IT Management Glossary

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2FA (Two-Factor Authentication)

A security process requiring two different authentication factors: something you know (password) and something you have (TOTP code from authenticator app). Significantly reduces risk of unauthorized access.

A

API (Application Programming Interface)

A set of protocols and tools that allows different software applications to communicate and exchange data. APIs enable integrations between ITSM platforms, monitoring tools, LDAP directories, and third-party services for seamless automation.

Asset Lifecycle

The complete progression of an IT asset from procurement through deployment, operation, maintenance, and eventual retirement or disposal. Effective lifecycle management optimizes costs and ensures timely replacements.

Asset Management

The systematic process of deploying, operating, maintaining, upgrading, and disposing of assets cost-effectively throughout their lifecycle. In IT, this includes hardware, software, licenses, and infrastructure components tracked in a centralized system.

Assignment Group

A group of users or technicians to whom incidents, requests, or tasks can be assigned. Assignment rules automatically route work items to the appropriate group based on category and criteria.

Audit Trail

A chronological record of system activities that provides documentary evidence of the sequence of operations. Essential for compliance (GDPR, ISO 27001), security investigations, and change tracking in ITSM platforms.

Automation

The use of technology to perform tasks with minimal human intervention. In ITSM, includes automated workflows, alert notifications, contract renewals, and compliance checks to reduce manual effort and errors.

Availability Management

ITIL process ensuring IT services meet agreed availability targets. Involves monitoring uptime, planning redundancy, and implementing measures to minimize service disruptions and maximize business productivity.

B

Backlog

A prioritized list of work items, features, or tasks waiting to be completed. In ITSM, includes pending change requests, service improvements, and technical debt items ranked by business value and urgency.

Backup

A copy of data, configurations, or system state stored separately to enable recovery in case of data loss, corruption, or disaster. Backup strategies define frequency, retention, and recovery procedures.

Baseline Configuration

A configuration of a service, product, or infrastructure that has been formally reviewed and agreed upon, serving as the basis for future activities. Used as a reference point for change management.

BCP (Business Continuity Plan)

A documented collection of procedures and information to help an organization continue operating during disruptions. In IT, specifies recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) for critical services.

Business Relationship Manager

A role responsible for maintaining a positive relationship with customers and understanding their needs. BRMs ensure IT services align with business requirements and communicate service value.

Business Service

An IT service that directly supports a business process and is visible to customers. Business services are defined in terms of business outcomes rather than technical components.

C

CAB (Change Advisory Board)

A group of stakeholders who assess, prioritize, and authorize changes to IT infrastructure. The CAB evaluates risk, impact, and resource requirements before approving implementation of significant changes.

Capacity Management

ITIL process ensuring IT infrastructure has sufficient capacity to meet current and future business demands cost-effectively. Includes demand forecasting, performance monitoring, and resource optimization.

Capacity Planning

The process of determining the production capacity needed to meet changing demands for products or services. In IT, involves forecasting compute, storage, and network requirements to prevent performance issues.

Change

The addition, modification, or removal of anything that could have a direct or indirect effect on IT services. Changes are managed through formal change management processes to minimize risk.

Change Control

The formal procedures and activities used to manage changes to IT systems and services. Ensures changes are documented, assessed for risk, approved, implemented, and reviewed systematically.

Change Management

The process of controlling the lifecycle of all changes to IT infrastructure and services, enabling beneficial changes to be made with minimum disruption. Includes impact analysis, approval workflows, and rollback procedures.

CI (Configuration Item)

Any component that needs to be managed in order to deliver an IT service. CIs include hardware (servers, routers), software (applications, licenses), documentation, and relationships between items stored in a CMDB.

Cloud

A model for delivering computing resources (servers, storage, databases, networking, software) over the internet on-demand with pay-per-use pricing. Includes public, private, and hybrid deployment models.

CMDB (Configuration Management Database)

A centralized repository that stores information about Configuration Items (CIs) and their relationships throughout their lifecycle. Acts as the single source of truth for IT infrastructure, enabling impact analysis and change management.

