ITIL 4 MEM flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Service value system

The ITIL 4 framework connecting guiding principles, governance, the service value chain, practices, and continual improvement so that demand is transformed into value for stakeholders.

Four dimensions

Organizations and people; information and technology; partners and suppliers; value streams and processes. Every service must be considered across all four dimensions.

Utility and warranty

Utility is the functionality a service offers (fit for purpose); warranty is assurance of fitness for use in terms of availability, capacity, security, and continuity.

Guiding principles

Seven recommendations that guide decisions in all circumstances: focus on value, start where you are, progress iteratively, collaborate, think holistically, keep it simple, optimize and automate.

Output vs outcome

An output is a tangible or intangible deliverable produced by an activity; an outcome is the result or change in state that the output enables for a stakeholder.

Service value chain activities

Six activities: plan, improve, engage, design and transition, obtain/build, and deliver and support. They are combined in different sequences to form value streams.

Incident definition

An unplanned interruption to a service or a reduction in the quality of a service. Incidents are managed to restore service quickly, not to find root cause.

Problem definition

A cause, or potential cause, of one or more incidents. Problem management identifies causes and works arounds to reduce incident likelihood and impact.

Change enablement

The practice of ensuring risks are properly assessed, authorizing changes to proceed, and managing the change schedule. Change models define normal, pre-approved, and emergency paths.

Deployment vs release

Deployment moves components into a live environment; a release makes functionality available to users. They can be separated using feature toggles or phased rollout.

SLA, OLA, underpinning contract

An SLA is agreed with a customer; an OLA is an internal agreement between teams supporting the SLA; an underpinning contract is with an external supplier supporting the SLA.

Value stream mapping

A technique that visualizes the sequence of activities, handoffs, and wait times that deliver a product or service, exposing constraints and non-value-adding steps.

WIP limits

A Kanban constraint on the amount of work in progress at a stage. Lower WIP reduces cycle time and context switching and exposes bottlenecks in the workflow.

Shift left

Moving quality, testing, and control activities earlier in the value stream so defects are found sooner. It requires shared standards and tooling across teams.

Service desk models

Local, centralized, virtual, and follow-the-sun. Selection depends on coverage hours, language and cultural needs, cost, and required resolution capability.

Customer journey stages

Explore, engage, offer, agree, and onboard. After onboarding, the provider and consumer co-create value and track realized outcomes.

Stakeholder mapping

Plotting stakeholders by power and interest (or influence and impact) to choose engagement approaches; high-power, high-interest stakeholders need active co-creation.

Demand shaping

Influencing the type, volume, and timing of demand through pricing, incentives, scheduling, and service differentiation, so capacity and demand are better matched.

Net Promoter Score

Percentage of promoters (score 9-10) minus percentage of detractors (score 0-6) on a 0-10 likelihood-to-recommend question. Passives score 7-8.

Service relationship types

Basic (single transaction), cooperative (informal agreement, some shared goals), and partnership (shared goals, risk, and value with joint decision-making).

Customer journey mapping

Recording touchpoints, customer actions, emotions, and pain points across the journey to redesign the experience rather than document internal process.

High-velocity dimensions

Velocity (speed of delivery), resilience (ability to absorb change), agility (ability to change direction), and value (outcomes for stakeholders).

Three ways of DevOps

Flow (accelerate delivery through small batches), feedback (amplify and shorten feedback loops), and continual learning and experimentation with shared knowledge.

CI/CD pipeline

Continuous integration merges and tests code frequently; continuous delivery keeps software releasable. Together they reduce batch size and lead time.

Blameless post-incident review

A review of an incident focused on system conditions and contributing factors, not individual fault, to produce learning and improved resilience.

Chaos engineering

Deliberately injecting faults into a system in controlled conditions to validate resilience and reveal weaknesses before they cause real outages.

Technical debt

A shortcut or deferred work that increases future cost or risk. It should be made visible and managed as backlog items rather than hidden.

Governance

The means by which an organization is directed and controlled. It evaluates, directs, and monitors; management plans and executes within that direction.

Continual improvement model

Seven steps: what is the vision; where are we now; where do we want to be; how do we get there; take action; did we get there; keep the momentum going.

Risk treatment options

Avoid, reduce, transfer, or accept. The choice depends on risk appetite, which defines how much risk the organization is willing to accept.

Goodhart's law

When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. Metrics must be reviewed for gaming and unintended behavior.

Organizational change management

Structured activities to move people to adopt a change: communicate the why, involve stakeholders, train, and address resistance. Adoption, not announcement, defines success.

Improvement register

A record of improvement opportunities with owners, priority, and status, used to prioritize and track continual improvement work through to completion.