The publication names included in parentheses after the name of a term identify where a reader can find more information about that term. This is either because the term is primarily used by that publication or because additional useful information about that term can be found there. Terms without a publication name associated with them may be used generally by several publications, or may not be defined in any greater detail than can be found in the glossary, i.e. we only point readers to somewhere they can expect to expand on their knowledge or to see a greater context. Terms with multiple publication names are expanded on in multiple publications.
Where the definition of a term includes another term, those related terms are highlighted in a second colour. This is designed to help the reader with their understanding by pointing them to additional definitions that are all part of the original term they were interested in. The form ‘See also Term X, Term Y’ is used at the end of a definition where an important related term is not used with the text of the definition itself.
| Acceptance
| Formal agreement that an IT Service, Process, Plan, or other Deliverable is complete, accurate, Reliable and meets its specified Requirements. Acceptance is usually preceded by Evaluation or Testing and is often required before proceeding to the next stage of a Project or Process. See also Service Acceptance Criteria.
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| Accounting
| (Service Strategy) The Process responsible for identifying actual Costs of delivering IT Services, comparing these with budgeted costs, and managing variance from the Budget.
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| Activity
| 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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| Agreed Service Time
| (Service Design) A synonym for Service hours, commonly used in formal calculations of Availability. See also Downtime.
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| Agreement
| A Document that describes a formal understanding between two or more parties. An Agreement is not legally binding, unless it forms part of a Contract. See also Service Level Agreement, Operational Level Agreement.
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| Alert
| (Service Operation) A warning 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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| Analytical Modelling
| (Service Strategy) (Service Design) (Continual Service Improvement) A technique that uses mathematical Models to predict the behaviour of a Configuration Item or IT Service. Analytical Models are commonly used in Capacity Management and Availability Management. See also Modelling.
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| Application
| Software that provides Functions that are required by an IT Service. Each Application may be part of more than one IT Service. An Application runs on one or more Servers or Clients. See also Application Management, Application Portfolio.
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| Application Management
| (Service Design) (Service Operation) The Function responsible for managing Applications throughout their Lifecycle.
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| Application Portfolio
| (Service Design) A database or structured Document used to manage Applications throughout their Lifecycle. The Application Portfolio contains key Attributes of all Applications. The Application Portfolio is sometimes implemented as part of the Service Portfolio, or as part of the Configuration Management System.
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| Application Service provider
| (Service Design) An External Service provider that provides IT Services using Applications running at the Service provider’s premises. Users access the Applications by network connections to the Service provider.
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| Application Sizing
| (Service Design) The Activity responsible for understanding the Resource Requirements needed to support a new Application, or a major Change to an existing Application. Application Sizing helps to ensure that the IT Service can meet its agreed Service level targets for Capacity and Performance.
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| Architecture
| (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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| Assessment
| Inspection and analysis to check whether a Standard or set of Guidelines is being followed, that Records are accurate, or that Efficiency and Effectiveness targets are being met. See also Audit.
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| Asset
| (Service Strategy) Any Resource or Capability. Assets of a Service provider including 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, and Financial Capital.
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| Asset Management
| (Service Transition) Asset Management is the Process responsible for tracking and reporting the value and ownership of financial Assets throughout their Lifecycle. Asset Management is part of an overall Service asset and Configuration Management Process.
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| Attribute
| (Service Transition) A piece of information about a Configuration Item. Examples are: name, location, Version number and Cost. Attributes of CIs are recorded in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). See also Relationship.
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| Audit
| Formal inspection and verification to check whether a Standard or set of Guidelines is being followed, that Records are accurate, or that Efficiency and Effectiveness targets are being met. An Audit may be carried out by internal or external groups. See also Certification, Assessment.
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| Automatic Call Distribution
| (Service Operation) Use of Information Technology to direct an incoming telephone call to the most appropriate person in the shortest possible time. ACD is sometimes called Automated Call Distribution.
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| Availability
| (Service Design) Ability of a Configuration Item or IT Service 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 using measurements of the Business output of the IT Service.
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| Availability Management
| (Service Design) The Process responsible for defining, analysing, Planning, measuring and improving all aspects of the Availability of IT services. Availability Management is responsible for ensuring that all IT Infrastructure, Processes, Tools, Roles, etc. are appropriate for the agreed Service level targets for Availability.
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| Availability Management Information System
| (Service Design) A virtual repository of all Availability Management data, usually stored in multiple physical locations. See also Service Knowledge Management System.
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| Availability Plan
| (Service Design) A Plan to ensure that existing and future Availability Requirements for IT Services can be provided Cost Effectively.
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| Back-out
| See Remediation.
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| Backup
| (Service Design) (Service Operation) Copying data to protect against loss of Integrity or Availability of the original.
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| Balanced Scorecard
| (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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| Baseline
| (Continual Service Improvement) A Benchmark used as a reference point. 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 Management Baseline can be used to enable the IT Infrastructure to be restored to a known Configuration if a Change or Release fails.
