using measurements of the business output. |
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Term
availability management (AM)
SD |
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Definition
(ITIL Service Design) The process responsible for ensuring that IT services meet the current and future availability needs of the business in a cost-effective and timely manner. Availability management defines, analyses, plans, measures, and improves all aspects of the availability of IT services, and ensures that all IT infrastructures, processes, tools, roles etc. are appropriate for the agreed service level targets for availability.
See also availability management information system. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A management tool developed by Drs Robert Kaplan (Harvard Business School) and David Norton. A balanced scorecard enables a strategy to be broken down into key performance indicators. Performance against the KPIs is used to demonstrate how well the strategy is being achieved. A balanced scorecard has four major areas, each of which has a small number of KPIs. The same four areas are considered at different levels of detail throughout the organization. |
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Term
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Definition
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Transition) A snapshot that is used as a reference point. Many snapshots may be taken and recorded over time but only some will be used as baselines. For example:
- An ITSM baseline can be used as a starting point to measure the effect of a service improvement plan
- A performance baseline can be used to measure changes in performance over the lifetime of an IT service
- A configuration baseline can be used as part of a back-out plan to enable the IT infrastructure to be restored to a known configuration if a change or release fails.
See also benchmark. |
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Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Transition) A baseline that is used to compare related data sets as part of a benchmarking exercise. For example, a recent snapshot of a process can be compared to a previous baseline of that process, or a current baseline can be compared to industry data or best practice.
See also benchmarking; baseline. |
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Term
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Definition
| Proven activities or processes that have been successfully used by multiple organizations. ITIL is an example of best practice. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) An overall corporate entity or organization formed of a number of business units. In the context of ITSM, the term includes public sector and not-for-profit organizations, as well as companies. An IT service provider provides IT services to a customer within a business. The IT service provider may be part of the same business as its customer (internal service provider), or part of another business (external service provider). |
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Term
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Definition
(ITIL Service Strategy) Justification for a significant item of expenditure. The business case includes information about costs, benefits, options, issues, risks and possible problems.
See also cost benefit analysis. |
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Term
business continuity management (BCM)
SD |
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) The business process responsible for managing risks that could seriously affect the business. Business continuity management safeguards the interests of key stakeholders, reputation, brand and value-creating activities. The process involves reducing risks to an acceptable level and planning for the recovery of business processes should a disruption to the business occur. Business continuity management sets the objectives, scope and requirements for IT service continuity management. |
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Term
business continuity plan (BCP)
SD |
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) A plan defining the steps required to restore business processes following a disruption. The plan also identifies the triggers for invocation, people to be involved, communications etc. IT service continuity plans form a significant part of business continuity plans. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) A recipient of a product or a service from the business. For example, if the business is a car manufacturer, then the business customer is someone who buys a car. |
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Term
business impact analysis (BIA)
SS |
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) Business impact analysis is the activity in business continuity management that identifies vital business functions and their dependencies. These dependencies may include suppliers, people, other business processes, IT services etc. Business impact analysis defines the recovery requirements for IT services. These requirements include recovery time objectives, recovery point objectives and minimum service level targets for each IT service. |
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Term
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Definition
| A process that is owned and carried out by the business. A business process contributes to the delivery of a product or service to a business customer. For example, a retailer may have a purchasing process that helps to deliver services to its business customers. Many business processes rely on IT services. |
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Term
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Definition
(ITIL Service Strategy) The ability of an organization, person, process, application, IT service or other configuration item to carry out an activity. Capabilities are intangible assets of an organization.
See also resource. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) The maximum throughput that a configuration item or IT service can deliver. For some types of CI, capacity may be the size or volume – for example, a disk drive. |
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Term
capacity management
SI & SD |
|
Definition
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Design) The process responsible for ensuring that the capacity of IT services and the IT infrastructure is able to meet agreed capacity- and performance-related requirements in a cost-effective and timely manner. Capacity management considers all resources required to deliver an IT service, and is concerned with meeting both the current and future capacity and performance needs of the business. Capacity management includes three sub-processes: business capacity management, service capacity management, and component capacity management.
See also capacity management information system. |
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Term
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Definition
| Issuing a certificate to confirm compliance to a standard. Certification includes a formal audit by an independent and accredited body. The term is also used to mean awarding a certificate to provide evidence that a person has achieved a qualification. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) The addition, modification or removal of anything that could have an effect on IT services. The scope should include changes to all architectures, processes, tools, metrics and documentation, as well as changes to IT services and other configuration items. |
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Term
change advisory board (CAB)
ST |
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A group of people that support the assessment, prioritization, authorization and scheduling of changes. A change advisory board is usually made up of representatives from: all areas within the IT service provider; the business; and third parties such as suppliers. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) The process responsible for controlling the lifecycle of all changes, enabling beneficial changes to be made with minimum disruption to IT services. |
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Term
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Definition
(ITIL Service Transition) A repeatable way of dealing with a particular category of change. A change model defines specific agreed steps that will be followed for a change of this category. Change models may be very complex with many steps that require authorization (e.g. major software release) or may be very simple with no requirement for authorization (e.g. password reset).
