Terms and Definitions

  1. Category – Logical grouping of related offerings (E.g., Category – IT, Sub-category – Cloud, Service – Virtual Server, Offering – Amazon EC2).
  2. Offering – Offering is the consumable entity that is published in the service catalog for the end user’s consumption (E.g., HP Laptop Notebook HP00987654, etc.).
  3. Components – Each offering constitutes of core and optional components. The core component is the package that the consumer buys while ordering an offering. Optional components are add-ons that can be brought while ordering the offering. (E.g., Offering: HP Laptop Notebook HP00987654, Core Component – Laptop, Optional Components – travel adapter, mouse, etc.).
  4. Service Order – A service order can be used to request for one or more services.
  5. Service Request – Requests placed by end users for availing services published in the service catalog (E.g., Requesting a new virtual server).
  6. Service Request Management – Managing the life cycle of service requests from submission to fulfilment. Examples include booking a meeting room, granting access to a printer, or providing standard setup services for a new employee.
  7. Incident or report an issue – Service interruptions reported by end users, requesting support to resolve or remediate those issues.
  8. Incident Management – Managing the lifecycle of incident(s) and restoring services within the agreed timeframe. Examples include fixing a printer, phone, or software.
  9. Fulfilment tasks – For every service request, one or many fulfilment tasks are created (based on the number of services ordered). Support users work on fulfilment tasks to successfully deliver service orders to consumers.
  10. Problem – A problem is the underlying cause of one or more incidents. Support user raises a problem ticket to analyse the root cause and identify a permanent solution to prevent incidents from occurring in the future.
  11. Problem management – Managing the lifecycle of problem ticket(s) by ensuring that problems are qualified and analysed and the workaround is documented and communicated. Problem management incorporates known errors, solution identification and solution implementation. Problems usually trigger other processes, such as change for solution implementation.
  12. Change Request – A formal request for change (RFC) to a service or service component describing the reason for the change, components that may get impacted, assessment of risks, and implementation and backout plans.
  13. Change Request Management – Managing the lifecycle of a change request and ensuring communication is done at all stages to stakeholders and service consumers. Change Management aims to introduce changes in services while minimizing the risks.
  14. Tasks – Tasks can be opened against fulfilment work items, break-fix work items, and RFC work items to break the work into specific activities involved in delivering the services.
  15. SLAs – A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is an agreement between a customer and a service provider that identifies both the services required and the expected level of services.