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| Benchmark
| (Continual Service Improvement) The recorded state of something at a specific point in time. A Benchmark can be created for a Configuration, a Process, or any other set of data. For example, a benchmark can be used in:
· Continual Service Improvement, to establish the current state for managing improvements
· Capacity Management, to document performance characteristics during normal operations.
See also Benchmarking, Baseline.
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| Benchmarking
| (Continual Service Improvement) Comparing a Benchmark with a Baseline or with Best Practice. The term Benchmarking is also used to mean creating a series of Benchmarks over time, and comparing the results to measure progress or improvement.
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| Best Practice
| Proven Activities or Processes that have been successfully used by multiple Organizations. ITIL is an example of Best Practice.
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| Brainstorming
| (Service Design) A technique that helps a team to generate ideas. Ideas are not reviewed during the Brainstorming session, but at a later stage. Brainstorming is often used by Problem Management to identify possible causes.
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| Budget
| A list of all the money an Organization or Business Unit plans to receive, and plans to pay out, over a specified period of time. See also Budgeting, Planning.
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| Budgeting
| The Activity of predicting and controlling the spending of money. Consists of a periodic negotiation cycle to set future Budgets (usually annual) and the day-to-day monitoring and adjusting of current Budgets.
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| Build
| (Service Transition) The Activity of assembling a number of Configuration Items to create part of an IT Service. The term Build is also used to refer to a Release that is authorized for distribution. For example Server Build or laptop Build. See also Configuration Baseline.
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| Business
| (Service Strategy) An overall corporate entity or Organization formed of a number of Business Units. In the context of ITSM, the term Business 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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| Business Capacity Management
| (Service Design) In the context of ITSM, Business Capacity Management is the Activity responsible for understanding future Business Requirements for use in the Capacity Plan. See also Service Capacity Management.
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| Business Case
| (Service Strategy) Justification for a significant item of expenditure. Includes information about Costs, benefits, options, issues, Risks, and possible problems. See also Cost Benefit Analysis.
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| Business Continuity Management
| (Service Design) The business process responsible for managing Risks that could seriously affect the Business. BCM safeguards the interests of key stakeholders, reputation, brand and value-creating activities. The BCM Process involves reducing Risks to an acceptable level and planning for the recovery of Business Processes should a disruption to the Business occur. BCM sets the Objectives, Scope and Requirements for IT Service Continuity Management.
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| Business Continuity Plan
| (Service Design) A Plan defining the steps required to Restore Business Processes following a disruption. The Plan will also identify 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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| Business Customer
| (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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| Business Impact Analysis
| (Service Strategy) BIA 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. BIA 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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| Business Objective
| (Service Strategy) The Objective of a Business Process, or of the Business as a whole. Business Objectives support the Business Vision, provide guidance for the IT Strategy, and are often supported by IT Services.
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| Business Operations
| (Service Strategy) The day-to-day execution, monitoring and management of Business Processes.
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| Business Perspective
| (Continual Service Improvement) An understanding of the Service provider and IT Services from the point of view of the Business, and an understanding of the Business from the point of view of the Service provider.
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| Business Process
| 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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| Business Relationship Management
| (Service Strategy) The Process or Function responsible for maintaining a Relationship with the Business. Business Relationship Management usually includes:
· Managing personal Relationships with Business managers
· Providing input to Service Portfolio Management
· Ensuring that the IT Service provider is satisfying the Business needs of the Customers
This Process has strong links with Service Level Management.
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| Business Service
| An IT Service that directly supports a Business Process, as opposed to an Infrastructure Service, which is used internally by the IT Service provider and is not usually visible to the Business.
The term Business Service is also used to mean a Service that is delivered to Business Customers by Business Units. For example, delivery of financial services to Customers of a bank, or goods to the Customers of a retail store. Successful delivery of Business Services often depends on one or more IT Services.
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| Business Service Management
| (Service Strategy) (Service Design) An approach to the management of IT Services that considers the Business Processes supported and the Business value provided.
This term also means the management of Business Services delivered to Business Customers.
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| Business Unit
| (Service Strategy) A segment of the Business that has its own Plans, Metrics, income and Costs. Each Business Unit owns Assets and uses these to create value for Customers in the form of goods and Services.
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| Call
| (Service Operation) A telephone call to the Service Desk from a User. A Call could result in an Incident or a Service request being logged.
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| Call Centre
| (Service Operation) An Organization or Business Unit that handles large numbers of incoming and outgoing telephone calls. See also Service Desk.
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| Capability
| (Service Strategy) The ability of an Organization, person, Process, Application, Configuration Item or IT Service to carry out an Activity. Capabilities are intangible Assets of an Organization. See also Resource.
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| Capacity
| (Service Design) The maximum Throughput that a Configuration Item or IT Service can deliver whilst meeting agreed Service level targets. For some types of CI, Capacity may be the size or volume, for example a disk drive.