Compliance

Adherence to laws, regulations, standards, and internal policies. In IT, includes GDPR (data protection), ISO 27001 (information security), NIS2 (network security), SOC 2, and industry-specific regulations.

Configuration Management

The process of identifying, controlling, and maintaining information about Configuration Items (CIs) throughout their lifecycle. Ensures the CMDB remains accurate and up-to-date, supporting change management and impact analysis.

Continual Service Improvement (CSI)

ITIL stage focused on maintaining value for customers through ongoing evaluation and improvement of services and processes. Uses metrics and feedback to identify and implement improvements.

Contract Lifecycle Management

The process of managing contracts from creation through execution, performance tracking, renewal, and termination. Includes automated alerts for expiration dates, SLA monitoring, and vendor performance evaluation.

Criticality

A measure of the importance of a configuration item, service, or process to business operations. Critical items receive priority for protection, redundancy, and faster response times during incidents.

CSAT (Customer Satisfaction)

A metric measuring how satisfied customers are with IT services. Typically collected through surveys after ticket resolution, CSAT helps identify areas for improvement in service delivery.

CSF (Critical Success Factor)

An element essential for achieving an organization's mission and strategic goals. CSFs help prioritize activities and allocate resources to areas with the greatest impact on success.

Customer Experience (CX)

The overall perception and feelings a customer has about their interactions with IT services. CX encompasses all touchpoints including self-service, support interactions, and service quality.

D

Dashboard

A visual interface that displays key performance indicators (KPIs), metrics, and data points relevant to specific objectives. Real-time dashboards enable quick decision-making and proactive issue management.

Data Center

A facility housing computer systems, servers, storage, and networking equipment. Modern data centers feature redundant power, cooling, security, and connectivity to ensure high availability of services.

Demand Management

ITIL process for understanding, anticipating, and influencing customer demand for IT services. Includes demand forecasting, capacity optimization, and workload management.

Dependency Mapping

The process of identifying and documenting relationships between IT components, services, and business processes. Critical for impact analysis, change management, and understanding cascade effects of failures.

Deployment

The process of moving software, configurations, or infrastructure changes from development through testing to production environments. Includes planning, execution, verification, and documentation.

DMS (Document Management System)

A software platform for storing, managing, tracking, and versioning electronic documents. Modern DMS include OCR (Optical Character Recognition) for indexing scanned documents and full-text search capabilities.

Downtime

The period during which a system, service, or application is unavailable or not functioning. Downtime is measured and reported as part of SLA compliance and availability management.

DRP (Disaster Recovery Plan)

A documented process to recover and restore IT infrastructure and operations after a catastrophic event. Includes procedures for data restoration, system recovery, and resumption of business operations.

E

Emergency Change

A change that must be implemented urgently to restore service or prevent imminent failure. Emergency changes follow an expedited approval process with retrospective documentation and review.

End-to-End Visibility

Complete visibility across all components, processes, and relationships in IT infrastructure. Enables understanding of how changes propagate through the system and their impact on business services.

End-User

The person who ultimately uses or consumes an IT service or product. End-users interact with IT through self-service portals, service desks, and business applications.

Escalation

The process of moving an incident, problem, or request to a higher level of expertise or authority when it cannot be resolved at the current level. Includes functional and hierarchical escalation paths.

Escalation Matrix

A documented framework defining escalation paths, timeframes, and contacts for different types and severities of incidents. Ensures timely escalation and appropriate resource engagement.

ESM (Enterprise Service Management)

The application of ITSM principles and practices to other business functions beyond IT, such as HR, facilities, and finance. Extends service management benefits across the entire organization.

Event Management

ITIL process for managing events throughout their lifecycle. An event is any detectable occurrence significant for IT management, including state changes, alerts, and notifications requiring response.

F

Failover

The automatic switching to a redundant or standby system when the primary system fails. Ensures continuous service availability by seamlessly transferring operations without user intervention.

FCR (First Call Resolution)

A metric measuring the percentage of incidents or requests resolved during the first contact with the service desk. High FCR indicates effective frontline support and comprehensive knowledge base.

