ITSM, ITIL and COBIT glossary
Short, current definitions of the terms that come up in service reviews, tenders and audits. Each one links to the page that explains it in practice.
- Change enablement
The ITIL management practice that helps changes happen safely with the right amount of control. Changes are standard (low-risk, repeatable and pre-authorised), normal (assessed and authorised in proportion to their risk) or emergency (made as soon as possible, then recorded and reviewed). ITIL no longer calls it change management.
- COBIT COBIT 2019
ISACA's framework for the governance and management of enterprise information and technology. The current edition, COBIT 2019, sets out 40 governance and management objectives in five domains: EDM (governance) and APO, BAI, DSS and MEA (management). It tells the board what must be directed and monitored, and how to prove IT is under control.
- Incident
An unplanned interruption to a service, or a reduction in its quality. The goal of incident management is to restore service as quickly as possible, not to find the cause.
- ISO/IEC 20000-1
The international standard for a service management system. Unlike ITIL or COBIT, an organisation can be audited and certified against it, which is why clients and regulators sometimes ask for it by name.
- IT governance
How the board and senior leaders evaluate, direct and monitor the use of IT, so it delivers value and stays within agreed risk. Governance sets direction and checks results; management plans and runs the work. COBIT keeps the two apart on purpose.
- IT service
Something the business uses to get work done, described in the business's terms, with an owner, a target and a cost. "Microsoft 365" is a product; "email and calendar for all staff, available 24×7" is a service.
- ITIL
A framework of guidance for IT service management, published by PeopleCert. It describes how products and services create value and sets out 34 management practices, with guiding principles for adapting them. It gives direction, not instructions. People take ITIL exams; organisations cannot be ITIL certified.
- ITIL (Version 5)
The current version of ITIL, published by PeopleCert. It keeps the 34 management practices largely the same and builds on ITIL 4 rather than replacing it.
- ITIL 4
The previous version of ITIL, built around practices, guiding principles and value streams. ITIL 4 certificates stay valid and count as prerequisites for ITIL (Version 5) modules. PeopleCert's current plan is to retire all ITIL 4 exams on 31 December 2027.
- ITIL Value System
The ITIL (Version 5) model that brings together the guiding principles, governance, value chain activities, management practices and continual improvement. ITIL 4 called it the service value system.
- ITSM (IT service management)
How an organisation designs, delivers, supports and improves the IT services its people rely on. It treats IT as a set of services with agreed outcomes, not a collection of systems and tickets. Every IT department does ITSM; frameworks such as ITIL are guidance for doing it well.
- ITSM tool
Software that records and routes service management work, such as ServiceNow, Jira Service Management or Freshservice. A tool can make good ITSM faster. It cannot make bad ITSM good.
- Major incident
An incident with enough business impact to need its own response: a named lead, a fixed update rhythm, executive communication and a post-incident review.
- Management practice
One of the 34 ITIL management practices, such as incident management or change enablement. A practice is more than a process: it includes the people, information, tools and suppliers needed to do the work.
- Problem
The underlying cause, or potential cause, of one or more incidents. Problem management finds and removes it, so the same incident stops coming back.
- Service level agreement (SLA)
A documented agreement between a service provider and its customer on the service and the levels expected, such as response and resolution times by priority. An SLA is only as honest as the calendar it is measured on.
- Service Owner
The single person accountable for a service's performance from start to finish, including the parts delivered by other teams and vendors. A team cannot be a Service Owner.
- Service request
A request for something standard that has already been agreed, such as access, a laptop or a software licence. It is not a failure, so it is not an incident.