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| Capacity Management
| (Service Design) The Process responsible for ensuring that the Capacity of IT Services and the IT Infrastructure is able to deliver agreed Service level targets in a Cost Effective and timely manner. Capacity Management considers all Resources required to deliver the IT Service, and plans for short-, medium- and long-term Business Requirements.
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| Capacity Management Information System
| (Service Design) A virtual repository of all Capacity Management data, usually stored in multiple physical locations. See also Service Knowledge Management System.
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| Capacity Plan
| (Service Design) A Capacity Plan is used to manage the Resources required to deliver IT Services. The Plan contains scenarios for different predictions of Business demand, and costed options to deliver the agreed Service level targets.
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| Capacity Planning
| (Service Design) The Activity within Capacity Management responsible for creating a Capacity Plan.
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| Category
| A named group of things that have something in common. Categories are used to group similar things together. For example, Cost Types are used to group similar types of Cost. Incident Categories are used to group similar types of Incident, CI Types are used to group similar types of Configuration Item.
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| Certification
| Issuing a certificate to confirm Compliance to a Standard. Certification includes a formal Audit by an independent and Accredited body. The term Certification is also used to mean awarding a certificate to verify that a person has achieved a qualification.
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| Change
| (Service Transition) The addition, modification or removal of anything that could have an effect on IT Services. The Scope should include all IT Services, Configuration Items, Processes, Documentation, etc.
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| Change Advisory Board
| (Service Transition) A group of people that advises the Change Manager in the Assessment, prioritization and scheduling of Changes. This board is usually made up of representatives from all areas within the IT Service provider, representatives from the Business and Third Parties such as Suppliers.
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| Change History
| (Service Transition) Information about all changes made to a Configuration Item during its life. Change History consists of all those Change Records that apply to the CI.
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| Change Management
| (Service Transition) The Process responsible for controlling the Lifecycle of all Changes. The primary objective of Change Management is to enable beneficial Changes to be made, with minimum disruption to IT Services.
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| Change Request
| See Request for Change.
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| Change Schedule
| (Service Transition) A Document that lists all approved Changes and their planned implementation dates. 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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| Change Window
| (Service Transition) A regular, agreed time when Changes or Releases may be implemented with minimal impact on Services. Change Windows are usually documented in SLAs.
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| Charging
| (Service Strategy) Requiring payment for IT Services. Charging for IT Services is optional, and many Organizations choose to treat their IT Service provider as a Cost Centre.
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| Classification
| The act of assigning a Category to something. Classification is used to ensure consistent management and reporting. CIs, Incidents, Problems, Changes, etc. are usually classified.
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| Client
| A generic term that means a Customer, the Business or a Business Customer. For example, Client Manager may be used as a synonym for Account Manager.
The term client is also used to mean:
· A computer that is used directly by a User, for example a PC, Handheld Computer, or Workstation
· The part of a Client-Server Application that the User directly interfaces with. For example an e-mail Client.
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| Closed
| (Service Operation) The final Status in the Lifecycle of an Incident, Problem, Change, etc. When the Status is Closed, no further action is taken.
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| Closure
| (Service Operation) The act of changing the Status of an Incident, Problem, Change, etc. to Closed.
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| COBIT
| (Continual Service Improvement) Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) provides guidance and Best Practice for the management of IT Processes. COBIT is published by the IT Governance Institute. See www.isaca.org for more information.
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| Cold Standby
| See Gradual Recovery.
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| Commercial Off-The-Shelf
| (Service Design) Application software or Middleware that can be purchased from a Third party.
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| Compliance
| Ensuring that a Standard or set of Guidelines is followed, or that proper, consistent accounting or other practices are being employed.
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| Component
| A general term that is used to mean one part of something more complex. For example, a computer System may be a component of an IT Service, an Application may be a Component of a Release Unit. Components that need to be managed should be Configuration Items.
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| Component Capacity Management
| (Service Design) (Continual Service Improvement) The process responsible for understanding the Capacity, Utilization and Performance of Configuration Items. Data is collected, recorded and analysed for use in the Capacity Plan. See also Service Capacity Management.
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| Component CI
| (Service Transition) A Configuration Item that is part of an Assembly. For example, a CPU or Memory CI may be part of a Server CI.
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| Component Failure Impact Analysis
| (Service Design) A technique that helps to identify the impact of CI failure on IT Services. A matrix is created with IT Services on one edge and CIs on the other. This enables the identification of critical CIs (that could cause the failure of multiple IT Services) and of fragile IT Services (that have multiple Single Points of Failure).
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| Concurrency
| A measure of the number of Users engaged in the same Operation at the same time.
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| Confidentiality
| (Service Design) A security principle that requires that data should only be accessed by authorized people.
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| Configuration
| (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 CIs.
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| Configuration Baseline
| (Service Transition) A 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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| Configuration Control
| (Service Transition) The Activity responsible for ensuring that adding, modifying or removing a CI is properly managed, for example by submitting a Request for Change or Service request.