Four Dimensions of Service Management

ITIL 4 model ensuring a holistic approach to service management: organizations and people, information and technology, partners and suppliers, and value streams and processes.

G

GED (Gestion Électronique de Documents)

French term for Electronic Document Management. System for digitizing, storing, indexing, and retrieving documents electronically with version control and access management.

Guiding Principles (ITIL 4)

Seven core recommendations in ITIL 4 that guide organizations in all circumstances: focus on value, start where you are, progress iteratively, collaborate, think holistically, keep it simple, and optimize.

H

HAM (Hardware Asset Management)

The practice of tracking and managing physical IT hardware throughout its lifecycle. Includes procurement, deployment, maintenance, and disposal tracking to optimize investments and ensure compliance.

High Availability (HA)

A system design approach eliminating single points of failure to ensure continuous operation. HA architectures use redundancy, clustering, and automatic failover to achieve 99.99%+ uptime targets.

I

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

Cloud computing model providing virtualized computing resources over the internet. Customers rent servers, storage, and networking on-demand, paying only for resources consumed.

Impact

A measure of the effect of an incident, problem, or change on business operations. Impact assessment considers the number of users affected, critical business processes, and financial implications.

Impact Analysis

The assessment of consequences that a proposed change or incident may have on IT services and business operations. Uses CMDB relationship data to identify affected components and dependent services.

Incident

An unplanned interruption to an IT service or reduction in the quality of an IT service. Incidents are logged, categorized, prioritized, and resolved through incident management processes to restore normal operations.

Incident Management

The process of managing the lifecycle of all incidents to restore normal service operation as quickly as possible with minimal business impact. Includes detection, logging, categorization, investigation, and resolution.

Incident Response

The organized approach to addressing and managing the aftermath of a security breach or cyberattack. Includes detection, containment, eradication, recovery, and post-incident analysis.

Information Security Management

ITIL process ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information assets. Includes security policies, risk assessment, access control, and incident response procedures.

Integration

The connection of different IT systems, applications, and data sources to work together as a coordinated system. Common integrations include LDAP/Active Directory, monitoring tools, ticketing systems, and cloud platforms.

IT Asset

Any valuable component that contributes to the delivery of IT services. Includes physical assets (servers, workstations, network equipment), software licenses, cloud subscriptions, and digital resources.

ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library)

A framework of best practices for IT Service Management (ITSM) that focuses on aligning IT services with business needs. Defines processes for service strategy, design, transition, operation, and continual improvement.

ITSM (IT Service Management)

The implementation and management of quality IT services that meet the needs of the business. ITSM encompasses processes, policies, and procedures covering the entire lifecycle of IT services from planning to retirement.

K

KEDB (Known Error Database)

A database containing records of known errors and their workarounds or resolutions. Part of problem management, KEDB enables faster incident resolution by providing documented solutions.

Knowledge Article

A documented piece of information in a knowledge base providing solutions, procedures, or guidance. Articles are categorized, searchable, and rated to improve self-service and support efficiency.

Knowledge Base

A centralized repository of information, documentation, procedures, FAQs, and solutions. Enables self-service support, faster incident resolution, and knowledge sharing across teams.

KPI (Key Performance Indicator)

A measurable value that demonstrates how effectively an organization is achieving key business objectives. IT KPIs include uptime percentage, mean time to resolution (MTTR), ticket resolution rate, and SLA compliance.

L

LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)

A protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed directory information services. Commonly used for centralized authentication, allowing users to access multiple systems with single credentials (SSO).

License Management

The administration of software licenses throughout their lifecycle, ensuring compliance with vendor agreements and optimizing costs. Includes tracking usage, renewals, and identifying unused licenses.

Living Documentation

Documentation that is continuously updated and reflects the current state of systems and processes. Automated synchronization with CMDB ensures accuracy and eliminates outdated information.

Load Balancing

The distribution of workloads across multiple computing resources to optimize performance, ensure availability, and prevent overload. Essential for scalable, high-availability architectures.

M

Major Incident

An incident with significant business impact requiring urgent resolution and special handling. Major incidents trigger escalation procedures, dedicated resources, and management communication protocols.

