ITIL & IT Service Management Glossary

Use this A–Z glossary to understand common ITIL and IT service management terminology, from incidents, problems and changes to value streams, service levels, continual improvement and governance.

A

Availability

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

Asset

Any financially valuable component that can contribute to the delivery of an IT product or service, such as hardware, software, data, licences or facilities.

B

Business Relationship Management

The practice of establishing and maintaining links between a service provider and its stakeholders so that needs, expectations and value can be understood and supported.

C

Change

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

Change Enablement

The ITIL practice that aims to maximise the number of successful service and product changes by assessing risks, authorising changes and managing change schedules.

Configuration Item (CI)

Any component that needs to be managed in order to deliver an IT service, such as a server, application, database, document or network device.

Continual Improvement

An ongoing activity used to align an organisation's practices and services with changing business needs through the repeated identification and implementation of improvements.

D

Deployment Management

The practice of moving new or changed hardware, software, documentation, processes or other components into live environments.

Digital Product

A technology-enabled product designed to create value for customers, users or other stakeholders.

E

Event

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

Experience

The perceptions, emotions and interactions that stakeholders have when they engage with a service, product or organisation.

F

Four Dimensions of Service Management

The four perspectives that should be considered when designing and managing services: organisations and people; information and technology; partners and suppliers; and value streams and processes.

G

Governance

The means by which an organisation is directed and controlled, including evaluation, direction and monitoring of organisational activities.

Guiding Principles

Recommendations that guide an organisation in all circumstances, including focus on value, start where you are, progress iteratively with feedback, collaborate and promote visibility, think and work holistically, keep it simple and practical, and optimise and automate.

H

Help Desk

A common term for a support function that helps users with technical problems. In ITIL, the broader term service desk is normally preferred.

I

Incident

An unplanned interruption to a service, a reduction in service quality, or the failure of a component that has not yet affected the service.

Incident Management

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

Information Security Management

The practice of protecting the information an organisation needs to conduct its business, balancing confidentiality, integrity and availability.

IT Service Management (ITSM)

The implementation and management of quality IT services that meet the needs of an organisation and its customers.

ITIL

A widely adopted framework of best practices for digital product and service management. ITIL provides guidance for creating, delivering, supporting and continually improving services that enable value.

K

Known Error

A problem that has been analysed but not yet permanently resolved. A known error may have a documented workaround.

Knowledge Management

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

M

Major Incident

An incident with significant business impact that requires a coordinated response, often involving senior stakeholders and dedicated communications.

Measurement and Reporting

The practice of supporting good decision-making and continual improvement by collecting, analysing and presenting relevant information about products, services and practices.

Monitoring and Event Management

The practice of systematically observing services and service components, and recording and reporting selected changes of state as events.

O

Outcome

A result for a stakeholder enabled by one or more outputs. Customers generally seek outcomes rather than the underlying technical deliverables.

Output

A tangible or intangible deliverable produced by carrying out an activity.

P

Practice

A set of organisational resources designed for performing work or accomplishing an objective. ITIL describes management practices rather than only processes.

Problem

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

Problem Management

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

Product

A configuration of an organisation's resources designed to offer value to a consumer.

R

Release

A version of a service or configuration item, or a collection of configuration items, made available for use.

Release Management

The practice of making new and changed services and features available for use.

Request

A user-initiated request for information, advice, access to a service or a standard change.

Risk

A possible event that could cause harm or loss, or make it more difficult to achieve objectives. Risks may also represent opportunities.

S

Service

A means of enabling value co-creation by facilitating outcomes that customers want to achieve without requiring them to manage specific costs and risks.

Service Catalogue

Structured information about the services and service offerings available to customers and users.

Service Configuration Management

The practice of ensuring that accurate and reliable information about the configuration of services and supporting configuration items is available when needed.

Service Desk

The practice that captures demand for incident resolution and service requests and acts as a key communication point between the service provider and users.

Service Level

One or more metrics that define expected or achieved service quality, such as availability, response time or resolution time.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

A documented agreement between a service provider and customer that identifies required services and expected service levels.

Service Level Management

The practice of setting clear business-based targets for service performance and ensuring that delivery is properly assessed, monitored and managed against them.

Service Management

A set of specialised organisational capabilities for enabling value for customers in the form of services.

Service Offering

A formal description of one or more services designed to address the needs of a target consumer group.

Service Request

A request from a user that initiates a normal, pre-agreed service action, such as requesting access, information, equipment or a standard service.

Service Request Management

The practice of supporting the agreed quality of a service by handling predefined, user-initiated service requests effectively and consistently.

Service Value Chain

The central operating model of the ITIL Service Value System, describing activities used to respond to demand and facilitate value creation.

Service Value System (SVS)

The model showing how all the components and activities of an organisation work together to facilitate value creation through IT-enabled services.

Stakeholder

Any person or organisation with an interest in, involvement with or potential impact from a service, product or organisational activity.

Supplier Management

The practice of ensuring that suppliers and their performance are managed appropriately to support seamless provision of quality products and services.

T

Technical Debt

The accumulated future cost created when short-term technical solutions are chosen instead of more sustainable approaches.

U

User

A person who uses services.

Utility

The functionality offered by a product or service to meet a particular need. Often summarised as whether a service is fit for purpose.

V

Value

The perceived benefits, usefulness and importance of something to a stakeholder.

Value Co-Creation

The idea that value is not delivered by a provider alone but is created collaboratively through interaction between providers, consumers and other stakeholders.

Value Stream

A series of steps an organisation undertakes to create and deliver products and services to consumers.

W

Warranty

Assurance that a product or service will meet agreed requirements. Often summarised as whether the service is fit for use, including availability, capacity, continuity and security.

Workaround

A temporary solution that reduces or eliminates the impact of an incident or problem where a full resolution is not yet available.

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