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| Configuration Identification
| (Service Transition) The Activity responsible for collecting information about Configuration Items and their Relationships, and loading this information into the CMDB. Configuration Identification is also responsible for labelling the CIs themselves, so that the corresponding Configuration Records can be found.
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| Configuration Item
| (Service Transition) Any Component that needs to be managed in order to deliver an IT Service. Information about each CI is recorded in a Configuration Record within the Configuration Management System and is maintained throughout its Lifecycle by Configuration Management. CIs are under the control of Change Management. CIs typically include IT Services, hardware, software, buildings, people, and formal documentation such as Process documentation and SLAs.
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| Configuration Management
| (Service Transition) The Process responsible for maintaining information about Configuration Items required to deliver an IT Service, including their Relationships. This information is managed throughout the Lifecycle of the CI. Configuration Management is part of an overall Service asset and Configuration Management Process.
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| Configuration Management System
| (Service Transition) A set of tools and databases that are used to manage an IT Service provider’s Configuration data. The CMS also includes information about Incidents, Problems, Known Errors, Changes and Releases; and may contain data about employees, Suppliers, locations, Business Units, Customers and Users. The CMS includes tools for collecting, storing, managing, updating, and presenting data about all Configuration Items and their Relationships. The CMS is maintained by Configuration Management and is used by all IT Service Management Processes. See also Service Knowledge Management System.
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| Continual Service Improvement
| (Continual Service Improvement) A stage in the Lifecycle of an IT Service and the title of one of the Core ITIL publications. Continual Service Improvement is responsible for managing improvements to IT Service Management Processes and IT Services. 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. See also Plan–Do–Check–Act.
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| Continuous Availability
| (Service Design) An approach or design to achieve 100% Availability. A Continuously Available IT Service has no planned or unplanned Downtime.
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| Continuous Operation
| (Service Design) An approach or design to eliminate planned Downtime of an IT Service. Note that individual Configuration Items may be down even though the IT Service is Available.
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| Contract
| A legally binding Agreement between two or more parties.
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| Control
| A means of managing a Risk, ensuring that a Business Objective is achieved, or ensuring that a Process is followed. Example Controls include Policies, Procedures, Roles, RAID, door locks, etc. A control is sometimes called a Countermeasure or safeguard. Control also means to manage the utilization or behaviour of a Configuration Item, System or IT Service.
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| Control perspective
| (Service Strategy) An approach to the management of IT Services, Processes, Functions, Assets, etc. There can be several different Control Perspectives on the same IT Service, Process, etc., allowing different individuals or teams to focus on what is important and relevant to their specific Role. Example Control Perspectives include Reactive and Proactive management within IT Operations, or a Lifecycle view for an Application Project team.
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| Cost
| The amount of money spent on a specific Activity, IT Service, or Business Unit. Costs consist of real cost (money), notional cost such as people’s time, and Depreciation.
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| Cost Benefit Analysis
| An Activity that analyses and compares the costs and the benefits involved in one or more alternative courses of action. See also Business Case, Return on Investment.
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| Cost Effectiveness
| A measure of the balance between the Effectiveness and Cost of a Service, Process or activity. A Cost Effective Process is one that achieves its Objectives at minimum Cost. See also KPI, Return on Investment, Value for Money.
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| Countermeasure
| Can be used to refer to any type of Control. The term Countermeasure is most often used when referring to measures that increase Resilience, Fault Tolerance or Reliability of an IT Service.
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| Crisis Management
| (IT Service Continuity Management) Crisis Management is the Process responsible for managing the wider implications of Business Continuity. A Crisis Management team is responsible for Strategic issues such as managing media relations and shareholder confidence, and decides when to invoke Business Continuity Plans.
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| Critical Success Factor
| Something that must happen if a Process, Project, Plan, or IT Service is to succeed. KPIs are used to measure the achievement of each CSF. For example a CSF of ‘protect IT Services when making Changes’ could be measured by KPIs such as ‘percentage reduction of unsuccessful Changes’, ‘percentage reduction in Changes causing Incidents’, etc.
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| Culture
| A set of values that is shared by a group of people, including expectations about how people should behave, their ideas, beliefs, and practices. See also Vision.
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| Customer
| Someone who buys goods or Services. The Customer of an IT Service provider is the person or group that defines and agrees the Service level targets. The term Customers is also sometimes informally used to mean Users, for example ‘this is a Customer-focused Organization’.
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| Dashboard
| (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 or Incident Diagnosis.
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| Deliverable
| Something that must be provided to meet a commitment in a Service Level Agreement or a Contract. Deliverable is also used in a more informal way to mean a planned output of any Process.
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| Demand Management
| Activities that understand and influence Customer demand for Services and the provision of Capacity to meet these demands. At a Strategic level Demand Management can involve analysis of Patterns of Business Activity and User Profiles. At a tactical level it can involve use of Differential Charging to encourage Customers to use IT Services at less busy times. See also Capacity Management.