See also change advisory board; standard change. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A record containing the details of a change. Each change record documents the lifecycle of a single change. A change record is created for every request for change that is received, even those that are subsequently rejected. Change records should reference the configuration items that are affected by the change. Change records may be stored in the configuration management system, or elsewhere in the service knowledge management system. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A document that lists all authorized changes and their planned implementation dates, as well as the estimated dates of longer-term changes. A change schedule is sometimes called a forward schedule of change, even though it also contains information about changes that have already been implemented. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A category that is used to classify configuration items. The CI type identifies the required attributes and relationships for a configuration record. Common CI types include hardware, document, user etc. |
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Term
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Definition
| The act of assigning a category to something. Classification is used to ensure consistent management and reporting. Configuration items, incidents, problems, changes etc. are usually classified. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) A security principle that requires that data should only be accessed by authorized people. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A generic term used to describe a group of configuration items that work together to deliver an IT service, or a recognizable part of an IT service. Configuration is also used to describe the parameter settings for one or more configuration items. |
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Term
configuration baseline
ST |
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) The baseline of a configuration that has been formally agreed and is managed through the change management process. A configuration baseline is used as a basis for future builds, releases and changes. |
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Term
configuration item (CI)
ST |
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) Any component or other service asset that needs to be managed in order to deliver an IT service. Information about each configuration item is recorded in a configuration record within the configuration management system and is maintained throughout its lifecycle by service asset and configuration management. Configuration items are under the control of change management. They typically include IT services, hardware, software, buildings, people and formal documentation such as process documentation and service level agreements. |
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Term
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Definition
| See service asset and configuration management. |
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Term
configuration management database (CMDB)
ST |
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A database used to store configuration records throughout their lifecycle. The configuration management system maintains one or more configuration management databases, and each database stores attributes of configuration items, and relationships with other configuration items. |
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Term
configuration management system (CMS)
ST |
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Definition
(ITIL Service Transition) A set of tools, data and information that is used to support service asset and configuration management. The CMS is part of an overall service knowledge management system and includes tools for collecting, storing, managing, updating, analyzing and presenting data about all configuration items and their relationships. The CMS may also include information about incidents, problems, known errors, changes and releases. The CMS is maintained by service asset and configuration management and is used by all IT service management processes.
See also configuration management database. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A record containing the details of a configuration item. Each configuration record documents the lifecycle of a single configuration item. Configuration records are stored in a configuration management database and maintained as part of a configuration management system. |
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Term
continual service improvement (CSI)
CSI |
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Definition
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A stage in the lifecycle of a service. Continual service improvement ensures that services are aligned with changing business needs by identifying and implementing improvements to IT services that support business processes. The performance of the IT service provider is continually measured and improvements are made to processes, IT services and IT infrastructure in order to increase efficiency, effectiveness and cost effectiveness. Continual service improvement includes the seven-step improvement process. Although this process is associated with continual service improvement, most processes have activities that take place across multiple stages of the service lifecycle.
See also Plan-Do-Check-Act. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Someone who buys goods or services. The customer of an IT service provider is the person or group who defines and agrees the service level targets. The term is also sometimes used informally to mean user – for example, ‘This is a customer-focused organization.’ |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) A graphical representation of overall IT service performance and availability. Dashboard images may be updated in real time, and can also be included in management reports and web pages. Dashboards can be used to support service level management, event management and incident diagnosis. |
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Term
Data-to-Information-to-Knowledge-to-Wisdom (DIKW)
ST |
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A way of understanding the relationships between data, information, knowledge and wisdom. DIKW shows how each of these builds on the others. |
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Term
definitive media library (DML)
ST |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) One or more locations in which the definitive and authorized versions of all software configuration items are securely stored. The definitive media library may also contain associated configuration items such as licenses and documentation. It is a single logical storage area even if there are multiple locations. The definitive media library is controlled by service asset and configuration management and is recorded in the configuration management system. |
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Term
demand management
SD & SS |
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) (ITIL Service Strategy) The process responsible for understanding, anticipating and influencing customer demand for services. Demand management works with capacity management to ensure that the service provider has sufficient capacity to meet the required demand. At a strategic level, demand management can involve analysis of patterns of business activity and user profiles, while at a tactical level, it can involve the use of differential charging to encourage customers to use IT services at less busy times, or require short term activities to respond to unexpected demand or the failure of a configuration item. |
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Term
early life support (ELS)
ST |
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A stage in the service lifecycle that occurs at the end of deployment and before the service is fully accepted into operation. During early life support, the service provider reviews key performance indicators, service levels and monitoring thresholds and may implement improvements to ensure that service targets can be met. The service provider may also provide additional resources for incident and problem management during this time. |
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Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A measure of whether the objectives of a process, service or activity have been achieved. An effective process or activity is one that achieves its agreed objectives.
See also key performance indicator. |
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Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A measure of whether the right amount of resource has been used to deliver a process, service or activity. An efficient process achieves its objectives with the minimum amount of time, money, people or other resources.
See also key performance indicator. |
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Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Transition) A change that must be introduced as soon as possible – for example, to resolve a major incident or implement a security patch. The change management process will normally have a specific procedure for handling emergency changes.
