(http://pluralsight.com/training?

utm_source=blog&utm_content=/itilservice
managementterms&utm_medium=header%3Alogo)
Sign In (http://www.pluralsight.com/training/Login?utm_source=blog&utm_content=/itil-service-managementterms&utm_medium=header%3Asignin)

Pluralsight blog
Where devs, IT admins & creative pros go for news, tips, videos and more.
SearchBlog

Supercharge your skills with expert-authored tech & creative training.

Unlimited. Online.
GET IT NOW (HTTPS://WWW.PLURALSIGHT.COM?
UTM_SOURCE=BLOG&UTM_MEDIUM=BANNER&UTM_CAMPAIGN=HOMEPAGETEXT)

Categories: Home(http://blog.pluralsight.com) News(http://blog.pluralsight.com/category/news)

TipsandTutorials(http://blog.pluralsight.com/category/tipsandtutorials)
Career(http://blog.pluralsight.com/category/techcareerhelp)
Certifications(http://blog.pluralsight.com/category/itcertifications)
LearningPaths(http://blog.pluralsight.com/category/learningpaths)
FreeComputerTrainingVideos(http://blog.pluralsight.com/category/freecomputertrainingvideos)

May8,2013

Key ITIL service management terms unraveled

By Abhinav Kaiser (http://blog.pluralsight.com/author/abhinav-kaiser)

Everyfieldhasitsownsetofterminology.AnybusinessprocesscanbedescribedinplainEnglish,
butwhatthetermsmeaninaparticularfieldcouldbecompletelydifferentfromcommon
definitions.IntheITInfrastructureLibrary(ITIL)managementframework
(http://www.trainsignal.com/blog/itilbasics)especially,thereareanumberoftermsthatneedtobe
specificallyused,ratherthanthecolloquialEnglishequivalent.
WhenIimplementITILprocessesinorganizations,IstartwithabasicITILtraining
(http://www.trainsignal.com/Course/202/ITILFoundations?
from=tst&utm_source=blog&utm_content=/itilservicemanagementterms&utm_medium=copy)
andoneofthefirstgroundrulesisthatpeoplewhoareworkinginanITILcompliantorganization
mustuseITILlanguageonly,andunlearntheequivalentjargon.Forexample,ifmylaptopisnot
working,itiscommonlyreferredtoas,Ihaveaproblemwithmylaptop.Butthisphrasedoesnt
workinITILbecauseproblemmeanssomethingfargreaterthanalaptopscondition,andsoit
usesanotherterm:incident.

Service
ITserviceisthefoundationuponwhichtheentireITILframeworkisbuilt
(http://www.trainsignal.com/blog/tag/itil).However,Ihaveoftenheardpeoplerefertoaservicein
thewrongcontext.
Aserviceissomethingofvaluethatthecustomerenjoys.Itisdefinedfromthecustomers
standpointandnotfromtheorganizationthatisprovidingit.Thecustomeravailsservicessuchas
theInternetservice,emailorcellphoneservice.TheITorganizationmustrefertoInternet,email
andcellphonestogetherasaservice,ratherthanreferringtotheindividualelements.
Torunacellphoneservice,theITorganizationneedsnetworkservices,towerservices,server
servicesandotherapplicationservices.AlloftheseenablingservicescannotbereferredtoasIT
services,butrathervariouselementsthatmaketheuptheservicethatthecustomerenjoys.
Forexample,TrainSignalprovidesvideotrainingservicetoITprosworldwide.So,thestaffwill
refertotheservicestheyofferasvideotraining,insteadoftheapplicationservicethatenables
studentstologintothevideotrainingportalandtheserverservicethathoststheapplication.

Incident
Anincident(http://www.trainsignal.com/blog/itilintroductiontoincidentmanagement)referstoa
disruptiontoanexistingservice.Toquotetheexampleofthecellphoneservice,ifyouareunable
tomakecallsfromyourcellphone,theserviceisnotworkingasitshould.Thereisabreakdownof
service.Thedisruptiontoaservicethatthecustomerisentitledtouseiscalledasanincident.
AsImentionedearlier,ITstaffrefertoanincidentbyvariousnames,likeissueandproblem.Since
thesetermshavedifferentdefinitions,itisimperativethattheITstaffbetrainedtoinculcateITIL
languageastheirown.