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| Dependency
| The direct or indirect reliance of one Process or Activity on another.
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| Deployment
| (Service Transition) The Activity responsible for movement of new or changed hardware, software, documentation, Process, etc. to the Live Environment. Deployment is part of the Release and Deployment Management Process.
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| Design
| (Service Design) An Activity or Process that identifies Requirements and then defines a solution that is able to meet these Requirements. See also Service Design.
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| Detection
| (Service Operation) A stage in the Incident Lifecycle. Detection results in the Incident becoming known to the Service provider. Detection can be automatic, or can be the result of a user logging an Incident.
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| Development
| (Service Design) The Process responsible for creating or modifying an IT Service or Application. Also used to mean the Role or group that carries out Development work.
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| Development Environment
| (Service Design) An Environment used to create or modify IT Services or Applications. Development Environments are not typically subjected to the same degree of control as Test Environments or Live Environments. See also Development.
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| Diagnosis
| (Service Operation) A stage in the Incident and Problem Lifecycles. The purpose of Diagnosis is to identify a Workaround for an Incident or the Root cause of a Problem.
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| Differential Charging
| A technique used to support Demand Management by charging different amounts for the same IT Service Function at different times.
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| Document
| Information in readable form. A Document may be paper or electronic. For example, a Policy statement, Service Level Agreement, Incident Record, diagram of computer room layout. See also Record.
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| Downtime
| (Service Design) (Service Operation) The time when a Configuration Item or IT Service is not Available during its Agreed Service Time. The Availability of an IT Service is often calculated from Agreed Service Time and Downtime.
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| Driver
| Something that influences Strategy, Objectives or Requirements. For example, new legislation or the actions of competitors.
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| Economies of scale
| (Service Strategy) The reduction in average Cost that is possible from increasing the usage of an IT Service or Asset.
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| Effectiveness
| (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 KPI.
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| Efficiency
| (Continual Service Improvement) A measure of whether the right amount of resources 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 KPI.
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| Environment
| (Service Transition) A subset of the IT Infrastructure that is used for a particular purpose. For example: Live Environment, Test Environment, Build Environment. It is possible for multiple Environments to share a Configuration Item, for example Test and Live Environments may use different partitions on a single mainframe computer. Also used in the term Physical Environment to mean the accommodation, air conditioning, power system, etc.
Environment is also used as a generic term to mean the external conditions that influence or affect something.
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| Error
| (Service Operation) A design flaw or malfunction that causes a Failure of one or more Configuration Items or IT Services. A mistake made by a person or a faulty Process that affects a CI or IT Service is also an Error.
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| Escalation
| (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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| eSourcing Capability Model for Service providers
| (Service Strategy) A framework to help IT Service providers develop their IT Service Management Capabilities from a Service Sourcing perspective. eSCM–SP was developed by Carnegie Mellon University, US.
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| Estimation
| The use of experience to provide an approximate value for a Metric or Cost. Estimation is also used in Capacity and Availability Management as the cheapest and least accurate Modelling method.
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| Evaluation
| (Service Transition) The Process responsible for assessing a new or Changed IT Service to ensure that Risks have been managed and to help determine whether to proceed with the Change.
Evaluation is also used to mean comparing an actual Outcome with the intended Outcome, or comparing one alternative with another.
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| Event
| (Service Operation) A change of state that has significance for the management of a Configuration Item or IT Service.
The term Event 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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| Event Management
| (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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| Exception Report
| A Document containing details of one or more KPIs or other important targets that have exceeded defined Thresholds. Examples include SLA targets being missed or about to be missed, and a Performance Metric indicating a potential Capacity problem.
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| Expanded Incident Lifecycle
| (Availability Management) Detailed stages in the Lifecycle of an Incident. The stages are Detection, Diagnosis, Repair, Recovery, Restoration. The Expanded Incident Lifecycle is used to help understand all contributions to the Impact of Incidents and to Plan how these could be controlled or reduced.
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| External Service provider
| (Service Strategy) An IT Service provider that is part of a different Organization to its Customer. An IT Service provider may have both Internal Customers and External Customers.
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| External Sourcing
| See Outsourcing.
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| Facilities Management
| (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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| Failure
| (Service Operation) Loss of ability to Operate to Specification, or to deliver the required output. The term Failure may be used when referring to IT Services, Processes, Activities, Configuration Items, etc. A Failure often causes an Incident.
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| Fast Recovery
| (Service Design) A Recovery Option that is also known as Hot Standby. Provision is made to Recover the IT Service in a short period of time: typically less than 24 hours. Fast Recovery typically uses a dedicated Fixed Facility with computer Systems, and software configured ready to run the IT Services. Fast Recovery may take up to 24 hours if there is a need to Restore data from Backups.
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| Fault
| See Error.
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| Fault Tolerance
| (Service Design) The ability of an IT Service or Configuration Item to continue to Operate correctly after Failure of a Component part. See also Resilience, Countermeasure.
