ITIL 4 CDS key terms

A set of interconnected components-guiding principles, governance, service value chain, practices, and continual improvement-that together enable an organisation to turn demand into value for stakeholders.

The core set of six activities-plan, improve, engage, design and transition, obtain/build, and deliver and support-that an organisation combines in different ways to create value.

A series of steps an organisation uses to create and deliver products and services to a consumer, showing how work flows from demand to value.

A means of enabling value co-creation by facilitating outcomes that customers want to achieve, without the customer having to manage specific costs and risks.

A configuration of an organisation's resources designed to offer value for a consumer, including tangible goods, services, or a combination of both.

A formal description of one or more services, designed to address the needs of a target consumer group, and may include goods, access to resources, and service actions.

The functionality offered by a product or service to meet a particular need; often summarised as what the service does and whether it is fit for purpose.

The assurance that a product or service will meet agreed requirements, often described in terms of availability, capacity, continuity, and security-fit for use.

The interaction between a service provider and a service consumer, including service provision, service consumption, and service relationship management, across the lifecycle of service delivery.

The practice of restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible after an incident, minimising negative impact on business operations and ensuring agreed service levels are met.

The practice of reducing the likelihood and impact of incidents by identifying actual and potential causes of incidents and managing workarounds and known errors.

The practice of supporting the agreed quality of a service by handling predefined, user-initiated requests in an effective and user-friendly way.

The entry point and single point of contact for the service provider with all of its users, handling incidents, service requests, and communication about service status.

The practice of ensuring that risks are properly assessed, authorising changes to proceed, and managing the change schedule to maximise successful service changes.

The practice of making new and changed services and features available for use, ensuring that releases are planned, scheduled, and controlled to meet stakeholder expectations.

The practice of moving new or changed hardware, software, documentation, processes, or other components to live environments, making them available for use.

The practice of ensuring that accurate and reliable information about the configuration of services and the configuration items that support them is available when and where needed.

The practice of systematically observing services and service components, recording and reporting selected changes of state identified as events, and responding appropriately.

The practice of ensuring that a service provider and its services continue to operate at an agreed level after a disruptive incident, by planning resilience and recovery capabilities.

The practice of ensuring that new or changed products and services meet defined requirements, by planning and executing validation and testing activities before release.

The practice of maintaining and improving the effective, efficient, and convenient use of information and knowledge across the organisation and its service relationships.

The practice of ensuring that the organisation's suppliers and their performance are managed appropriately to support the seamless provision of quality products and services.

The practice of aligning an organisation's practices and services with changing business needs through the ongoing identification and improvement of services, components, and practices.

A technique for visualising the steps, delays, and information flows required to deliver a product or service, used to identify waste and improve flow.

The amount of work that has started but is not yet completed; limiting it helps reduce bottlenecks, improve flow, and shorten delivery times.

The total elapsed time from when work on an item starts to when it is completed, used to measure how quickly a team or process delivers.

The total elapsed time from when a request or item is first raised to when it is delivered to the customer or user.

The number of work items completed by a system or team in a given period, used to understand delivery capacity and performance.

A point in a value stream where capacity is limited relative to demand, causing work to queue and slowing the overall flow of value.

A visual method for managing work flow that uses a board and cards to show work items, limit work in progress, and make bottlenecks visible.

Moving work such as testing, security checks, or support activities earlier in the value stream, closer to design and development, so issues are found and fixed sooner.

A small group of people with complementary skills who work together toward shared goals, with mutual accountability for the outcomes they deliver.

A climate in which people feel safe to speak up, ask questions, admit mistakes, and take interpersonal risks without fear of punishment or humiliation.

The shared values, beliefs, norms, and behaviours that shape how people in an organisation interact, make decisions, and respond to change.

A group whose members bring different skills, disciplines, or perspectives, enabling it to handle a broad range of work without depending on other teams.

A person with deep expertise in one area and broader, useful knowledge across related disciplines, enabling collaboration and flexibility within teams.

An orientation in which employees focus on understanding and meeting customer needs, and on how their work contributes to value for service consumers.

The ability of an organisation, person, or team to do something useful, combining resources, competence, and practices to achieve intended outcomes.

A set of organisational resources designed for performing work or accomplishing an objective, including people, processes, technology, and information.

The skills, knowledge, and behaviours a person or team needs to perform a task or role effectively and achieve the desired outcome.