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ITIL - Internet Glossary Category: Technical and IT Date & country: 08/05/2017, NL Words: 576

workload
The resources required to deliver an identifiable part of an IT service. Workloads may be categorized by users, groups of users, or functions within the IT service. This is used to assist in analysing and managing the capacity, performance and utilization of configuration items and IT services. The term is sometimes used as a synonym for throughput.

workaround
Workarounds for problems are documented in known error records. Workarounds for incidents that do not have associated problem records are documented in the incident record.

work instruction
A formal request to carry out a defined activity. Work orders are often used by change management and by release and deployment management to pass requests to technical management and application management functions.

work order
(ITIL Service Operation) Reducing or eliminating the impact of an incident or problem for which a full resolution is not yet available – for example, by restarting a failed configuration item.

warranty
A status that means activities have started but are not yet complete. It is commonly used as a status for incidents, problems, changes etc.

work in progress
(WIP) A document containing detailed instructions that specify exactly what steps to follow to carry out an activity. A work instruction contains much more detail than a procedure and is only created if very detailed instructions are needed.

vital business function
(VBF) (ITIL Service Design) Part of a business process that is critical to the success of the business. Vital business functions are an important consideration of business continuity management, IT service continuity management and availability management.

vulnerability
A weakness that could be exploited by a threat – for example, an open firewall port, a password that is never changed, or a flammable carpet. A missing control is also considered to be a vulnerability.

warm standby
(ITIL Service Strategy) Assurance that a product or service will meet agreed requirements. This may be a formal agreement such as a service level agreement or contract, or it may be a marketing message or brand image. Warranty refers to the ability of a service to be available when needed, to provide the required capacity, and to provide the required reliability in terms of continuity and security. Warranty can be summarized as ‘how the service is delivered’, and can be used to determine whether a service is ‘fit for use’. The business value of an IT service is created by the combination of utility and warranty. See also service validation and testing.

version
(ITIL Service Transition) A version is used to identify a specific baseline of a configuration item. Versions typically use a naming convention that enables the sequence or date of each baseline to be identified. For example, payroll application version 3 contains updated functionality from version 2.

vision
A description of what the organization intends to become in the future. A vision is created by senior management and is used to help influence culture and strategic planning. See also mission.

verification
(ITIL Service Transition) An activity that ensures that a new or changed IT service, process, plan or other deliverable is complete, accurate, reliable and matches its design specification. See also acceptance; validation; service validation and testing.

verification and audit
(ITIL Service Transition) The activities responsible for ensuring that information in the configuration management system is accurate and that all configuration items have been identified and recorded. Verification includes routine checks that are part of other processes – for example, verifying the serial number of a desktop PC when a user logs an incident. Audit is a periodic, formal check.

variance
The difference between a planned value and the actual measured value. Commonly used in financial management, capacity management and service level management, but could apply in any area where plans are in place.

variable cost
(ITIL Service Strategy) A cost that depends on how much the IT service is used, how many products are produced, the number and type of users, or something else that cannot be fixed in advance.

value on investment
(VOI) (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A measurement of the expected benefit of an investment. Value on investment considers both financial and intangible benefits. See also return on investment.

value chain
(ITIL Service Strategy) A sequence of processes that creates a product or service that is of value to a customer. Each step of the sequence builds on the previous steps and contributes to the overall product or service. See also value network.

value for money
An informal measure of cost effectiveness. Value for money is often based on a comparison with the cost of alternatives. See also cost benefit analysis.

value network
(ITIL Service Strategy) A complex set of relationships between two or more groups or organizations. Value is generated through exchange of knowledge, information, goods or services. See also partnership; value chain.

validation
(ITIL Service Transition) An activity that ensures a new or changed IT service, process, plan or other deliverable meets the needs of the business.

user
A person who uses the IT service on a day-to-day basis. Users are distinct from customers, as some customers do not use the IT service directly.

user profile
(UP) (ITIL Service Strategy) A pattern of user demand for IT services. Each user profile includes one or more patterns of business activity.

utility
(ITIL Service Strategy) The functionality offered by a product or service to meet a particular need.

use case
(ITIL Service Design) A technique used to define required functionality and objectives, and to design tests. Use cases define realistic scenarios that describe interactions between users and an IT service or other system.

urgency
(ITIL Service Design) (ITIL Service Transition) A measure of how long it will be until an incident, problem or change has a significant impact on the business. For example, a high-impact incident may have low urgency if the impact will not affect the business until the end of the financial year.

usability
(ITIL Service Design) The ease with which an application, product or IT service can be used. Usability requirements are often included in a statement of requirements.

underpinning contract
(UC) (ITIL Service Design) A contract between an IT service provider and a third party. The third party provides goods or services that support delivery of an IT service to a customer. The underpinning contract defines targets and responsibilities that are required to meet agreed service level targets in one or more service level agreements.

unit cost
(ITIL Service Strategy) The cost to the IT service provider of providing a single component of an IT service. For example, the cost of a single desktop PC, or of a single transaction.