See also emergency change advisory board. |
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Term
emergency change advisory board (ECAB)
ST |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A subgroup of the change advisory board that makes decisions about emergency changes. Membership may be decided at the time a meeting is called, and depends on the nature of the emergency change. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) An activity that obtains additional resources when these are needed to meet service level targets or customer expectations. Escalation may be needed within any IT service management process, but is most commonly associated with incident management, problem management and the management of customer complaints. There are two types of escalation: functional escalation and hierarchic escalation. |
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Term
|
Definition
|
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) A change of state that has significance for the management of an IT service or other configuration item. The term is also used to mean an alert or notification created by any IT service, configuration item or monitoring tool. Events typically require IT operations personnel to take actions, and often lead to incidents being logged. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) The process responsible for managing events throughout their lifecycle. Event management is one of the main activities of IT operations. |
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Term
expanded incident lifecycle
CSI & SD |
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Definition
| (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Design) Detailed stages in the lifecycle of an incident. The stages are detection, diagnosis, repair, recovery and restoration. The expanded incident lifecycle is used to help understand all contributions to the impact of incidents and to plan for how these could be controlled or reduced. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) The function responsible for managing the physical environment where the IT infrastructure is located. Facilities management includes all aspects of managing the physical environment – for example, power and cooling, building access management, and environmental monitoring. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) Loss of ability to operate to specification, or to deliver the required output. The term may be used when referring to IT services, processes, activities, configuration items etc. A failure often causes an incident. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) A generic term used to describe the function and processes responsible for managing an organization’s budgeting, accounting and charging requirements. Enterprise financial management is the specific term used to describe the function and processes from the perspective of the overall organization. Financial management for IT services is the specific term used to describe the function and processes from the perspective of the IT service provider. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) The ability to meet an agreed level of utility. Fit for purpose is also used informally to describe a process, configuration item, IT service etc. that is capable of meeting its objectives or service levels. Being fit for purpose requires suitable design, implementation, control and maintenance. |
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Term
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) A methodology for using service desks and support groups around the world to provide seamless 24/7 service. Calls, incidents, problems and service requests are passed between groups in different time zones. |
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Term
| fulfillment (English spelling is fulfilment) |
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Definition
| Performing activities to meet a need or requirement – for example, by providing a new IT service, or meeting a service request. |
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Term
|
Definition
A team or group of people and the tools or other resources they use to carry out one or more processes or activities – for example, the service desk. The term also has two other meanings:
- An intended purpose of a configuration item person, team, process or IT service. For example, one function of an email service may be to store and forward outgoing mails, while the function of a business process may be to dispatch goods to customers.
- To perform the intended purpose correctly, as in ‘The computer is functioning.’ |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) Transferring an incident, problem or change to a technical team with a higher level of expertise to assist in an escalation. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Ensures that policies and strategy are actually implemented, and that required processes are correctly followed. Governance includes defining roles and responsibilities, measuring and reporting, and taking actions to resolve any issues identified. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) Informing or involving more senior levels of management to assist in an escalation. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) (ITIL Service Transition) A measure of the effect of an incident, problem or change on business processes. Impact is often based on how service levels will be affected. Impact and urgency are used to assign priority. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) An unplanned interruption to an IT service or reduction in the quality of an IT service. Failure of a configuration item that has not yet affected service is also an incident – for example, failure of one disk from a mirror set. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) The process responsible for managing the lifecycle of all incidents. Incident management ensures that normal service operation is restored as quickly as possible and the business impact is minimized. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) A record containing the details of an incident. Each incident record documents the lifecycle of a single incident. |
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Term
information security management (ISM)
SD |
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Definition
(ITIL Service Design) The process responsible for ensuring that the confidentiality, integrity and availability of an organization’s assets, information, data and IT services match the agreed needs of the business. Information security management supports business security and has a wider scope than that of the IT service provider, and includes handling of paper, building access, phone calls etc. for the entire organization.
See also security management information system. |
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Term
|
Definition
| A type of supporting service that provides hardware, network or other data centre components. The term is also used as a synonym for supporting service. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) A security principle that ensures data and configuration items are modified only by authorized personnel and activities. Integrity considers all possible causes of modification, including software and hardware failure, environmental events, and human intervention. |
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Term
|
Definition
A customer who works for the same business as the IT service provider.
See also external customer; internal service provider. |
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Term
|
Definition
| All of the hardware, software, networks, facilities etc. that are required to develop, test, deliver, monitor, control or support applications and IT services. The term includes all of the information technology but not the associated people, processes and documentation. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) Activities carried out by IT operations control, including console management/operations bridge, job scheduling, backup and restore, and print and output management. IT operations is also used as a synonym for service operation. |
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Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Operation) The function responsible for monitoring and control of the IT services and IT infrastructure.
See also operations bridge. |
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|
Term
IT operations management
SO |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) The function within an IT service provider that performs the daily activities needed to manage IT services and the supporting IT infrastructure. IT operations management includes IT operations control and facilities management. |
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Term
|
Definition
A service provided by an IT service provider. An IT service is made up of a combination of information technology, people and processes. A customer-facing IT service directly supports the business processes of one or more customers and its service level targets should be defined in a service level agreement. Other IT services, called supporting services, are not directly used by the business but are required by the service provider to deliver customer-facing services.
See also core service; enabling service; enhancing service; service; service package. |
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Term
IT service continuity management (ITSCM)
SD |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) The process responsible for managing risks that could seriously affect IT services. IT service continuity management ensures that the IT service provider can always provide minimum agreed service levels, by reducing the risk to an acceptable level and planning for the recovery of IT services. IT service continuity management supports business continuity management. |
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Term
IT service continuity plan
SD |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) A plan defining the steps required to recover one or more IT services. The plan also identifies the triggers for invocation, people to be involved, communications etc. The IT service continuity plan should be part of a business continuity plan. |
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Term
| IT service management (ITSM) |
|
Definition
The implementation and management of quality IT services that meet the needs of the business. IT service management is performed by IT service providers through an appropriate mix of people, process and information technology.
See also service management. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) A service provider that provides IT services to internal or external customers. |
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Term
|
Definition
A set of best-practice publications for IT service management. Owned by the Cabinet Office (part of HM Government), ITIL gives guidance on the provision of quality IT services and the processes, functions and other capabilities needed to support them. The ITIL framework is based on a service lifecycle and consists of five lifecycle stages (service strategy, service design, service transition, service operation and continual service improvement), each of which has its own supporting publication. There is also a set of complementary ITIL publications providing guidance specific to industry sectors, organization types, operating models and technology architectures.