Service request
Mixingonetermwithanotherinterchangeablyisanotherchallenge.ManyITorganizationsdonot
differentiatebetweenincidentsandservicerequests
(http://www.trainsignal.com/blog/implementingincidentandrequestfulfillmentmanagement
processes),andtheytreatthetwoasoneandthesame.However,thereisaherculeandifference
betweenthetwo.Iwillexplainthedifferenceandalsojustifywhyitisnecessarytonotmixthese
twoterms.
Anincidentisadisruptiontoanexistingservice,andaservicerequestisanaddontotheexisting
service.Examplescouldbeanaccessrequesttoanapplication,requesttogetanewlaptop,and
creationofafolderonashareddrive.Incidentsaregenerallyattachedwithstringenttimelinesfor
resolution(sayfourhoursforacriticalpriorityincident).
Servicerequests,ontheotherhand,arenotsostringent,asthereisnobreakageofservice.If
incidentsandservicerequestsareconjoined,theITstaffisrequiredtoresolveservicerequests
withinstringenttimelines.Todothis,headcountmustincreasetoresolveservicerequestsatan
incidenttargettimeline,andIllgointoSLAslaterinthisarticle.Andmoreimportantly,ifanincident
andaservicerequestarriveatthesametime,itspossiblethatthetechnicianresolvestheservice
requestaheadoftheincident,whichisnotideal.
Incidentsmustbeprioritizedoverservicerequestsasincidentsmeandowntimetoservice.

Problem
Aproblem(http://www.trainsignal.com/blog/itilproblemmanagement)inITILindicatessomething
offargreaterimpactoveranincident.Aproblemariseswhentherootcauseofanincidentis
unknown,whichtranslatestotheincidentbeingirresolvable.Also,ifsimilarincidentsrepeatovera
periodoftime,itisreferredtoasaproblemaswell.

Service level agreement (SLA) and operation level agreement (OLA)

Aservicelevelagreement(SLA)isanagreementsignedbetweenthecustomerandtheIT
organization,toguaranteethelevelofservicesoffered.operationlevelagreement(OLA)issigned
betweeninternalteamswithintheITorganizationtoensurethatthetargetsagreeduponinthe
SLAaremet.CustomerdoesnotseetheOLAanditisinternaltotheorganization.
Forinstance,iftheSLAtodeliveraservice(saycreateamailbox)istwobusinessdays,andto
delivertheservice,ittakesthreedifferentteamswithintheITorganizationtoworksequentially,an
OLAiscreatedbetweenthethreeteamstoensurethattheSLAoftwobusinessdaysisachieved.

Utility and warranty

Anyservicethatisdevelopedhastwopillars,withoutwhichtheservicehasnomeaning:utilityand
warranty.Utilityisalsoreferredtoasfitforpurposeandwarrantyasfitforuse.
Utilityistheaspectofaservicewhichensuresthatthedevelopedservicedoeswhatitissupposed
todo.Warrantyensuresthattheserviceisusableandconformstotherequirementsofthe
customer.
Letmeillustratethiswithanexample.Withacellphoneservice,acustomerhastheabilitytomake
andreceivecalls.Thisiswhatthecustomerwantedtodo(utility)whenhesubscribedtothe
service.Tobeabletousetheservice(warranty),thecellphoneservicemustbeavailablewhenhe
needstouseit,theremustbesufficientcapacitytoplacethecall,theserviceobtainedmustbe
continuouswithoutdisruptions,anditmustbesecure.

Critical success factor (CSF)

Criticalsuccessfactor(CSF)istheelementofaservicethatneedstofunctionabsolutelyas
intended,inordertodeemtheserviceasuccess.
Ifyouareofferingacellphoneservice,thentheservicemustoperatethewayitwasdesigned.For
example,ifacustomerisplacingacalltoacertainnumber,thecallmustlandattheintended
numberandnotelsewhere.Placingthiscallattherightdestinationisoneofthecriticalsuccess
factorsforacellphoneservice.
LetmeillustrateCSFsfurtherwithanonITexample.IfIamdrivingmycar,andturnthesteering
wheeltowardstheleftside,Iwantthewheelstoturnleftaswellandnotrightorremainstraight.
Thealignmentbetweenthesteeringwheelandthewheelsofmycaristhecriticalsuccessfactorto
mydriving.