Type III service provider
(ITIL Service Strategy) A service provider that provides IT services to external customers.

Type II service provider
(ITIL Service Strategy) An internal service provider that provides shared IT services to more than one business unit. Type II service providers are also known as shared service units.

tuning
The activity responsible for planning changes to make the most efficient use of resources. Tuning is most commonly used in the context of IT services and components. Tuning is part of capacity management, which also includes performance monitoring and implementation of the required changes. Tuning is also called optimization, particularly in the context of processes and other non-technical resources.

Type I service provider
(ITIL Service Strategy) An internal service provider that is embedded within a business unit. There may be several Type I service providers within an organization.

trend analysis
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) Analysis of data to identify time-related patterns. Trend analysis is used in problem management to identify common failures or fragile configuration items, and in capacity management as a modelling tool to predict future behaviour. It is also used as a management tool for identifying deficiencies in IT service management processes.

transition planning and support
(ITIL Service Transition) The process responsible for planning all service transition processes and coordinating the resources that they require.

transition
(ITIL Service Transition) A change in state, corresponding to a movement of an IT service or other configuration item from one lifecycle status to the next.

transfer cost
(ITIL Service Strategy) A cost type which records expenditure made on behalf of another part of the organization. For example, the IT service provider may pay for an external consultant to be used by the finance department and transfer the cost to them. The IT service provider would record this as a transfer cost.

total quality management
(TQM) (ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A methodology for managing continual improvement by using a quality management system. Total quality management establishes a culture involving all people in the organization in a process of continual monitoring and improvement.

transaction
A discrete function performed by an IT service – for example, transferring money from one bank account to another. A single transaction may involve numerous additions, deletions and modifications of data. Either all of these are completed successfully or none of them is carried out.

total cost of utilization
(TCU) (ITIL Service Strategy) A methodology used to help make investment and service sourcing decisions. Total cost of utilization assesses the full lifecycle cost to the customer of using an IT service. See also total cost of ownership.

throughput
(ITIL Service Design) A measure of the number of transactions or other operations performed in a fixed time – for example, 5,000 e-mails sent per hour, or 200 disk I/Os per second.

total cost of ownership
(TCO) (ITIL Service Strategy) A methodology used to help make investment decisions. It assesses the full lifecycle cost of owning a configuration item, not just the initial cost or purchase price. See also total cost of utilization.

threshold
The value of a metric that should cause an alert to be generated or management action to be taken. For example, ‘Priority 1 incident not solved within four hours’, ‘More than five soft disk errors in an hour’, or ‘More than 10 failed changes in a month’.

threat
A threat is anything that might exploit a vulnerability. Any potential cause of an incident can be considered a threat. For example, a fire is a threat that could exploit the vulnerability of flammable floor coverings. This term is commonly used in information security management and IT service continuity management, but also applies to other areas such as problem and availability management.

third-line support
(ITIL Service Operation) The third level in a hierarchy of support groups involved in the resolution of incidents and investigation of problems. Each level contains more specialist skills, or has more time or other resources.

third party
A person, organization or other entity that is not part of the service provider’s own organization and is not a customer – for example, a software supplier or a hardware maintenance company. Requirements for third parties are typically specified in contracts that underpin service level agreements. See also underpinning contract.

test environment
(ITIL Service Transition) A controlled environment used to test configuration items, releases, IT services, processes etc.

test
(ITIL Service Transition) An activity that verifies that a configuration item, IT service, process etc. meets its specification or agreed requirements. See also acceptance; service validation and testing.

tension metrics
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A set of related metrics, in which improvements to one metric have a negative effect on another. Tension metrics are designed to ensure that an appropriate balance is achieved.

terms of reference
(TOR) (ITIL Service Design) A document specifying the requirements, scope, deliverables, resources and schedule for a project or activity.

technical support
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Operation) A technique used in service improvement, problem investigation and availability management. Technical support staff meet to monitor the behaviour and performance of an IT service and make recommendations for improvement.

tactical
The part of IT service management that focuses on the management of IT infrastructure rather than process.

technical management
The middle of three levels of planning and delivery (strategic, tactical, operational). Tactical activities include the medium-term plans required to achieve specific objectives, typically over a period of weeks to months.

technical observation
(TO) (ITIL Service Operation) The function responsible for providing technical skills in support of IT services and management of the IT infrastructure. Technical management defines the roles of support groups, as well as the tools, processes and procedures required.

system management
A database management system or operating system that includes many software modules which are designed to perform a set of related functions.