See www.itilofficialsite.com for more information. |
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|
Term
key performance indicator (KPI)
CSI & SD |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Design) A metric that is used to help manage an IT service, process, plan, project or other activity. Key performance indicators are used to measure the achievement of critical success factors. Many metrics may be measured, but only the most important of these are defined as key performance indicators and used to actively manage and report on the process, IT service or activity. They should be selected to ensure that efficiency, effectiveness and cost effectiveness are all managed. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A logical database containing data and information used by the service knowledge management system. |
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Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Transition) The process responsible for sharing perspectives, ideas, experience and information, and for ensuring that these are available in the right place and at the right time. The knowledge management process enables informed decisions, and improves efficiency by reducing the need to rediscover knowledge.
See also Data-to-Information-to-Knowledge-to-Wisdom; service knowledge management system. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) A problem that has a documented root cause and a workaround. Known errors are created and managed throughout their lifecycle by problem management. Known errors may also be identified by development or suppliers. |
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|
Term
known error database (KEDB)
SO |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) A database containing all known error records. This database is created by problem management and used by incident and problem management. The known error database may be part of the configuration management system, or may be stored elsewhere in the service knowledge management system. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) A record containing the details of a known error. Each known error record documents the lifecycle of a known error, including the status, root cause and workaround. In some implementations, a known error is documented using additional fields in a problem record. |
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|
Term
|
Definition
The various stages in the life of an IT service, configuration item, incident, problem, change etc. The lifecycle defines the categories for status and the status transitions that are permitted. For example:
- The lifecycle of an application includes requirements, design, build, deploy, operate, optimize
- The expanded incident lifecycle includes detection, diagnosis, repair, recovery and restoration
- The lifecycle of a server may include: ordered, received, in test, live, disposed etc. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) A measure of how quickly and effectively an IT service or other configuration item can be restored to normal working after a failure. Maintainability is often measured and reported as MTRS. Maintainability is also used in the context of software or IT service development to mean ability to be changed or repaired easily. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) The highest category of impact for an incident. A major incident results in significant disruption to the business. |
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|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A workaround that requires manual intervention. Manual workaround is also used as the name of a recovery option in which the business process operates without the use of IT services. This is a temporary measure and is usually combined with another recovery option. |
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|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) Opportunities that an IT service provider could exploit to meet the business needs of customers. Market spaces identify the possible IT services that an IT service provider may wish to consider delivering. |
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|
Term
mean time between failures (MTBF)
SD |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) A metric for measuring and reporting reliability. MTBF is the average time that an IT service or other configuration item can perform its agreed function without interruption. This is measured from when the configuration item starts working, until it next fails. |
|
|
Term
mean time between service incidents (MTBSI)
SD |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) A metric used for measuring and reporting reliability. It is the mean time from when a system or IT service fails, until it next fails. MTBSI is equal to MTBF plus MTRS. |
|
|
Term
| mean time to repair (MTTR) |
|
Definition
| The average time taken to repair an IT service or other configuration item after a failure. MTTR is measured from when the configuration item fails until it is repaired. MTTR does not include the time required to recover or restore. It is sometimes incorrectly used instead of mean time to restore service. |
|
|
Term
| mean time to restore service (MTRS) |
|
Definition
The average time taken to restore an IT service or other configuration item after a failure. MTRS is measured from when the configuration item fails until it is fully restored and delivering its normal functionality.
See also maintainability; mean time to repair. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) Something that is measured and reported to help manage a process, IT service or activity.
See also key performance indicator. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A representation of a system, process, IT service, configuration item etc. that is used to help understand or predict future behavior. |
|
|
Term
| modeling (English spelling modelling) |
|
Definition
| A technique that is used to predict the future behavior of a system, process, IT service, configuration item etc. Modeling is commonly used in financial management, capacity management and availability management. |
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|
Term
|
Definition
| To perform as expected. A process or configuration item is said to operate if it is delivering the required outputs. Operate also means to perform one or more operations. For example, to operate a computer is to do the day-to-day operations needed for it to perform as expected. |
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|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) Day-to-day management of an IT service, system or other configuration item. Operation is also used to mean any predefined activity or transaction – for example, loading a magnetic tape, accepting money at a point of sale, or reading data from a disk drive. |
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|
Term
|
Definition
| The lowest of three levels of planning and delivery (strategic, tactical, operational). Operational activities include the day-to-day or short-term planning or delivery of a business process or IT service management process. The term is also a synonym for live. |
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Term
operational level agreement (OLA)
CSI & SD |
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Definition
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Design) An agreement between an IT service provider and another part of the same organization. It supports the IT service provider’s delivery of IT services to customers and defines the goods or services to be provided and the responsibilities of both parties. For example, there could be an operational level agreement:
- Between the IT service provider and a procurement department to obtain hardware in agreed times
- Between the service desk and a support group to provide incident resolution in agreed times.