Key performance indicator (KPI)

Keyperformanceindicators(KPI)(http://abhinavpmp.com/2011/02/19/unlocksuccesseswithkey
performanceindicatorskpi/)showwhethertheserviceissucceedingorfailing.Asthename
indicates,aKPImeasurestheperformanceofaservice.Whenaserviceisdesigned,the
designersalsocomeupwithKPIsthatwillbeusedduringtheoperationstodeterminehowthe
serviceisfaring.Ifitisnotperformingthewayitisexpectedtofare,thenimprovementsmustbe
madeinordertobringtheperformanceoftheserviceontrack.
Inthecellphoneservice,oneoftheKPIscouldbepercentdecreaseincalldroprate.ThisKPI
relatestothenumberofactivecallsthatgetdropped.Forthecellphoneservicetosucceed,itis
importantthatcalldropsbeminimized.So,theidentifiedKPIindicateswhatsignalstowatchforto
ensurethesuccessofaservice.Inthisexample,thecalldropratemustdecreaseoveraperiodof
time.Whiledesigningtheservice,thedesignermustmakeprovisionsforrecordingthecalldrops,
andcalculatingthecalldroprate.
AservicecouldhaveanumberofKPIs.ItisprudenttohaveafewstrongKPIsthatwillindicatethe
successofaservice.ItismyexperiencethatsomeservicedesignersidentifyanumberofKPIs
withoutthinkingaboutwhethertheycanbemeasuredoriftheyaregivingthetruepulseofthe
service.HavinganumberofirrelevantKPIsincreasesthecostofrunningaserviceandeatsaway
alotofthemanagementtime.Itcanalsodisorienttheserviceimprovementcycle.
Signupforafree3daytrial(http://www.trainsignal.com/?
from=tst&utm_source=blog&utm_content=/itilservicemanagementterms&utm_medium=copy)to
getaccesstoTrainSignalsentiretraininglibrary,includingprojectmanagementtrainingforITIL
v3Foundations(http://www.trainsignal.com/Course/202/ITILFoundations?
from=tst&utm_source=blog&utm_content=/itilservicemanagementterms&utm_medium=copy).
ITILisaRegisteredTradeMarkoftheCabinetOffice.

About the Author

Abhinav Kaiser (http://blog.pluralsight.com/author/abhinavkaiser)
AbhinavKaiser(http://blog.pluralsight.com/author/abhinavkaiser)isaveteraninserviceandin
projectmanagements.Headvisesbusinesses,organizationsandenterprisesonhowtobuildservice
managementframeworkanddelivervalue.Heiscurrentlypenningabookoncommunicationin
organizations,specificallyaimedatITdepartments.HeholdsPMP,ITILV3ExpertandCobit5.0
certificationsandisanaccreditedITILtrainer.

Author'sWebsite:http://abhinavpmp.com/(http://abhinavpmp.com/)

Discussion
Addacomment...

AlsopostonFacebook
YogeshBhondekar

PostingasOlanrewajuOOladeinde

FollowBusinessProcessAnalystatJetAirways

nicelycompiled..reallyhelpful
ReplyLikeFollowPostNovember24,2013at1:20pm
Facebooksocialplugin

Comment

(http://pluralsight.com/training?
utm_medium=ad&utm_campaign=dt&utm_source=blog&utm_content=post)

Categories
ITInfrastructureLibrary(http://blog.pluralsight.com/category/itinfrastructurelibrary)

ProjectManagement(http://blog.pluralsight.com/category/projectmanagement)

SHARE (HTTP://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/SHARER.PHP?
U=HTTP://BLOG.PLURALSIGHT.COM/ITIL-SERVICE-MANAGEMENTTERMS&T=KEY ITIL SERVICE MANAGEMENT TERMS UNRAVELED)