SWOT analysis
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A technique that reviews and analyses the internal strengths and weaknesses of an organization and the external opportunities and threats that it faces.

system
A number of related things that work together to achieve an overall objective. For example:

supporting service
(ITIL Service Design) An IT service that is not directly used by the business, but is required by the IT service provider to deliver customer-facing services (for example, a directory service or a backup service). Supporting services may also include IT services only used by the IT service provider. All live supporting services, including those available for deployment, are recorded in the service catalogue along with information about their relationships to customer-facing services and other CIs.

support group
(ITIL Service Operation) A group of people with technical skills. Support groups provide the technical support needed by all of the IT service management processes. See also technical management.

support hours
(ITIL Service Design) (ITIL Service Operation) The times or hours when support is available to the users. Typically these are the hours when the service desk is available. Support hours should be defined in a service level agreement, and may be different from service hours. For example, service hours may be 24 hours a day, but the support hours may be 07:00 to 19:00.

supply chain
(ITIL Service Strategy) The activities in a value chain carried out by suppliers. A supply chain typically involves multiple suppliers, each adding value to the product or service. See also value network.

supplier management
(ITIL Service Design) The process responsible for obtaining value for money from suppliers, ensuring that all contracts and agreements with suppliers support the needs of the business, and that all suppliers meet their contractual commitments. See also supplier and contract management information system.

supplier and contract management information system
(SCMIS) (ITIL Service Design) A set of tools, data and information that is used to support supplier management. See also service knowledge management system.

supplier
(ITIL Service Design) (ITIL Service Strategy) A third party responsible for supplying goods or services that are required to deliver IT services. Examples of suppliers include commodity hardware and software vendors, network and telecom providers, and outsourcing organizations. See also supply chain; underpinning contract.

super user
(ITIL Service Operation) A user who helps other users, and assists in communication with the service desk or other parts of the IT service provider. Super users are often experts in the business processes supported by an IT service and will provide support for minor incidents and training.

strategy
(ITIL Service Strategy) A strategic plan designed to achieve defined objectives.

strategy management for IT services
(ITIL Service Strategy) The process responsible for defining and maintaining an organization’s perspective, position, plans and patterns with regard to its services and the management of those services. Once the strategy has been defined, strategy management for IT services is also responsible for ensuring that it achieves its intended business outcomes.

strategic asset
(ITIL Service Strategy) Any asset that provides the basis for core competence, distinctive performance or sustainable competitive advantage, or which allows a business unit to participate in business opportunities. Part of service strategy is to identify how IT can be viewed as a strategic asset rather than an internal administrative function.

status
The name of a required field in many types of record. It shows the current stage in the lifecycle of the associated configuration item, incident, problem etc.

status accounting
(ITIL Service Transition) The activity responsible for recording and reporting the lifecycle of each configuration item.

storage management
(ITIL Service Operation) The process responsible for managing the storage and maintenance of data throughout its lifecycle.

strategic
(ITIL Service Strategy) The highest of three levels of planning and delivery (strategic, tactical, operational). Strategic activities include objective setting and long-term planning to achieve the overall vision.

statement of requirements
(SOR) (ITIL Service Design) A document containing all requirements for a product purchase, or a new or changed IT service. See also terms of reference.

standard operating procedures
(SOP) (ITIL Service Operation) Procedures used by IT operations management.

standby
(ITIL Service Design) Used to refer to resources that are not required to deliver the live IT services, but are available to support IT service continuity plans. For example, a standby data centre may be maintained to support hot standby, warm standby or cold standby arrangements.

standard change
(ITIL Service Transition) A pre-authorized change that is low risk, relatively common and follows a procedure or work instruction – for example, a password reset or provision of standard equipment to a new employee. Requests for change are not required to implement a standard change, and they are logged and tracked using a different mechanism, such as a service request. See also change model.

standard
A mandatory requirement. Examples include ISO/IEC 20000 (an international standard), an internal security standard for Unix configuration, or a government standard for how financial records should be maintained. The term is also used to refer to a code of practice or specification published by a standards organization such as ISO or BSI. See also guideline.

stakeholder
A person who has an interest in an organization, project, IT service etc. Stakeholders may be interested in the activities, targets, resources or deliverables. Stakeholders may include customers, partners, employees, shareholders, owners etc. See also RACI.

source
A formal definition of requirements. A specification may be used to define technical or operational requirements, and may be internal or external.

specification
Many public standards consist of a code of practice and a specification. The specification defines the standard against which an organization can be audited.

software asset management
(SAM) (ITIL Service Transition) The process responsible for tracking and reporting the use and ownership of software assets throughout their lifecycle.