See also service level agreement. |
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Term
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Definition
| A company, legal entity or other institution. The term is sometimes used to refer to any entity that has people, resources and budgets – for example, a project or business unit. |
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Term
pattern of business activity (PBA)
SS |
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) A workload profile of one or more business activities. Patterns of business activity are used to help the IT service provider understand and plan for different levels of business activity. See also user profile. |
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Term
|
Definition
| A measure of what is achieved or delivered by a system, person, team, process or IT service. |
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Term
Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
CSI |
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Definition
| (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A four stage cycle for process management, attributed to Edward Deming. Plan-Do-Check-Act is also called the Deming Cycle. Plan – design or revise processes that support the IT services; Do – implement the plan and manage the processes; Check – measure the processes and IT services, compare with objectives and produce reports; Act – plan and implement changes to improve the processes. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) Agreed time when an IT service will not be available. Planned downtime is often used for maintenance, upgrades and testing. See also change window; downtime. |
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Term
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Definition
| Formally documented management expectations and intentions. Policies are used to direct decisions, and to ensure consistent and appropriate development and implementation of processes, standards, roles, activities, IT infrastructure etc. |
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Term
| post-implementation review (PIR) |
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Definition
| A review that takes place after a change or a project has been implemented. It determines if the change or project was successful, and identifies opportunities for improvement. |
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Term
|
Definition
| A way of working, or a way in which work must be done. Practices can include activities, processes, functions, standards and guidelines. See also best practice. |
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Term
| prerequisite for success (PFS) |
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Definition
| An activity that needs to be completed, or a condition that needs to be met, to enable successful implementation of a plan or process. It is often an output from one process that is a required input to another process. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) (ITIL Service Transition) A category used to identify the relative importance of an incident, problem or change. Priority is based on impact and urgency, and is used to identify required times for actions to be taken. For example, the service level agreement may state that Priority 2 incidents must be resolved within 12 hours. |
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Term
proactive problem management
SO |
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) Part of the problem management process. The objective of proactive problem management is to identify problems that might otherwise be missed. Proactive problem management analyses incident records, and uses data collected by other IT service management processes to identify trends or significant problems. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) A cause of one or more incidents. The cause is not usually known at the time a problem record is created, and the problem management process is responsible for further investigation. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) The process responsible for managing the lifecycle of all problems. Problem management proactively prevents incidents from happening and minimizes the impact of incidents that cannot be prevented. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) A record containing the details of a problem. Each problem record documents the lifecycle of a single problem. |
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Term
|
Definition
A document containing steps that specify how to achieve an activity. Procedures are defined as part of processes.
See also work instruction. |
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Term
|
Definition
| A structured set of activities designed to accomplish a specific objective. A process takes one or more defined inputs and turns them into defined outputs. It may include any of the roles, responsibilities, tools and management controls required to reliably deliver the outputs. A process may define policies, standards, guidelines, activities and work instructions if they are needed. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The activity of planning and regulating a process, with the objective of performing the process in an effective, efficient and consistent manner. |
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Term
|
Definition
| A role responsible for the operational management of a process. The process manager’s responsibilities include planning and coordination of all activities required to carry out, monitor and report on the process. There may be several process managers for one process – for example, regional change managers or IT service continuity managers for each data centre. The process manager role is often assigned to the person who carries out the process owner role, but the two roles may be separate in larger organizations. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The person who is held accountable for ensuring that a process is fit for purpose. The process owner’s responsibilities include sponsorship, design, change management and continual improvement of the process and its metrics. This role can be assigned to the same person who carries out the process manager role, but the two roles may be separate in larger organizations. |
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Term
|
Definition
| A temporary organization, with people and other assets, that is required to achieve an objective or other outcome. Each project has a lifecycle that typically includes initiation, planning, execution, and closure. Projects are usually managed using a formal methodology such as PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2) or the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). See also charter; project management office; project portfolio. |
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Term
projected service outage (PSO)
ST |
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Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A document that identifies the effect of planned changes, maintenance activities and test plans on agreed service levels. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The ability of a product, service or process to provide the intended value. For example, a hardware component can be considered to be of high quality if it performs as expected and delivers the required reliability. Process quality also requires an ability to monitor effectiveness and efficiency, and to improve them if necessary. See also quality management system. |
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Term
quality assurance (QA)
ST |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) The process responsible for ensuring that the quality of a service, process or other service asset will provide its intended value. Quality assurance is also used to refer to a function or team that performs quality assurance. This process is not described in detail within the core ITIL publications. See also service validation and testing. |
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Term
quality management system (QMS)
CSI |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) The framework of policy, processes, functions, standards, guidelines and tools that ensures an organization is of a suitable quality to reliably meet business objectives or service levels. See also ISO 9000. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) A model used to help define roles and responsibilities. RACI stands for responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) One or more changes to an IT service that are built, tested and deployed together. A single release may include changes to hardware, software, documentation, processes and other components. |
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Term
release and deployment management
ST |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) The process responsible for planning, scheduling and controlling the build, test and deployment of releases, and for delivering new functionality required by the business while protecting the integrity of existing services. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A record that defines the content of a release. A release record has relationships with all configuration items that are affected by the release. Release records may be in the configuration management system or elsewhere in the service knowledge management system. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) Components of an IT service that are normally released together. A release unit typically includes sufficient components to perform a useful function. For example, one release unit could be a desktop PC, including hardware, software, licenses, documentation etc. A different release unit may be the complete payroll application, including IT operations procedures and user training. |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Design) A measure of how long an IT service or other configuration item can perform its agreed function without interruption. Usually measured as MTBF or MTBSI. The term can also be used to state how likely it is that a process, function etc. will deliver its required outputs. See also availability. |
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|
Term
request for change (RFC)
ST |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A formal proposal for a change to be made. It includes details of the proposed change, and may be recorded on paper or electronically. The term is often misused to mean a change record, or the change itself. |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) The process responsible for managing the lifecycle of all service requests. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) A formal statement of what is needed – for example, a service level requirement, a project requirement or the required deliverables for a process. See also statement of requirements. |
|
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Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Design) The ability of an IT service or other configuration item to resist failure or to recover in a timely manner following a failure. For example, an armored cable will resist failure when put under stress.
See also fault tolerance. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Strategy) A generic term that includes IT infrastructure, people, money or anything else that might help to deliver an IT service. Resources are considered to be assets of an organization.