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| Fault Tree Analysis
| (Service Design) (Continual Service Improvement) A technique that can be used to determine the chain of events that leads to a Problem. Fault Tree Analysis represents a chain of events using Boolean notation in a diagram.
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| Financial Management
| (Service Strategy) The Function and Processes responsible for managing an IT Service provider’s Budgeting, Accounting and Charging Requirements.
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| Fit for Purpose
| An informal term used 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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| Fulfilment
| 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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| Function
| A team or group of people and the tools they use to carry out one or more Processes or Activities. For example the Service Desk.
The term Function also has two other meanings:
· An intended purpose of a Configuration Item, Person, Team, Process, or IT Service. For example one Function of an e-mail Service may be to store and forward outgoing mails, one Function of a Business Process may be to dispatch goods to Customers.
· To perform the intended purpose correctly, ‘The computer is Functioning’.
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| Governance
| Ensuring 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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| Gradual Recovery
| (Service Design) A Recovery Option that is also known as Cold Standby. Provision is made to Recover the IT Service in a period of time greater than 72 hours. Gradual Recovery typically uses a Portable or Fixed Facility that has environmental support and network cabling, but no computer Systems. The hardware and software are installed as part of the IT Service Continuity Plan.
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| Guideline
| A Document describing Best Practice, which recommends what should be done. Compliance with a guideline is not normally enforced. See also Standard.
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| High Availability
| (Service Design) An approach or design that minimizes or hides the effects of Configuration Item Failure on the users of an IT Service. High Availability solutions are designed to achieve an agreed level of Availability and make use of techniques such as Fault Tolerance, Resilience and fast Recovery to reduce the number of Incidents, and the Impact of Incidents.
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| Hot Standby
| See Fast Recovery or Immediate Recovery.
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| Immediate Recovery
| (Service Design) A Recovery Option that is also known as Hot Standby. Provision is made to Recover the IT Service with no loss of Service. Immediate Recovery typically uses Mirroring, Load Balancing and Split Site technologies.
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| Impact
| (Service Operation) (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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| Incident
| (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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| Incident Management
| (Service Operation) The Process responsible for managing the Lifecycle of all Incidents. The primary Objective of Incident Management is to return the IT Service to Customers as quickly as possible.
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| Incident Record
| (Service Operation) A Record containing the details of an Incident. Each Incident record documents the Lifecycle of a single Incident.
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| Indirect Cost
| (Service Strategy) A Cost of providing an IT Service, which cannot be allocated in full to a specific customer. For example, the Cost of providing shared Servers or software licences. Also known as Overhead.
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| Information Security Management
| (Service Design) The Process that ensures the Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability of an Organization’s Assets, information, data and IT Services. Information Security Management usually forms part of an Organizational approach to Security Management that has a wider scope than the IT Service provider, and includes handling of paper, building access, phone calls, etc., for the entire Organization.
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| Information Security Management System
| (Service Design) The framework of Policy, Processes, Standards, Guidelines and tools that ensures an Organization can achieve its Information Security Management Objectives.
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| Information Security Policy
| (Service Design) The Policy that governs the Organization’s approach to Information Security Management.
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| Information Technology
| The use of technology for the storage, communication or processing of information. The technology typically includes computers, telecommunications, Applications and other software. The information may include Business data, voice, images, video, etc. Information Technology is often used to support Business Processes through IT Services.
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| Infrastructure Service
| An IT Service that is not directly used by the Business, but is required by the IT Service provider so they can provide other IT Services. For example directory services, naming services, or communication services.
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| Insourcing
| See Internal Sourcing.
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| Integrity
| (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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| Intermediate Recovery
| (Service Design) A Recovery Option that is also known as Warm Standby. Provision is made to Recover the IT Service in a period of time between 24 and 72 hours. Intermediate Recovery typically uses a shared Portable or Fixed Facility that has Computer Systems and Network Components. The hardware and software will need to be configured, and data will need to be restored, as part of the IT Service Continuity Plan.
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| Internal Service provider
| (Service Strategy) An IT Service provider that is part of the same Organization as its Customer. An IT Service provider may have both Internal Customers and External Customers.
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| Internal Sourcing
| (Service Strategy) Using an Internal Service provider to manage IT Services.
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| International Organization for Standardization
| The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the world’s largest developer of Standards. ISO is a non-governmental organization that is a network of the national standards institutes of 156 countries. See www.iso.org for further information about ISO.
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| ISO 9000
| A generic term that refers to a number of international Standards and Guidelines for Quality Management Systems. See www.iso.org for more information. See also ISO.
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| ISO 9001
| An international Standard for Quality Management Systems. See also ISO 9000, Standard.
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| ISO/IEC 20000
| ISO Specification and Code of Practice for IT Service Management. ISO/IEC 20000 is aligned with ITIL Best Practice.
