15 Terms Everyone in the ITSM Industry Should Know

In the Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) industry, it is paramount to stay up-to-date. When ITSM is the topic of discussion, it involves the use of numerous acronyms and terminologies. It becomes hard to follow any conversation for the uninitiated or uninformed, as each of these terms has unique meanings, with context to the ITSM industry. To ensure that everyone has clarity on the ITSM’s concepts, here is a compilation of 15 important terms:

Asset Management System (AMS)

AMS is a type of software that allows organizations that allows it to monitor and control all the assets it owns, such as software licenses and equipment. Condition, cost, description, and location are some of the valuable information provided by the packages of AMS. To improve the value of an organization’s repository, on account of asset management, combining it with Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is necessary.

Back Office

Back Office is used commonly in the ITSM industry to describe an organization’s critical functions, which their customers don’t face. Accounting, facilities management, IT, and human resources are a handful of examples that fall under the term Back Office.

Capability Maturity Model (CMM)

Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is a methodology used in ITSM for the continuous evolution and improvement in all the processes of software development. When comparing CMM to ISO 9001, an important standard for quality management systems, the two look similar. However, CMM’s framework paves the way for continuous improvement. ISO 9001’s framework focuses on ensuring that the systems meet the lowest acceptable quality.

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Configuration Management Database (CMDB)

All the components of an organization’s information system, get stored in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). It also contains details regarding the relationships that exist between the various components. In other words, CMDB allows the company to look and examine the data in an organized manner. CMDB also shows its users the outcome of all the changes, made to the initial setup.

Configuration Item (CI)

It is a component of the IT infrastructure which comes under the configuration management control. All the CIs come with a unique identifier for their attributes and names. The complexity and type of the CI can vary from a device to a complete service, which involves hardware, software, and people. All the CIs of an organization gets stored in the CMDB.

Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM)

It refers to all the tools that an organization uses to gather feedback, manage it, and integrate its results systematically, to other types of information systems so that users get an actionable, accurate and comprehensive view. EFM automates the process of gathering responses from the participants, improving efficiency. It also decreases cost, as organizations no longer need various disconnected and redundant tools for conducting surveys.

Enterprise Request Management (ERM)

It is a framework that allows the organization’s employees to request and check the status of delivery of any shared equipment or service, which they need for work. One can compare it to any e-commerce website such as Amazon, where users get to check specific details about the products. ERM communicates with departmental applications and various enterprise software platforms when the organization’s users request for equipment or service.

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Incident Management

It is a term used to address the process that involves management of all the functional or departmental responses the organization’s receives, due to operational disruption. Incident Management aims to resolve the incidents the users report, thoroughly and quickly. As it improves the quality of service delivery and decreases cost, the organization’s service desk uses incident management.

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

Key Performance Indicator or KPI are measurements that allow the organization to assess the effectiveness of all the change they make in the system. Some of the measurements the system will use are approval and planning time, the success rate of the implementations, and time taken to update CMDB.

Metadata repository

Metadata repository makes it easier for uniform and reliable access to all the databases that store information about data. To ensure there is consistency and clarity throughout the database tables, it consists of all the header values for the columns and rows. It makes it easier for the organization to catalog all its information.

Non-discoverable assets

Non-discoverable assets are those that various software applications, such as system management, network monitoring, and asset management. However, it is vital to monitor the location and condition of these assets. License agreements and contracts are some of the assets coming under non-discoverable assets. EFM systems are valuable as they help in managing these type of assets easily.

Service Catalogue

It is a directory which lists out all the services provided by the organization, allowing users to place requests. The department in charge of service delivery fulfills the requests. In the delivery management of IT services, service catalog is extremely important. It has a detailed description of all the services, such as instructions for fulfillment, costs, approval processes, and expected delivery time.

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Release Management

Release management utilizes capabilities such as collaboration tools and automation functions for streamlining all the changes made during the release of new services and apps into the existing configuration. The release management platform design allows it to handle some of the challenges organizations face when releasing new services.

Service Integration and Management (SIAM)

It is an approach used by businesses when they need to deliver services facing the customer, which involves coordinating with various suppliers. SIAM aims to ensure that delivery of customer services remains consistent throughout complex and different vendor environments. For SIAM to be successful, the service providers have to make optimal use of optimization. They should also make the service delivery scalable, while ensuring that the environment promotes continuous growth.

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)

It is a type of software framework or structure that addresses all the requirements for business processes, by utilizing and combining all its services. For SOA to be effective, all the services it uses must be independent. Also, it should be possible to access the interfaces so that the tasks can perform in a standard manner.

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