See also capability; service asset. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) Taking action to return an IT service to the users after repair and recovery from an incident. This is the primary objective of incident management. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) Permanent removal of an IT service, or other configuration item, from the live environment. Being retired is a stage in the lifecycle of many configuration items. |
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Term
return on investment (ROI)
CSI & SS |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Strategy) A measurement of the expected benefit of an investment. In the simplest sense, it is the net profit of an investment divided by the net worth of the assets invested. See also net present value; value on investment. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) Entitlements, or permissions, granted to a user or role – for example, the right to modify particular data, or to authorize a change. |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| A possible event that could cause harm or loss, or affect the ability to achieve objectives. A risk is measured by the probability of a threat, the vulnerability of the asset to that threat, and the impact it would have if it occurred. Risk can also be defined as uncertainty of outcome, and can be used in the context of measuring the probability of positive outcomes as well as negative outcomes. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The initial steps of risk management: analyzing the value of assets to the business, identifying threats to those assets, and evaluating how vulnerable each asset is to those threats. Risk assessment can be quantitative (based on numerical data) or qualitative. |
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Term
|
Definition
The process responsible for identifying, assessing and controlling risks. Risk management is also sometimes used to refer to the second part of the overall process after risks have been identified and assessed, as in ‘risk assessment and management’. This process is not described in detail within the core ITIL publications.
See also risk assessment. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A set of responsibilities, activities and authorities assigned to a person or team. A role is defined in a process or function. One person or team may have multiple roles – for example, the roles of configuration manager and change manager may be carried out by a single person. Role is also used to describe the purpose of something or what it is used for. |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) The underlying or original cause of an incident or problem. |
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|
Term
root cause analysis (RCA)
SO |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) An activity that identifies the root cause of an incident or problem. Root cause analysis typically concentrates on IT infrastructure failures. See also service failure analysis. |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) The second level in a hierarchy of support groups involved in the resolution of incidents and investigation of problems. Each level contains more specialist skills, or has more time or other resources. |
|
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Term
|
Definition
A means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs and risks. The term ‘service’ is sometimes used as a synonym for core service, IT service or service package.
See also utility; warranty. |
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|
Term
service acceptance criteria (SAC)
ST |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A set of criteria used to ensure that an IT service meets its functionality and quality requirements and that the IT service provider is ready to operate the new IT service when it has been deployed. See also acceptance. |
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|
Term
service asset and configuration management (SACM)
ST |
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Transition) The process responsible for ensuring that the assets required to deliver services are properly controlled, and that accurate and reliable information about those assets is available when and where it is needed. This information includes details of how the assets have been configured and the relationships between assets.
See also configuration management system. |
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|
Term
service capacity management (SCM)
CSI & SD |
|
Definition
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Design) The sub-process of capacity management responsible for understanding the performance and capacity of IT services. Information on the resources used by each IT service and the pattern of usage over time are collected, recorded and analyzed for use in the capacity plan.
See also business capacity management; component capacity management. |
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Term
service catalog (English spelling catalogue)
SD & SS |
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Design) (ITIL Service Strategy) A database or structured document with information about all live IT services, including those available for deployment. The service catalogue is part of the service portfolio and contains information about two types of IT service: customer-facing services that are visible to the business; and supporting services required by the service provider to deliver customer-facing services.
See also customer agreement portfolio; service catalogue management. |
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Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Design) A stage in the lifecycle of a service. Service design includes the design of the services, governing practices, processes and policies required to realize the service provider’s strategy and to facilitate the introduction of services into supported environments. Service design includes the following processes: design coordination, service catalogue management, service level management, availability management, capacity management, IT service continuity management, information security management, and supplier management. Although these processes are associated with service design, most processes have activities that take place across multiple stages of the service lifecycle.
See also design. |
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|
Term
service design package (SDP)
SD |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) Document(s) defining all aspects of an IT service and its requirements through each stage of its lifecycle. A service design package is produced for each new IT service, major change or IT service retirement. |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) The single point of contact between the service provider and the users. A typical service desk manages incidents and service requests, and also handles communication with the users. |
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Term
service improvement plan (SIP)
CSI |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A formal plan to implement improvements to a process or IT service. |
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|
Term
service knowledge management system (SKMS)
ST |
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Transition) A set of tools and databases that is used to manage knowledge, information and data. The service knowledge management system includes the configuration management system, as well as other databases and information systems. The service knowledge management system includes tools for collecting, storing, managing, updating, analyzing and presenting all the knowledge, information and data that an IT service provider will need to manage the full lifecycle of IT services.
See also knowledge management. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Measured and reported achievement against one or more service level targets. The term is sometimes used informally to mean service level target. |
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|
Term
service level agreement (SLA)
CSI & SD |
|
Definition
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Design) An agreement between an IT service provider and a customer. A service level agreement describes the IT service, documents service level targets, and specifies the responsibilities of the IT service provider and the customer. A single agreement may cover multiple IT services or multiple customers.
See also operational level agreement. |
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|
Term
service level management (SLM)
SD |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) The process responsible for negotiating achievable service level agreements and ensuring that these are met. It is responsible for ensuring that all IT service management processes, operational level agreements and underpinning contracts are appropriate for the agreed service level targets. Service level management monitors and reports on service levels, holds regular service reviews with customers, and identifies required improvements. |
|
|
Term
| service level package (SLP) |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
service level requirement (SLR)
CSI & SD |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Design) A customer requirement for an aspect of an IT service. Service level requirements are based on business objectives and used to negotiate agreed service level targets. |
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Term
service level target
CSI & SD |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Design) A commitment that is documented in a service level agreement. Service level targets are based on service level requirements, and are needed to ensure that the IT service is able to meet business objectives. They should be SMART, and are usually based on key performance indicators. |
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|
Term
|
Definition
| A set of specialized organizational capabilities for providing value to customers in the form of services. |
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|
Term
| service management lifecycle |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A generic term for any manager within the service provider. Most commonly used to refer to a business relationship manager, a process manager or a senior manager with responsibility for IT services overall. |
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Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Operation) A stage in the lifecycle of a service. Service operation coordinates and carries out the activities and processes required to deliver and manage services at agreed levels to business users and customers. Service operation also manages the technology that is used to deliver and support services. Service operation includes the following processes: event management, incident management, request fulfillment, problem management, and access management. Service operation also includes the following functions: service desk, technical management, IT operations management, and application management. Although these processes and functions are associated with service operation, most processes and functions have activities that take place across multiple stages of the service lifecycle.