Mean Time To Resolution (MTTR)

The average time required to resolve an incident or problem from initial report to resolution. A key IT performance metric for measuring efficiency of incident management processes.

MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures)

The average time elapsed between failures of a system or component. A key reliability metric used for capacity planning, maintenance scheduling, and calculating expected system availability.

MTRS (Mean Time to Restore Service)

The average time required to restore a failed service to full operation. MTRS is a key availability metric measuring the efficiency of incident resolution and service recovery processes.

MTTA (Mean Time To Acknowledge)

The average time from when an alert is triggered until someone acknowledges and begins working on it. Measures responsiveness of IT operations and effectiveness of monitoring processes.

MTTD (Mean Time To Detect)

The average time required to detect an issue, incident, or security threat after it occurs. Lower MTTD indicates more effective monitoring and early warning capabilities.

Multi-Tenant Architecture

A software architecture where a single instance of the application serves multiple customers (tenants), with data isolation and customization per tenant. Common in SaaS platforms for security and scalability.

N

Network Flow

The path of data communication between IT components. Documenting network flows helps with security analysis, troubleshooting, compliance audits, and understanding service dependencies.

NIS2 Directive

European Union directive on security of network and information systems. Imposes cybersecurity requirements on critical infrastructure operators including risk management, incident reporting, and supply chain security.

Normal Change

A change that follows the complete change management process including CAB review and approval. Normal changes require full documentation, risk assessment, and scheduled implementation.

O

OCR (Optical Character Recognition)

Technology that converts scanned documents, PDFs, or images containing text into machine-readable, searchable, and editable text. Essential for digitizing paper archives and enabling full-text search.

OLA (Operational Level Agreement)

An internal agreement between IT departments defining the level of service provided between teams. OLAs support external SLAs by formalizing internal commitments and responsibilities.

On-Premises

Software or infrastructure deployed and operated within an organization's own data center rather than in the cloud. Provides full control but requires capital investment and ongoing maintenance.

Orchestration

The automated coordination and management of complex IT systems, services, and workflows. Orchestration tools enable end-to-end automation across multiple systems and technologies.

P

PaaS (Platform as a Service)

Cloud computing model providing a platform for customers to develop, run, and manage applications without managing underlying infrastructure. Includes runtime, middleware, and development tools.

PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act)

A four-step iterative management method for continuous improvement. Plan establishes objectives, Do implements, Check monitors results, and Act standardizes successful changes or restarts the cycle.

PIR (Post-Implementation Review)

A formal review conducted after implementing a change or project to evaluate success, identify lessons learned, and determine if objectives were achieved. Essential for continual improvement.

Priority

A classification assigned to incidents and requests based on the combination of impact and urgency. Priority determines the order in which issues are addressed and the resources allocated.

Problem

The underlying cause of one or more incidents. Unlike incidents which focus on restoration, problems focus on identifying root causes and implementing permanent fixes to prevent recurrence.

Problem Management

An ITIL process focused on identifying and managing the root causes of incidents to prevent recurrence. Includes problem detection, root cause analysis, workaround implementation, and permanent solution deployment.

Production Environment

The live environment where IT services and applications are deployed and accessible to end-users. Changes to production require careful planning, testing, and approval to minimize disruption.

Project Management

The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet requirements. IT project management includes planning, resource allocation, risk management, and delivery tracking.

Q

Queue

A list of incidents, requests, or tasks waiting to be processed by a support group or individual. Queue management ensures work is prioritized and distributed efficiently.

R

RACI Matrix

A responsibility assignment matrix defining who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed for each activity. Clarifies roles and reduces confusion in process and project management.

RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)

A security approach that restricts system access based on user roles within an organization. Users are assigned roles (Admin, Manager, User) with specific permissions, simplifying access management and improving security.

Real-Time Monitoring

Continuous observation of IT systems and services with immediate alerting on anomalies or threshold breaches. Enables proactive issue detection before they impact business operations.

Relationship

A connection between Configuration Items (CIs) in a CMDB. Types include 'depends_on' (service dependencies), 'runs_on' (application on server), 'owned_by' (responsibility), enabling impact analysis and change management.

