B & IT Terminology


	*End User*	A person who uses the IT Service on a day-to-day basis.
	*Information Technologies Help Desk*	A point of contact for End-Users to log Incidents.
	*Case*	An Incident or Request which was reported by an End-User to the Help Desk.
	*Incident*	An unplanned interruption to an IT Service or a reduction in the Quality of an IT Service.
	*Service Request*	A request from a User for information, or for a Standard Change or for Access to an IT Service.
	*Major Incident*	The highest Category of Impact for an Incident. A Major Incident results in significant disruption to the Business.
	*Priority*	A Category used to identify the relative importance of an Incident, Problem or Change. Priority is based on Impact and Urgency.
	*Shift*	A group or team of people who carry out a specific Role for a fixed period of time.
	*First-line Technical Support*	The first level in a hierarchy of Support Groups involved in the resolution of Incidents.
	*Second-line Technical Support*	The second 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.
	*Technical Escalation*	Transferring an Incident, Problem or Change to a technical team with a higher level of expertise to assist in an Escalation
	*Management / Hierarchical Escalation*	Informing or involving more senior levels of management to assist in an Escalation.
	*Root Cause*	The underlying or original cause of an Incident or Problem.
	*Critical Success Factor - CSF*	Something that must happen if a Process, Project, Plan, or IT Service is to succeed.
	*Key Performance Indicator - KPI*	A Metric that is used to help manage a Process, IT Service or Activity, to ensure that Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Cost Effectiveness are all managed.
	*Process*	A structured set of Activities designed to accomplish a specific Objective. A Process takes one or more defined inputs and turns them into defined outputs.
	*Policy*	Formally documented management expectations and intentions.
	*Procedure*	A Document containing steps that specify how to achieve an Activity.