See also operation. |
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Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Strategy) A role responsible for managing one or more services throughout their entire lifecycle. Service owners are instrumental in the development of service strategy and are responsible for the content of the service portfolio.
See also business relationship management. |
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Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Strategy) Two or more services that have been combined to offer a solution to a specific type of customer need or to underpin specific business outcomes. A service package can consist of a combination of core services, enabling services and enhancing services. A service package provides a specific level of utility and warranty. Customers may be offered a choice of utility and warranty through one or more service options.
See also IT service. |
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Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) A database or structured document listing all IT services that are under consideration or development, but are not yet available to customers. The service pipeline provides a business view of possible future IT services and is part of the service portfolio that is not normally published to customers. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Strategy) The complete set of services that is managed by a service provider. The service portfolio is used to manage the entire lifecycle of all services, and includes three categories: service pipeline (proposed or in development), service catalogue (live or available for deployment), and retired services.
See also customer agreement portfolio; service portfolio management. |
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|
Term
service portfolio management (SPM)
SS |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) The process responsible for managing the service portfolio. Service portfolio management ensures that the service provider has the right mix of services to meet required business outcomes at an appropriate level of investment. Service portfolio management considers services in terms of the business value that they provide. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) The total possible value of the overall capabilities and resources of the IT service provider. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Strategy) An organization supplying services to one or more internal customers or external customers. Service provider is often used as an abbreviation for IT service provider.
See also Type I service provider; Type II service provider; Type III service provider. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) Activities that produce and deliver reports of achievement and trends against service levels. The format, content and frequency of reports should be agreed with customers. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) A formal request from a user for something to be provided – for example, a request for information or advice; to reset a password; or to install a workstation for a new user. Service requests are managed by the request fulfillment process, usually in conjunction with the service desk. Service requests may be linked to a request for change as part of fulfilling the request. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) A stage in the lifecycle of a service. Service strategy defines the perspective, position, plans and patterns that a service provider needs to execute to meet an organization’s business outcomes. Service strategy includes the following processes: strategy management for IT services, service portfolio management, financial management for IT services, demand management, and business relationship management. Although these processes are associated with service strategy, most processes have activities that take place across multiple stages of the service lifecycle. |
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|
Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Transition) A stage in the lifecycle of a service. Service transition ensures that new, modified or retired services meet the expectations of the business as documented in the service strategy and service design stages of the lifecycle. Service transition includes the following processes: transition planning and support, change management, service asset and configuration management, release and deployment management, service validation and testing, change evaluation, and knowledge management. Although these processes are associated with service transition, most processes have activities that take place across multiple stages of the service lifecycle.
See also transition. |
|
|
Term
service validation and testing
ST |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) The process responsible for validation and testing of a new or changed IT service. Service validation and testing ensures that the IT service matches its design specification and will meet the needs of the business. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) A measurement of the total cost of delivering an IT service, and the total value to the business of that IT service. Service valuation is used to help the business and the IT service provider agree on the value of the IT service. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Design) The ability of a third-party supplier to meet the terms of its contract. This contract will include agreed levels of reliability, maintainability and availability for a configuration item. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
A mandatory requirement. Examples include ISO/IEC 20000 (an international standard), an internal security standard for Unix configuration, or a government standard for how financial records should be maintained. The term is also used to refer to a code of practice or specification published by a standards organization such as ISO or BSI.
See also guideline. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Transition) A pre-authorized change that is low risk, relatively common and follows a procedure or work instruction – for example, a password reset or provision of standard equipment to a new employee. Requests for change are not required to implement a standard change, and they are logged and tracked using a different mechanism, such as a service request.
See also change model. |
|
|
Term
standard operating procedures
SO |
|
Definition
| (SOP) (ITIL Service Operation) Procedures used by IT operations management. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) The highest of three levels of planning and delivery (strategic, tactical, operational). Strategic activities include objective setting and long-term planning to achieve the overall vision. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) A strategic plan designed to achieve defined objectives. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) A user who helps other users, and assists in communication with the service desk or other parts of the IT service provider. Super users are often experts in the business processes supported by an IT service and will provide support for minor incidents and training. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Design) (ITIL Service Strategy) A third party responsible for supplying goods or services that are required to deliver IT services. Examples of suppliers include commodity hardware and software vendors, network and telecom providers, and outsourcing organizations.
See also supply chain; underpinning contract. |
|
|
Term
supplier and contract management information system (SCMIS)
SD |
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Design) A set of tools, data and information that is used to support supplier management.
See also service knowledge management system. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Design) The process responsible for obtaining value for money from suppliers, ensuring that all contracts and agreements with suppliers support the needs of the business, and that all suppliers meet their contractual commitments.
See also supplier and contract management information system. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A technique that reviews and analyses the internal strengths and weaknesses of an organization and the external opportunities and threats that it faces. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
A number of related things that work together to achieve an overall objective. For example: - A computer system including hardware, software and applications
- A management system, including the framework of policy, processes, functions, standards, guidelines and tools that are planned and managed together – for example, a quality management system
- A database management system or operating system that includes many software modules which are designed to perform a set of related functions. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The part of IT service management that focuses on the management of IT infrastructure rather than process. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The middle of three levels of planning and delivery (strategic, tactical, operational). Tactical activities include the medium-term plans required to achieve specific objectives, typically over a period of weeks to months. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) The function responsible for providing technical skills in support of IT services and management of the IT infrastructure. Technical management defines the roles of support groups, as well as the tools, processes and procedures required. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
A person, organization or other entity that is not part of the service provider’s own organization and is not a customer – for example, a software supplier or a hardware maintenance company. Requirements for third parties are typically specified in contracts that underpin service level agreements.