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| ISO/IEC 27001
| (Service Design) (Continual Service Improvement) ISO Specification for Information Security Management. The corresponding Code of Practice is ISO/IEC 17799. See also Standard.
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| IT Infrastructure
| All of the hardware, software, networks, facilities, etc. that are required to develop, Test, deliver, Monitor, Control or support IT Services. The term IT Infrastructure includes all of the Information Technology but not the associated people, Processes and documentation.
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| IT Operations
| (Service Operation) Activities carried out by IT Operations Control, including Console Management, 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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| IT Service
| A Service provided to one or more Customers by an IT Service provider. An IT Service is based on the use of Information Technology and supports the Customer’s Business Processes. An IT Service is made up from a combination of people, Processes and technology and should be defined in a Service Level Agreement.
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| IT Service Continuity Management
| (Service Design) The Process responsible for managing Risks that could seriously affect IT Services. ITSCM 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. ITSCM should be designed to support Business Continuity Management.
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| IT Service Continuity Plan
| (Service Design) A Plan defining the steps required to Recover one or more IT services. The Plan will also identify 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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| IT Service Management
| 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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| IT Service provider
| (Service Strategy) A Service provider that provides IT Services to Internal Customers or External Customers.
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| IT Steering Group
| A formal group that is responsible for ensuring that Business and IT Service provider Strategies and Plans are closely aligned. An IT Steering Group includes senior representatives from the Business and the IT Service provider.
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| ITIL
| A set of Best Practice guidance for IT Service Management. ITIL is owned by the OGC and consists of a series of publications giving guidance on the provision of Quality IT Services, and on the Processes and facilities needed to support them. See www.itil.co.uk for more information.
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| Job Description
| A Document that defines the Roles, responsibilities, skills and knowledge required by a particular person. One Job Description can include multiple Roles, for example the Roles of Configuration Manager and Change Manager may be carried out by one person.
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| Job Scheduling
| (Service Operation) Planning and managing the execution of software tasks that are required as part of an IT Service. Job Scheduling is carried out by IT Operations Management, and is often automated using software tools that run batch or online tasks at specific times of the day, week, month or year.
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| Key Performance Indicator
| (Service Design) (Continual Service Improvement) A Metric that is used to help manage a Process, IT Service or Activity. Many Metrics may be measured, but only the most important of these are defined as KPIs and used to actively manage and report on the Process, IT Service or Activity. KPIs should be selected to ensure that Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Cost Effectiveness are all managed. See also Critical Success Factor.
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| Knowledge Base
| (Service Transition) A logical database containing the data used by the Service Knowledge Management System.
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| Knowledge Management
| (Service Transition) The Process responsible for gathering, analysing, storing and sharing knowledge and information within an Organization. The primary purpose of Knowledge Management is to improve Efficiency by reducing the need to rediscover knowledge. See also Service Knowledge Management System.
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| Known Error
| (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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| Lifecycle
| 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 Detect, Respond, Diagnose, Repair, Recover, Restore
· The Lifecycle of a Server may include: Ordered, Received, In Test, Live, Disposed, etc.
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| Line of Service
| (Service Strategy) A Core Service or Supporting service that has multiple Service level packages. A line of Service is managed by a Product Manager and each Service level package is designed to support a particular market segment.
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| Live
| (Service Transition) Refers to an IT Service or Configuration Item that is being used to deliver Service to a Customer.
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| Live Environment
| (Service Transition) A controlled Environment containing Live Configuration Items used to deliver IT Services to Customers.
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| Maintainability
| (Service Design) A measure of how quickly and Effectively a Configuration Item or IT Service 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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| Major Incident
| (Service Operation) The highest Category of Impact for an Incident. A Major Incident results in significant disruption to the Business.
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| Managed Services
| (Service Strategy) A perspective on IT Services that emphasizes the fact that they are managed. The term Managed Services is also used as a synonym for Outsourced IT Services.
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| Management Information
| Information that is used to support decision making by managers. Management Information is often generated automatically by tools supporting the various IT Service Management Processes. Management Information often includes the values of KPIs such as ‘Percentage of Changes leading to Incidents’, or ‘first-time fix rate’.
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| Management of Risk
| The OGC methodology for managing Risks. M_o_R includes all the Activities required to identify and Control the exposure to Risk, which may have an impact on the achievement of an Organization’s Business Objectives. See www.m-o-r.org for more details.
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| Management System
| The framework of Policy, Processes and Functions that ensures an Organization can achieve its Objectives.
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| Manual Workaround
| 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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| Maturity
| (Continual Service Improvement) A measure of the Reliability, Efficiency and Effectiveness of a Process, Function, Organization, etc. The most mature Processes and Functions are formally aligned to Business Objectives and Strategy, and are supported by a framework for continual improvement.
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| Mean Time Between Failures
| (Service Design) A Metric for measuring and reporting Reliability. MTBF is the average time that a Configuration Item or IT Service can perform its agreed Function without interruption. This is measured from when the CI or IT Service starts working, until it next fails.
