Glossary

Question 1

acceptance criteria

Answer 1

A list of minimum requirements that a service
or service component must meet for it to be
acceptable to key stakeholders.

Question 2

agile

Answer 2

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

Question 3

architecture management practice

Answer 3

The practice of providing an understanding
of all the different elements that make up an
organization and how those elements relate to
one another.

Question 4

asset register

Answer 4

A database or list of assets, capturing key
attributes such as ownership and financial
value.

Question 5

availability

Answer 5

The ability of an IT service or other
configuration item to perform its agreed
function when required.

Question 6

availability management practice

Answer 6

The practice of ensuring that services deliver
agreed levels of availability to meet the needs
of customers and users.

Question 7

baseline

Answer 7

A report or metric that serves as a starting
point against which progress or change can be
assessed.

Question 8

best practice

Answer 8

A way of working that has been proven to be
successful by multiple organizations.

Question 9

big data

Answer 9

The use of very large volumes of structured and
unstructured data from a variety of sources to
gain new insights

Question 10

business analysis practice

Answer 10

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.

Question 11

business case

Answer 11

A justification for expenditure of organizational
resources, providing information about costs,
benefits, options, risks, and issues.

Question 12

business impact analysis (BIA)

Answer 12

A key activity in the practice of service
continuity management that identifies vital
business functions and their dependencies.

Question 13

business relationship manager (BRM)

Answer 13

A role responsible for maintaining good
relationships with one or more customers.

Question 14

call

Answer 14

An interaction (e.g. a telephone call) with the
service desk. A call could result in an incident or
a service request being logged.

Question 15

call/contact centre

Answer 15

An organization or business unit that handles
large numbers of incoming and outgoing calls
and other interactions.

Question 16

capability

Answer 16

The ability of an organization, person, process,
application, configuration item, or IT service to
carry out an activity

Question 17

capacity and performance management
practice

Answer 17

The practice of ensuring that services achieve
agreed and expected performance levels,
satisfying current and future demand in a cost-effective way.

Question 18

capacity planning

Answer 18

The activity of creating a plan that manages
resources to meet demand for services.

Question 19

change

Answer 19

The addition, modification, or removal of
anything that could have a direct or indirect
effect on services.

Question 20

change authority

Answer 20

A person or group responsible for authorizing
a change.

Question 21

change enablement practice

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

change model

Answer 22

A repeatable approach to the management of a
particular type of change.

Question 23

change schedule

Answer 23

A calendar that shows planned and historical
changes.

Question 24

charging

Answer 24

The activity that assigns a price for services.

Question 25

cloud computing

Answer 25

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.

Question 26

compliance

Answer 26

The act of ensuring that a standard or set of guidelines is followed, or that proper, consistent accounting or other practices are being employed.

Question 27

confidentiality

Answer 27

A security objective that ensures information is not made available or disclosed to unauthorized entities.

Question 28

configuration

Answer 28

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.

Question 29

configuration item (CI)

Answer 29

Any component that needs to be managed in order to deliver an IT service.

Question 30

configuration management database (CMDB)

Answer 30

A database used to store configuration records throughout their lifecycle. The CMDB also maintains the relationships between configuration records.

Question 31

configuration management system (CMS)

Answer 31

A set of tools, data, and information that is used to support service configuration management.

Question 32

configuration record

Answer 32

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.

Question 33

continual improvement practice

Answer 33

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.

Question 34

continuous deployment

Answer 34

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.

Question 35

continuous integration/continuous delivery

Answer 35

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.

Question 36

control

Answer 36

The means of managing a risk, ensuring that a business objective is achieved, or that a process is followed.

Question 37

cost

Answer 37

The amount of money spent on a specific activity or resource.

Question 38

cost centre

Answer 38

A business unit or project to which costs are assigned.

Question 39

critical success factor (CSF)

Answer 39

A necessary precondition for the achievement of intended results.

Question 40

culture

Answer 40

A set of values that is shared by a group of people, including expectations about how people should behave, ideas, beliefs, and practices.

Question 41

customer

Answer 41

The role that defines the requirements for a service and takes responsibility for the outcomes of service consumption.

Question 42

customer experience (CX)

Answer 42

The sum of functional and emotional interactions with a service and service provider as perceived by a service customer.

Question 43

demand

Answer 43

Input to the service value system based on opportunities and needs from internal and external stakeholders

Question 44

deployment

Answer 44

The movement of any service component into any environment.

