foundation glossary Flashcards
acceptance criteria
A list of minimum requirements
that a service or service component must meet for it
to be acceptable to key stakeholders.
Agile
An umbrella term
for a collection of frameworks and techniques
that together enable teams and individuals
to work in a way that is typified by
- collaboration,
- prioritization,
- iterative
- and incremental delivery,
- and timeboxing.
There are several specific methods (or frameworks) that are classed as Agile, such as
- Scrum,
- Lean, and
- Kanban
architecture management practice
The practice
of providing an understanding of
all the different elements
that make up an organization
and how those elements relate to one another
asset register
A database or list of assets,
capturing key attributes
such as ownership and financial value.
availability
The ability of an IT service
or other configuration item
to perform its agreed function when required.
availability management practice
The practice
of ensuring that services deliver
agreed levels of availability
to meet the needs of
customers and users.
baseline
A report or metric
that serves as a starting point
against which progress or change
can be assessed.
best practice
A way of working
that has been proven
to be successful
by multiple organizations
big data
The use
of very large volumes
of structured and unstructured data
from a variety of sources
to gain new insights.
business analysis practice
The practice
of analysing a business or some element of a business,
defining its needs and recommending solutions
to address these needs and/or solve a business problem,
and create value for stakeholders.
business case
A justification
for expenditure of organizational resources,
providing information about
- costs,
- benefits,
- options,
- risks,
- and issues.
business impact analysis (BIA)
A key activity
in the practice of service continuity management
that identifies vital business functions
and their dependencies.
business relationship manager (BRM)
A role
responsible for maintaining good relationships
with one or more customers.
call
An interaction (e.g. a telephone call)
with the service desk.
A call could result in
an incident or a service request
being logged.
call/contact centre
An organization or business unit
that handles large numbers
of incoming and outgoing calls
and other interactions.
capability
The ability
- of an organization,
- person,
- process,
- application,
- configuration item,
- or IT service
to carry out an activity
capacity and performance management practic
The practice
of ensuring that services
achieve agreed and expected performance levels,
satisfying current and future demand
in a cost-effective way.
capacity planning
The activity of creating a plan that manages resources to meet demand for services.
change
The
- addition,
- modification,
- or removal
of anything that
could have a direct or indirect effect on services
change authority
A person or group
responsible for authorizing a change.
change control practice
The practice
of ensuring that risks are properly assessed,
authorizing changes to proceed
and managing a change schedule
in order to maximize the number
of successful service and product changes.
change model
A repeatable approach
to the management
of a particular type of change
change schedule
A calendar
that shows planned
and historical changes
charging
The activity
that assigns a price
for services.
cloud computing
A model
for enabling on-demand network access
to a shared pool of configurable computing resources
that can be rapidly provided
with minimal management effort
or provider interaction.
compliance
The act of ensuring
that a standard or set of guidelines is followed,
or that proper, consistent accounting or other practices
are being employed.
confidentiality
A security objective
that ensures information
is not made available or disclosed
to unauthorized entities.
configuration
An arrangement of configuration items (CIs)
or other resources that work together
to deliver a product or service.
Can also be used to
describe the parameter settings for one or more CIs.
configuration item (CI)
Any component
that needs to be managed
in order to deliver
an IT service.
configuration management database (CMDB)
A database
used to store configuration records
throughout their lifecycle.
The CMDB
also maintains the relationships
between configuration records.
configuration management system (CMS)
A set of tools, data, and information
that is used to support
service configuration management.
configuration record
A record
containing the details of a configuration item (CI).
Each configuration record documents
the lifecycle of a single CI.
Configuration records are stored
in a configuration management database.
continual improvement practice
The practice
of aligning an organization’s practices and services
with changing business needs
through the ongoing identification and improvement
of all elements involved in the effective management
of products and services.
continuous deployment
An integrated set of practices and tools
used to deploy software changes
into the production environment.