Release Management

ITIL process for planning, scheduling, and controlling the movement of releases to test and live environments. Ensures new or changed services meet quality standards and minimize disruption.

Request Fulfillment

ITIL process for managing the lifecycle of service requests from users. Covers standard, pre-approved requests like password resets, software installation, or access provisioning.

Resolution Time

The total time from when an incident is reported until it is fully resolved and normal service is restored. Resolution time targets are typically defined in SLAs based on priority.

Response Time

The time elapsed between a user reporting an incident or submitting a request and the first meaningful response from IT support. A key SLA metric for measuring service desk performance.

RFC (Request for Change)

A formal proposal for a change to be made to an IT service or system. RFCs include description, justification, risk assessment, implementation plan, and rollback procedures.

Risk Management

The systematic process of identifying, analyzing, evaluating, and treating risks. In IT, includes security risks, operational risks, project risks, and compliance risks affecting service delivery.

Rollback

The process of reverting a system, application, or configuration to a previous known-good state after a failed change or deployment. Essential for minimizing the impact of unsuccessful changes.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

A systematic methodology for identifying the underlying cause of incidents or problems, rather than just treating symptoms. Common techniques include 5 Whys, Fishbone diagrams, and failure mode analysis to prevent recurrence.

RPO (Recovery Point Objective)

The maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time. For example, RPO of 4 hours means the organization can tolerate losing up to 4 hours of data in a disaster scenario.

RTO (Recovery Time Objective)

The maximum acceptable time that a system or service can be down after a failure. For example, RTO of 2 hours means the service must be restored within 2 hours of disruption.

S

SaaS (Software as a Service)

A software distribution model where applications are hosted by a vendor and made available to customers over the internet. Users access software via web browser without installation, with subscription-based pricing.

SAM (Software Asset Management)

The business practice of managing and optimizing software assets throughout their lifecycle. Includes license compliance, usage optimization, and vendor management to reduce costs and legal risks.

Satisfaction Survey

A questionnaire sent to users after ticket resolution to measure satisfaction with IT service delivery. Survey results inform service improvements and identify training needs.

Self-Service Portal

A web-based interface enabling users to access IT services, submit requests, report incidents, and find solutions independently without contacting the service desk. Reduces ticket volume and improves user satisfaction.

Service Catalog

A centralized database of all IT services available to users, including descriptions, ownership, costs, and request procedures. Enables self-service and standardizes service delivery.

Service Desk

The single point of contact between IT service provider and users. Handles incident reports, service requests, and provides first-level support. Modern service desks use ticketing systems with automation and knowledge base integration.

Service Level Management

ITIL process for negotiating, agreeing, documenting, and reviewing service level targets. Ensures services meet agreed performance standards and manages stakeholder expectations.

Service Operation

ITIL lifecycle stage focused on delivering and supporting IT services on a day-to-day basis. Includes incident management, problem management, event management, and access management.

Service Owner

The person accountable for the delivery of a specific IT service, regardless of where the underlying components reside. Responsible for continual improvement and stakeholder communication.

Service Portfolio

The complete set of services managed by a service provider, including those in development, live services, and retired services. Provides a strategic view of all service investments.

Service Request

A formal request from a user for something to be provided, typically a standard change or access to a service. Service requests follow predefined fulfillment procedures.

Service Strategy

ITIL lifecycle stage defining the perspective, position, plans, and patterns a service provider must execute to meet business outcomes. Includes service portfolio management and financial management.

Service Transition

ITIL lifecycle stage ensuring that new, modified, or retired services meet business expectations. Includes change management, release management, and service validation and testing.

Service Value Chain

ITIL 4 operating model showing how organizational components work together to create value. Includes six activities: plan, improve, engage, design and transition, obtain/build, and deliver and support.

Shift Left

Strategy of moving activities earlier in the service lifecycle to prevent issues rather than fix them. Includes earlier testing, proactive problem management, and user self-service capabilities.

Single Source of Truth (SSOT)

The practice of structuring information models so that every data element is stored exactly once, with all references pointing to this single location. In ITSM, the CMDB serves as SSOT for infrastructure data.