TWEET (HTTP://TWITTER.COM/SHARE?
0
URL=HTTP://BLOG.PLURALSIGHT.COM/ITIL-SERVICE-MANAGEMENTTERMS&VIA=PLURALSIGHT&TEXT=KEY ITIL SERVICE MANAGEMENT TERMS
UNRAVELED&RELATED=PLURALSIGHT:COMPUTER TRAINING VIDEOS)

COMMENT

SUBSCRIBE (HTTP://FEEDS.FEEDBURNER.COM/TRAINSIGNALTRAININGFEED)

SignupforNewsletter(http://pluralsight.com/training/Community/Newsletter?
utm_source=blog&utm_medium=category&utm_campaign=link)

Related Posts
1. ITIL:IntroductiontoIncidentManagement(http://blog.pluralsight.com/itilintroductionto
incidentmanagement)
2. ImplementingIncidentandRequestFulfillmentManagementProcesses
(http://blog.pluralsight.com/implementingincidentandrequestfulfillmentmanagement
processes)
3. KnowledgeManagement:SecrettoServiceManagementSuccess
(http://blog.pluralsight.com/knowledgemanagementsuccesssecrets)
4. RoleofprojectmanagementinITservicemanagement(http://blog.pluralsight.com/project
managementitservicemanagement)
5. IntroductiontoServiceAssetandConfigurationManagement
(http://blog.pluralsight.com/serviceassetconfigurationmanagement)
6. OvercomeITServiceandAssetManagementConfigurationChallenges
(http://blog.pluralsight.com/itserviceassetconfigurationmanagement)
7. ITIL&#0174StudyGuide:IntroductiontotheServiceDesk(http://blog.pluralsight.com/itilstudy
guideservicedesk)
8. ITIL&#0174ProblemManagement:TheITVersionofCSI(http://blog.pluralsight.com/itil
problemmanagement)

9. BeginnersGuidetoITIL(http://blog.pluralsight.com/itilbasics)
10. HowEffectiveChangeManagementCanIncreaseYourCompanysRevenue
(http://blog.pluralsight.com/changemanagementincreasesrevenue)

Tags
ITIL 33 (/tag/itil)

ProjectManagement 38 (/tag/projectmanagement)

Tips&Tricks 206 (/tag/tipstricks)

Ourmissionistopublishhighqualityrelevant,andtimelyonlinetrainingcoursesforseriousdevelopersandIT
admins.Everyday.

Our training
Browsecourses(http://www.pluralsight.com/training/Courses?utm_source=blog&utm_content=/itilservice
managementterms&utm_medium=footer%3Abrowse+courses)
Top100(http://www.pluralsight.com/training/Courses/TopCourses?utm_source=blog&utm_content=/itil
servicemanagementterms&utm_medium=footer%3Atop+100)
Newreleases(http://www.pluralsight.com/training/Courses/NewReleases?utm_source=blog&utm_content=/itil
servicemanagementterms&utm_medium=footer%3Anew+releases)
Ourauthors(http://www.pluralsight.com/training/Authors?utm_source=blog&utm_content=/itilservice
managementterms&utm_medium=footer%3Aauthors)

Get started
10dayfreetrial(http://www.pluralsight.com/training/Subscribe/Step1?
isTrial=True&failedCaptcha=False&utm_source=blog&utm_content=/itilservicemanagement
terms&utm_medium=footer%3Afree+trial)
Individualplans(http://www.pluralsight.com/training/Products/Individual?utm_source=blog&utm_content=/itil
servicemanagementterms&utm_medium=footer%3Aindividual+plans)
Businessplans(http://www.pluralsight.com/training/Products/Businesses?utm_source=blog&utm_content=/itil
servicemanagementterms&utm_medium=footer%3Abusiness+plans)
Academic(http://www.pluralsight.com/training/Products/Academic?utm_source=blog&utm_content=/itilservice

managementterms&utm_medium=footer%3Aacademic+plans)

FACEBOOK (HTTP://FACEBOOK.COM/PLURALSIGHT)

TWITTER (HTTP://TWITTER.COM/PLURALSIGHT)

GOOGLE+ (HTTP://PLUS.GOOGLE.COM/+PLURALSIGHT)

2015Pluralsight