Question 45

deployment management practice

Answer 45

The practice of moving new or changed hardware, software, documentation, processes, or any other service component to live environments

Question 46

design and transition

Answer 46

The value chain activity that ensures products and services continually meet stakeholder expectations for quality, costs, and time to market.

Question 47

design thinking

Answer 47

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.

Question 48

development environment

Answer 48

An environment used to create or modify IT services or applications.

Question 49

DevOps

Answer 49

An organizational culture that aims to improve the flow of value to customers. DevOps focuses on culture, automation, Lean, measurement, and sharing (CALMS).

Question 50

disaster

Answer 50

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.

Question 51

error

Answer 51

A flaw or vulnerability that may cause incidents.

Question 52

error control

Answer 52

Problem management activities used to manage known errors.

Question 53

event

Answer 53

Any change of state that has significance for the management of a service or other configuration item.

Question 54

feedback loop

Answer 54

A technique whereby the outputs of one part of a system are used as inputs to the same part of the system.

Question 55

four dimensions of service management

Answer 55

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

Question 56

governance

Answer 56

The means by which an organization is directed and controlled.

Question 57

incident

Answer 57

An unplanned interruption to a service or reduction in the quality of a service.

Question 58

incident management

Answer 58

The practice of minimizing the negative impact of incidents by restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible.

Question 59

information and technology

Answer 59

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.

Question 60

information security management practice

Answer 60

The practice of protecting an organization by understanding and managing risks to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information.

Question 61

information security policy

Answer 61

The policy that governs an organization’s approach to information security management.

Question 62

infrastructure and platform management practice

Answer 62

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.

Question 63

ITIL guiding principles

Answer 63

Recommendations that can guide an organization in all circumstances, regardless of changes in its goals, strategies, type of work, or management structure.

Question 64

ITIL service value chain

Answer 64

An operating model for service providers that covers all the key activities required to effectively manage products and services.

Question 65

Kanban

Answer 65

A method for visualizing work, identifying potential blockages and resource conflicts, and managing work in progress.

Question 66

knowledge management practice

Answer 66

The practice of maintaining and improving the effective, efficient, and convenient use of information and knowledge across an organization.

Question 67

known error

Answer 67

A problem that has been analysed but has not been resolved.

Question 68

Lean

Answer 68

An approach that focuses on improving workflows by maximizing value through the elimination of waste.

Question 69

management system

Answer 69

Interrelated or interacting elements that establish policy and objectives and enable the achievement of those objectives.

Question 70

maturity

Answer 70

A measure of the reliability, efficiency and effectiveness of an organization, practice, or process.

Question 71

obtain/build

Answer 71

The value chain activity that ensures service components are available when and where they are needed, and that they meet agreed specifications.

Question 72

organizations and people

Answer 72

One of the four dimensions of service management. It ensures that the way an organization is structured and managed, as well as its roles, responsibilities, and systems of authority and communication, is well defined and supports its overall strategy and operating model.

Question 73

outcome output

Answer 73

outcome A result for a stakeholder enabled by one or more outputs. output A tangible or intangible deliverable of an activity.

Question 74

partners and suppliers

Answer 74

One of the four dimensions of service management. It encompasses the relationships an organization has with other organizations that are involved in the design, development, deployment, delivery, support, and/or continual improvement of services.

Question 75

problem

Answer 75

A cause, or potential cause, of one or more incidents.

Question 76

problem management practice

Answer 76

The practice of reducing the likelihood and impact of incidents by identifying actual and potential causes of incidents, and managing workarounds and known errors

Question 77

service

Answer 77

A means of enabling value co-creation by facilitating outcomes that customers want to achieve, without the customer having to manage specific costs and risks.

Question 78

utility

Answer 78

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 ‘fit for purpose’. To have utility, a service must either support the performance of the consumer or remove constraints from the consumer. Many services do both.

Question 79

warranty

Answer 79

Assurance that a product or service will meet agreed requirements. Warranty can be summarized as ‘how the service performs’ and can be used to determine whether a service is ‘fit for use’. Warranty often relates to service levels aligned with the needs of service consumers. This may be based on a formal agreement, or it may be a marketing message or brand image. Warranty typically addresses such areas as the availability of the service, its capacity, levels of security, and continuity. A service may be said to provide acceptable assurance, or ‘warranty’, if all defined and agreed conditions are met.