SMART
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Design) An acronym for helping to remember that targets in service level agreements and project plans should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

snapshot
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Transition) The current state of a configuration item, process or any other set of data recorded at a specific point in time.

SLAM chart
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) A service level agreement monitoring chart is used to help monitor and report achievements against service level targets. A SLAM chart is typically colour- coded to show whether each agreed service level target has been met, missed or nearly missed during each of the previous 12 months.

single point of failure
(SPOF) (ITIL Service Design) Any configuration item that can cause an incident when it fails, and for which a countermeasure has not been implemented. A single point of failure may be a person or a step in a process or activity, as well as a component of the IT infrastructure. See also failure.

single point of contact
(ITIL Service Operation) Providing a single consistent way to communicate with an organization or business unit. For example, a single point of contact for an IT service provider is usually called a service desk.

simulation modelling
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Design) A technique that creates a detailed model to predict the behaviour of an IT service or other configuration item. A simulation model is often created by using the actual configuration items that are being modelled with artificial workloads or transactions. They are used in capacity management when accurate results are important. A simulation model is sometimes called a performance benchmark. See also analytical modelling; modelling.

shift
(ITIL Service Operation) A group or team of people who carry out a specific role for a fixed period of time. For example, there could be four shifts of IT operations control personnel to support an IT service that is used 24 hours a day.

shared service unit
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) The process responsible for defining and managing the steps needed to identify, define, gather, process, analyse, present and implement improvements. The performance of the IT service provider is continually measured by this process and improvements are made to processes, IT services and IT infrastructure in order to increase efficiency, effectiveness and cost effectiveness. Opportunities for improvement are recorded and managed in the CSI register.

service valuation
(ITIL Service Transition) The process responsible for validation and testing of a new or changed IT service. Service validation and testing ensures that the IT service matches its design specification and will meet the needs of the business.

serviceability
(ITIL Service Strategy) A measurement of the total cost of delivering an IT service, and the total value to the business of that IT service. Service valuation is used to help the business and the IT service provider agree on the value of the IT service.

seven-step improvement process
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) (ITIL Service Design) The ability of a third-party supplier to meet the terms of its contract. This contract will include agreed levels of reliability, maintainability and availability for a configuration item.

service validation and testing
(ITIL Service Transition) A stage in the lifecycle of a service. Service transition ensures that new, modified or retired services meet the expectations of the business as documented in the service strategy and service design stages of the lifecycle. Service transition includes the following processes: transition planning and support, change management, service asset and configuration management, release and deployment management, service validation and testing, change evaluation, and knowledge management. Although these processes are associated with service transition, most processes have activities that take place across multiple stages of the service lifecycle. See also transition.

service sourcing
(ITIL Service Strategy) The strategy and approach for deciding whether to provide a service internally, to outsource it to an external service provider, or to combine the two approaches.

service strategy
Service sourcing also means the execution of this strategy. See also insourcing; internal service provider; outsourcing.

service transition
(ITIL Service Strategy) A stage in the lifecycle of a service. Service strategy defines the perspective, position, plans and patterns that a service provider needs to execute to meet an organization’s business outcomes. Service strategy includes the following processes: strategy management for IT services, service portfolio management, financial management for IT services, demand management, and business relationship management. Although these processes are associated with service strategy, most processes have activities that take place across multiple stages of the service lifecycle.

service reporting
(ITIL Continual Service Improvement) Activities that produce and deliver reports of achievement and trends against service levels. The format, content and frequency of reports should be agreed with customers.

service request
(ITIL Service Operation) A formal request from a user for something to be provided – for example, a request for information or advice; to reset a password; or to install a workstation for a new user. Service requests are managed by the request fulfilment process, usually in conjunction with the service desk. Service requests may be linked to a request for change as part of fulfilling the request.

service provider
(ITIL Service Strategy) An organization supplying services to one or more internal customers or external customers. Service provider is often used as an abbreviation for IT service provider. See also Type I service provider; Type II service provider; Type III service provider.

service provider interface
(SPI) (ITIL Service Strategy) An interface between the IT service provider and a user, customer, business process or supplier. Analysis of service provider interfaces helps to coordinate end-to-end management of IT services.

service potential
(ITIL Service Strategy) The total possible value of the overall capabilities and resources of the IT service provider.