These software changes
have already passed
pre-defined automated tests.
continuous integration/continuous delivery
An integrated set of practices and tools
used to merge developers’ code,
build and test
the resulting software,
and package it
so that it is ready for deployment
control
The means
of managing a risk,
ensuring that a business objective is achieved,
or that a process is followed.
cost
The amount of money
spent on a specific activity or resource.
cost centre
A business unit or project
to which costs are assigned.
critical success factor (CSF)
A necessary precondition
for the achievement of intended results.
culture
A set of values
that is shared by a group of people,
including expectations about
- how people should behave,
- ideas,
- beliefs,
- and practices.
customer
A person
who defines the requirements for a service
and takes responsibility for the outcomes
of service consumption.
customer experience (CX)
The sum
of functional and emotional interactions
with a service and service provider
as perceived by a service consumer.
dashboard
A real-time graphical representation of data
deliver and support
The value chain activity
that ensures services are delivered and supported
according to agreed specifications
and stakeholders’ expectations.
demand
Input to the service value system
based on opportunities and needs
from internal and external stakeholders.
deployment
The movement
of any service component
into any environment.
deployment management practice
The practice
of moving new or changed
- hardware,
- software,
- documentation,
- processes,
- or any other service component
to live environments
design and transition
The value chain activity
that ensures products and services
continually meet stakeholder expectations for
- quality,
- costs,
- and time
to market.
design thinking
A practical and human-centred approach
used by product and service designers
to solve complex problems
and find practical and creative solutions
that meet the needs of an organization and its customers
development environment
An environment
used to create or modify
IT services or applications.
DevOps
An organizational culture
that aims to improve the flow of value to customers.
DevOps focuses on
- culture,
- automation,
- Lean,
- measurement,
- and sharing
(CALMS).
digital transformation
The evolution of traditional business models
to meet the needs of highly empowered customers,
with technology playing an enabling role
disaster
A sudden unplanned event
that causes great damage
or serious loss to an organization.
A disaster results in an
organization failing to provide critical business functions
for some predetermined minimum period of time.
disaster recovery plans
A set of clearly defined plans
related to how an organization will recover
from a disaster as well as return to a pre-disaster condition,
considering the four dimensions of service management.
driver
Something that influences strategy, objectives, or requirements.
effectiveness
A measure
of whether the objectives
of a practice, service or activity
have been achieved.
efficiency
A measure
of whether the right amount of resources
have been used by a practice, service, or activity.
emergency change
A change that must be introduced as soon as possible.
engage
The value chain activity
that provides a good understanding of
- stakeholder needs,
- transparency,
- continual engagement,
- and good relationships with all stakeholders.
environment
A subset of the IT infrastructure
that is used for a particular purpose,
for example a live environment or test environment.
Can also mean the external conditions
that influence or affect something.
error
A flaw or vulnerability
that may cause incidents.
error control
Problem management activities
used to manage known errors.
escalation
The act of sharing awareness
or transferring ownership
of an issue or work item.
event
Any change of state
that has significance for the management of a service
or other configuration item.
external customer
A customer
who works for an organization
other than the service provider.
failure
A loss of ability to
operate to specification,
or to deliver the required output or outcome
feedback loop
A technique
whereby the outputs of one part of a system
are used as inputs to the same part of the system.
four dimensions of service management
The four perspectives
that are critical to the effective and efficient facilitation
of value for customers and other stakeholders
in the form of products and services
goods
Tangible resources
that are transferred or available for transfer
from a service provider to a service consumer,
together with ownership and associated rights and responsibilities.
governance
The means by which an organization is directed and controlled.
identity
A unique name
that is used to identify
and grant system access rights
to a user, person, or role.
improve
The value chain activity
that ensures continual improvement
of products, services, and practices
across all value chain activities
and the four dimensions of service management.
incident
An unplanned interruption
to a service
or reduction in the quality of a service.
incident management
The practice
of minimizing the negative impact of incidents
by restoring normal service operation
as quickly as possible.
information and technology
One of the four dimensions of service management.
It includes the information and knowledge
used to deliver services,
and the information and technologies
used to manage all aspects
of the service value system.
information security management practice
The practice
of protecting an organization
by understanding and managing risks
to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information.
information security policy
The policy
that governs an organization’s approach
to information security management.
infrastructure and platform management practice
The practice of overseeing
the infrastructure and platforms
used by an organization.
This enables the monitoring
of technology solutions available,
including solutions from third parties.
integrity
A security objective
that ensures information is only modified
by authorized personnel and activities.
internal customer
A customer
who works for the same organization
as the service provider.
Internet of Things
The interconnection of devices
via the internet
that were not traditionally thought of as IT assets,
but now include embedded computing capability and network connectivity.
IT asset
Any financially valuable component
that can contribute to the delivery
of an IT product or service.
IT asset management practice
The practice
of planning and managing
the full lifecycle of all IT assets.
IT infrastructure
All of the
- hardware,
- software,
- networks,
- and facilities that
are required to
- develop,
- test,
- deliver,
- monitor,
- manage,
- and support
IT services.
IT service
A service
based on the use
of information technology
ITIL
Best-practice guidance
for IT service management.