See also underpinning contract. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Operation) The third level in a hierarchy of support groups involved in the resolution of incidents and investigation of problems. Each level contains more specialist skills, or has more time or other resources. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A threat is anything that might exploit a vulnerability. Any potential cause of an incident can be considered a threat. For example, a fire is a threat that could exploit the vulnerability of flammable floor coverings. This term is commonly used in information security management and IT service continuity management, but also applies to other areas such as problem and availability management. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The value of a metric that should cause an alert to be generated or management action to be taken. For example, ‘Priority 1 incident not solved within four hours’, ‘More than five soft disk errors in an hour’, or ‘More than 10 failed changes in a month’. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) A change in state, corresponding to a movement of an IT service or other configuration item from one lifecycle status to the next. |
|
|
Term
transition planning and support
ST |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Transition) The process responsible for planning all service transition processes and coordinating the resources that they require. |
|
|
Term
Type I service provider
SS |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) An internal service provider that is embedded within a business unit. There may be several Type I service providers within an organization. |
|
|
Term
Type II service provider
SS |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) An internal service provider that provides shared IT services to more than one business unit. Type II service providers are also known as shared service units. |
|
|
Term
Type III service provider
SS |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Strategy) A service provider that provides IT services to external customers. |
|
|
Term
underpinning contract (UC)
SD |
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) A contract between an IT service provider and a third party. The third party provides goods or services that support delivery of an IT service to a customer. The underpinning contract defines targets and responsibilities that are required to meet agreed service level targets in one or more service level agreements. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (ITIL Service Design) (ITIL Service Transition) A measure of how long it will be until an incident, problem or change has a significant impact on the business. For example, a high-impact incident may have low urgency if the impact will not affect the business until the end of the financial year. Impact and urgency are used to assign priority. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A person who uses the IT service on a day-to-day basis. Users are distinct from customers, as some customers do not use the IT service directly. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Strategy) The functionality offered by a product or service to meet a particular need. Utility can be summarized as ‘what the service does’, and can be used to determine whether a service is able to meet its required outcomes, or is ‘fit for purpose’. The business value of an IT service is created by the combination of utility and warranty.
See also service validation and testing. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
(ITIL Service Transition) An activity that ensures a new or changed IT service, process, plan or other deliverable meets the needs of the business. Validation ensures that business requirements are met even though these may have changed since the original design.
See also acceptance; qualification; service validation and testing; verification. |
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(ITIL Service Strategy) A sequence of processes that creates a product or service that is of value to a customer. Each step of the sequence builds on the previous steps and contributes to the overall product or service.
See also value network. |
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An informal measure of cost effectiveness. Value for money is often based on a comparison with the cost of alternatives.
See also cost benefit analysis. |
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(ITIL Service Strategy) A complex set of relationships between two or more groups or organizations. Value is generated through exchange of knowledge, information, goods or services.
See also partnership; value chain. |
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value on investment (VOI)
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(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A measurement of the expected benefit of an investment. Value on investment considers both financial and intangible benefits.
See also return on investment. |
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vital business function (VBF)
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| (ITIL Service Design) Part of a business process that is critical to the success of the business. Vital business functions are an important consideration of business continuity management, IT service continuity management and availability management. |
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(ITIL Service Strategy) Assurance that a product or service will meet agreed requirements. This may be a formal agreement such as a service level agreement or contract, or it may be a marketing message or brand image. Warranty refers to the ability of a service to be available when needed, to provide the required capacity, and to provide the required reliability in terms of continuity and security. Warranty can be summarized as ‘how the service is delivered’, and can be used to determine whether a service is ‘fit for use’. The business value of an IT service is created by the combination of utility and warranty.
See also service validation and testing. |
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| (ITIL Service Operation) Reducing or eliminating the impact of an incident or problem for which a full resolution is not yet available – for example, by restarting a failed configuration item. Workarounds for problems are documented in known error records. Workarounds for incidents that do not have associated problem records are documented in the incident record. |
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| automatic call distribution |
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| availability management information system |
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| application service provider |
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| business continuity management |
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| business relationship manager |
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| British Standards Institution |
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| component capacity management |
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| component failure impact analysis |
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| configuration management database |
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| capacity management information system |
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| capability maturity model |
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| Capability Maturity Model Integration |
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| configuration management system |
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| Control OBjectives for Information and related Technology |
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| continual service improvement |
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| computer telephony integration |
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| Data-to-Information-to-Knowledge-to-Wisdom |
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| emergency change advisory board |
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| eSourcing Capability Model for Client Organizations |
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| eSourcing Capability Model for Service Providers |
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| information security management |
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| information security management system |
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| International Organization for Standardization |
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| internet service provider |
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| IT service continuity management |
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| IT Service Management Forum |
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| interactive voice response |
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| key performance indicator |
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| management information system |
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| mean time between failures |
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| mean time between service incidents |
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| mean time to restore service |
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| operational level agreement |
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| pattern of business activity |
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| post-implementation review |
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| Project Management Body of Knowledge |
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| Project Management Institute |
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| project management office |
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| PRojects IN Controlled Environments |
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| quality management system |
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| responsible, accountable, consulted and informed |
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| service acceptance criteria |
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| service asset and configuration management |
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| software asset management |
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| service capacity management |
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| supplier and contract management information system |
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| service knowledge management system |
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| service level requirement |
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| specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound |
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| security management information system |
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| service maintenance objective |
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| standard operating procedure |
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| statement of requirements |
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| service provider interface |
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| service portfolio management |
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| total cost of utilization |
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