SKMS (Service Knowledge Management System)

A set of tools and databases used to manage knowledge and information supporting IT service management. Includes the CMDB, known error database, and documentation repositories.

SLA (Service Level Agreement)

A formal commitment between a service provider and client defining expected service levels, including availability, performance, response times, and penalties for non-compliance. Critical for contract management.

SLA Breach

A failure to meet the service level targets defined in a Service Level Agreement. SLA breaches trigger escalations, may result in penalties, and require root cause analysis and corrective action.

SOC (Security Operations Center)

A centralized unit dealing with security issues on organizational and technical levels. SOC teams monitor, detect, analyze, and respond to cybersecurity incidents 24/7.

SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)

A documented set of step-by-step instructions for performing routine operations. SOPs ensure consistency, reduce errors, and enable knowledge transfer across team members.

SSO (Single Sign-On)

An authentication mechanism allowing users to access multiple applications with a single set of credentials. Supports Azure AD, OIDC (Okta, Auth0, Keycloak), and SAML2 protocols for enterprise identity provider integration.

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Standard Change

A pre-authorized, low-risk change that follows an established procedure. Standard changes are pre-approved and don't require CAB review, enabling faster implementation of routine modifications.

Structured Data

Data organized in a predefined format (schema) that makes it easily searchable and processable by machines. In web context, Schema.org markup helps search engines and AI understand content semantics.

Supplier Management

ITIL process for managing suppliers and contracts to support service delivery. Includes vendor evaluation, contract negotiation, performance monitoring, and relationship management.

Support Group

A team of technical specialists responsible for resolving incidents and requests in a specific domain or technology area. Support groups are organized by expertise level and technical specialty.

T

Task

A unit of work that needs to be completed as part of a larger process. Tasks can be assigned to individuals, tracked for progress, and linked to incidents, changes, or projects.

Technical Debt

The implied cost of future rework caused by choosing quick, easy solutions instead of better approaches. Accumulates when shortcuts are taken in development or infrastructure decisions.

Technical Service

An IT service that supports other IT services but is not directly visible to customers. Technical services include infrastructure components, databases, and backend systems.

Testing

The systematic evaluation of software, systems, or changes to verify they meet requirements and function correctly. Includes unit testing, integration testing, user acceptance testing, and regression testing.

Ticketing System

A software platform for managing and tracking incidents, service requests, and problems. Includes workflow automation, priority management, assignment rules, and SLA tracking.

U

UC (Underpinning Contract)

A contract between an IT service provider and an external supplier defining targets supporting the provider's SLA commitments. Essential for multi-supplier service delivery models.

Uptime

The amount of time a system or service is operational and available. Typically expressed as a percentage (e.g., 99.9% uptime = 8.76 hours downtime per year). Critical SLA metric.

Urgency

A measure of how quickly a resolution is required for an incident or problem. Combined with impact, urgency determines the priority of issues in the service desk queue.

V

Value Stream

The series of steps an organization uses to create and deliver products and services to customers. Mapping value streams identifies waste and opportunities for process improvement.

Version Control

The management of changes to documents, software code, or configurations over time. Enables tracking modifications, reverting to previous versions, and understanding evolution of items.

Virtual Agent

An AI-powered chatbot that provides automated assistance to users through natural language conversations. Virtual agents handle common requests, guide users to solutions, and escalate complex issues.

Virtual Machine (VM)

A software emulation of a physical computer that runs an operating system and applications. VMs enable efficient resource utilization, isolation, and rapid provisioning in data centers.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

A technology creating a secure, encrypted connection over a less secure network like the internet. Enables remote workers to securely access corporate resources as if connected locally.

W

Workaround

A temporary solution that reduces or eliminates the impact of an incident or problem for which a full resolution is not yet available. Documented in the known error database.

Workflow Automation

The design and execution of repeatable business processes where tasks, documents, or information are passed between participants according to defined rules. Reduces manual work and ensures consistency.

Z

Zero Trust

A security model based on the principle of 'never trust, always verify.' Requires strict identity verification for every person and device attempting to access resources, regardless of location.