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| Mean Time Between Service Incidents
| (Service Design) A Metric used for measuring and reporting Reliability. MTBSI is the mean time from when a System or IT Service fails, until it next fails. MTBSI is equal to MTBF + MTRS.
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| Mean Time To Repair
| The average time taken to repair a Configuration Item or IT Service after a Failure. MTTR is measured from when the CI or IT Service fails until it is repaired. MTTR does not include the time required to Recover or Restore. MTTR is sometimes incorrectly used to mean Mean Time to Restore Service.
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| Mean Time to Restore Service
| The average time taken to restore a Configuration Item or IT Service after a Failure. MTRS is measured from when the CI or IT Service fails until it is fully restored and delivering its normal functionality. See also Maintainability, Mean Time to Repair.
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| Metric
| (Continual Service Improvement) Something that is measured and reported to help manage a Process, IT Service or Activity. See also KPI.
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| Middleware
| (Service Design) Software that connects two or more software Components or Applications. Middleware is usually purchased from a Supplier, rather than developed within the IT Service provider. See also Off the Shelf.
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| Model
| A representation of a System, Process, IT Service, Configuration Item, etc. that is used to help understand or predict future behaviour.
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| Modelling
| A technique that is used to predict the future behaviour of a System, Process, IT Service, Configuration Item, etc. Modelling is commonly used in Financial Management, Capacity Management and Availability Management.
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| Monitoring
| (Service Operation) Repeated observation of a Configuration Item, IT Service or Process to detect Events and to ensure that the current status is known.
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| Objective
| The defined purpose or aim of a Process, an Activity or an Organization as a whole. Objectives are usually expressed as measurable targets. The term Objective is also informally used to mean a Requirement. See also Outcome.
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| Off-The-Shelf
| See Commercial Off-The-Shelf.
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| Office of Government Commerce
| OGC owns the ITIL brand (copyright and trademark). OGC is a UK Government department that supports the delivery of the government’s procurement agenda through its work in collaborative procurement and in raising levels of procurement skills and capability within departments. It also provides support for complex public sector projects.
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| Off-shore
| (Service Strategy) Provision of Services from a location outside the country where the Customer is based, often in a different continent. This can be the provision of an IT Service, or of supporting Functions such as a Service Desk. See also On-shore.
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| On-shore
| (Service Strategy) Provision of Services from a location within the country where the Customer is based. See also Off-shore.
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| Operate
| 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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| Operation
| (Service Operation) Day-to-day management of an IT Service, System, or other Configuration Item. Operation is also used to mean any pre-defined 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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| Operational
| 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 Operational is also a synonym for Live.
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| Operational Cost
| Cost resulting from running the IT Services. Often repeating payments. For example staff costs, hardware maintenance and electricity (also known as ‘current expenditure’ or ‘revenue expenditure’).
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| Operational Level Agreement
| (Service Design) (Continual Service Improvement) An Agreement between an IT Service provider and another part of the same Organization. An OLA supports the IT Service provider’s delivery of IT Services to Customers. The OLA defines the goods or Services to be provided and the responsibilities of both parties. For example there could be an OLA:
· 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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| Optimize
| Review, Plan and request Changes, in order to obtain the maximum Efficiency and Effectiveness from a Process, Configuration Item, Application, etc.
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| Organization
| A company, legal entity or other institution. Examples of Organizations that are not companies include International Standards Organization or itSMF. The term Organization 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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| Outcome
| The result of carrying out an Activity; following a Process; delivering an IT Service, etc. The term Outcome is used to refer to intended results, as well as to actual results. See also Objective.
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| Outsourcing
| (Service Strategy) Using an External Service provider to manage IT Services.
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| Overhead
| See Indirect cost.
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| Partnership
| A relationship between two Organizations that involves working closely together for common goals or mutual benefit. The IT Service provider should have a Partnership with the Business, and with Third Parties who are critical to the delivery of IT Services. See also Value Network.
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| Passive Monitoring
| (Service Operation) Monitoring of a Configuration Item, an IT Service or a Process that relies on an Alert or notification to discover the current status.
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| Pattern of Business Activity
| (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.
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| Performance
| A measure of what is achieved or delivered by a System, person, team, Process, or IT Service.
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| Performance Management
| (Continual Service Improvement) The Process responsible for day-to-day Capacity Management Activities. These include monitoring, threshold detection, Performance analysis and Tuning, and implementing changes related to Performance and Capacity.
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| Pilot
| (Service Transition) A limited Deployment of an IT Service, a Release or a Process to the Live Environment. A pilot is used to reduce Risk and to gain User feedback and Acceptance. See also Test, Evaluation.
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| Plan
| A detailed proposal that describes the Activities and Resources needed to achieve an Objective. For example a Plan to implement a new IT Service or Process. ISO/IEC 20000 requires a Plan for the management of each IT Service Management Process.
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| Plan–Do–Check–Act
| (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
Date: 2014-12-29; view: 920
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