| TERM |
DEFINITION |
| Tactical |
The middle of three levels of Planning and delivery (Strategic, Tactical, Operational). Tactical Activities include the medium term Plans required to achieve specific Objectives, typically over a period of weeks to months. |
| Technical Observation Post (TOP) |
A technique used in Service Improvement and Problem investigation. Technical support staff meet to monitor the behaviour and Performance of an IT Service and make recommendations for improvement. |
| Technical Support |
The Process responsible for the technical aspects of supporting IT Services. Technical Support defines the Roles of Support Groups, as well as the tools, Processes and Procedures required. See Support Group. |
| Terms of Reference (TOR) |
A Document specifying the Requirements, Scope, Deliverables, Resources and schedule for a Project or Activity. See Statement of Requirements. |
| Test |
A Test is used to verify that a Configuration Item, IT Service, Process etc. meets its Specification, and is able to correctly deliver specific Functional or Service Level Requirements. There should be no negative effects on other Processes or IT Services. |
| Test Environment |
A controlled Environment used to Test Configuration Items, Builds, IT Services, Processes etc. |
| Third Party |
A person, group, or Business who is not part of the Service Level Agreement for an IT Service, but is required to ensure successful delivery of that IT Service. For example a software Supplier, a hardware maintenance company, or a facilities department. Requirements for Third Parties are typically specified in Underpinning Contracts or Operational Level Agreements. See Partnership. |
| Third-line Support |
(Service Desk) (Incident Management) (Problem Management) The third level in a hierarchy of Support Groups involved in the resolution of Incidents and investigation of Problems. Each level contains more specialist skills, or has more time or other resources. See Escalation. |
| Threshold |
The value of a Metric which should cause an Alert to be generated, or management action to be taken. For example "Priority1 Incident not solved within 4 hours", "more than 5 soft disk errors in an hour", or "more than 10 failed changes in a month". |
| Throughput |
(Capacity Management) A measure of the number of Transactions, or other Operations, performed in a fixed time. For example 5000 emails sent per hour, or 200 disk I/Os per second. |
| Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) |
(Financial Management) A methodology used to make investment decisions. TCO assesses the full Lifecycle Costs of a Configuration Item, not just the initial cost or purchase price. |
| Total Quality Management (TQM) |
A methodology for managing Continuous Improvement by using a Quality Management System. TQM establishes a Culture involving all people in the Organisation in a Process of continuous monitoring and improvement. |
| Transaction |
A discrete Function performed by an IT Service. For example transferring money from one bank account to another. A single Transaction may involve numerous additions, deletions and modifications of data. Either all of these complete successfully or none of them is carried out. |
| Trend Analysis |
Analysis of data to identify time related patterns. Trend Analysis is used in Problem Management to identify common Failures or fragile Configuration Items, and in Capacity Management as a Modelling tool to predict future behaviour. It is also used as a management tool for identifying deficiencies in IT Service Management Processes. |
| Tuning |
(Capacity Management) The Activity responsible for Planning changes to make the most efficient use of Resources. Tuning is part of Performance Management, which also includes Performance monitoring and implementation of the required Changes. |
