ITIL Helpdesk Glossary of terms [A]

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Glossary of terms [A]

TERM	DEFINITION
Agreement	A Document that describes a formal understanding between two or more parties. An Agreement is not legally binding, unless it forms part of a Contract. See Service Level Agreement, Operational Level Agreement.
Alert	A warning that a threshold has been reached, something has changed, or a Failure has occurred. Alerts are often created and managed by System Management tools and are managed by the Event Management Process.
Application	Software that provides Functions that are required by an IT Service. Each Application may be part of more than one IT Service. An Application runs on one or more Servers or Clients. See Application Management, Application Portfolio.
Application Management	The Process responsible for managing Applications throughout their Lifecycle.
Application Portfolio	A Database used to manage Applications throughout their Lifecycle. An Application Portfolio contains key Attributes of all Applications deployed in the Business. See Portfolio of Services.
Application Service Provider (ASP)	An External Service Provider that provides IT Services using Applications running at the Service Provider's premises. Users access the Applications by network connections to the Service Provider.
Asset	Something that contributes to an IT Service. Assets can include people, accommodation, Servers, software, data, networks, paper Records, telephones etc.Assets that need to be individually managed are also Configuration Items. For example the door lock on a computer room, or a consumable item would not be a Configuration Item. In the context of Financial Management, items below a specific value are not considered to be Assets as it would not be Cost Effective to track and manage them. See Asset Management, Depreciation, Risk Assessment.
Asset Management	(Financial Management) Asset Management is the Business Process responsible for tracking and reporting the value and ownership of financial Assets throughout their Lifecycle.
Asset Register	(Financial Management) A list of Assets, which includes their ownership and value. The Asset Register is maintained by Asset Management.
Attribute	(Configuration Management) A piece of information about a Configuration Item. Examples are name, location, Version number, and Cost. Attributes of CIs are recorded in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). See Relationship.
Audit	Formal inspection and verification to check whether a Standard or set of Guidelines is being followed, that Records are accurate, or that Efficiency and Effectiveness targets are being met. An Audit may be carried out by internal or external groups. See Certification.

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