CIAN Basic Certificate key terms

A way of delivering value to customers by helping them achieve outcomes they want, without the customer having to own the specific costs and risks involved in producing that value themselves.

The perceived benefit a customer receives from a service, judged by how well it supports the customer's objectives relative to the cost and effort they put in.

The result or end state that a customer wants to achieve through using a service, described in the customer's own terms rather than in technical or component language.

A tangible or intangible deliverable produced by carrying out an activity, which may or may not by itself help a customer reach a desired outcome.

The two elements that together make a service fit for purpose and fit for use: utility is what the service does to support outcomes, and warranty is how well it performs reliably, securely and consistently.

The interaction between a service provider and a service consumer, covering activities such as providing, consuming and managing services, along with the shared responsibilities each party accepts.

A role taken by an organization or person that receives services, encompassing the customer who agrees the value, the user who uses the service, and the sponsor who authorizes the budget.

An organization or part of one that delivers services to consumers, whether internal to the same enterprise or external, and is accountable for the value those services create.

The role that defines the requirements for a service and takes responsibility for the outcomes of service consumption, often holding authority over the budget that pays for it.

The role of the person who actually uses a service day to day, whose experience and feedback are important inputs for judging whether the service delivers value.

The role of the person or group that authorizes the budget for service consumption, and therefore influences which services are funded and how their value is judged.

A set of six interconnected activities an organization performs to respond to demand and create value: plan, improve, engage, design and transition, obtain and build, and deliver and support.

A series of steps an organization uses to create and deliver products and services to consumers, showing how activities, practices and resources combine to produce value.

The overall structure describing how all the components and activities of an organization work together to enable value creation, including guiding principles, governance, the value chain and practices.

A set of general recommendations that can guide an organization in any situation, whatever its objectives, goals, structure or culture, such as focusing on value and progressing iteratively.

A set of organizational resources designed for performing work or accomplishing an objective, combining people, processes, technology and information rather than being just a documented procedure.

A structured set of activities that transforms inputs into outputs, with defined roles, controls and measures, and which may be part of one or more practices.

The set of specialized organizational capabilities for enabling value to customers in the form of services, covering how services are planned, designed, delivered, supported and improved.

The application of service management principles and practices specifically to technology-based services, ensuring they meet agreed needs and are delivered and supported effectively.

A structured, published record of the services an organization offers, describing what each service does, who it is for, and how consumers can request or access it.

The complete set of services an organization manages, including those planned, those in development, those currently offered and those retired, used to steer investment decisions.

A documented agreement between a service provider and a consumer that identifies the services required and the expected level of service, expressed through measurable targets.

A measurable target for a specific aspect of service performance, such as availability or response time, which supports the commitments recorded in a service level agreement.

The practice of designing products and services that are fit for purpose and fit for use, covering requirements, architecture, interfaces, and the measurement and documentation needed to deliver them.

The practice of ensuring new or changed products and services are delivered successfully into live use, managing the risks of change and confirming that agreed requirements are met.

The practice of maximizing the number of successful service and product changes by assessing and authorizing them appropriately, scheduling them, and managing the risks they introduce.

The practice of making new and changed services and features available for use, coordinating the components and communications needed so that releases are delivered predictably.

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

The practice of minimizing the negative impact of incidents by restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible, often through workarounds rather than full root-cause fixes.

An incident with significant business impact that requires a coordinated, escalated response, often with dedicated leadership and prioritized communication to affected users and stakeholders.

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

A problem that has been analyzed and has a documented root cause and workaround, allowing support staff to resolve related incidents faster even before a permanent fix exists.

A request from a user that is a normal part of service delivery and is not an incident, such as asking for information, a standard change, or access to a service.

Any component that needs to be managed in order to deliver an IT service, recorded with its attributes and relationships in a configuration management system.

The practice of ensuring accurate and reliable information about the configuration of services and their components is available wherever and whenever it is needed.

The practice of aligning an organization's practices and services with changing business needs, identifying and acting on opportunities to improve efficiency, effectiveness and user experience.

A metric chosen to evaluate how successfully an organization, practice or service is achieving important objectives, ideally tied directly to critical success factors.

The few things that must go well for an organization, service or change to succeed, providing the focus against which key performance indicators are selected and judged.

A measurement of something, such as a count, a duration or a percentage, that becomes meaningful when interpreted against a target, trend or business context.

The practice of supporting good decision-making and continual improvement by producing and sharing accurate, timely information about the performance of services, practices and components.

The means by which an organization is directed and controlled, covering how objectives are set, how performance is monitored, and how risk and compliance are overseen at senior level.

A possible event that could cause harm or loss, or make it harder to achieve objectives, usually assessed in terms of its likelihood and its potential impact.

The state of meeting the requirements set by laws, regulations, contracts, standards or internal policies, together with the activities used to confirm and maintain that state.

A systematic, independent examination of records, processes or controls to check whether they meet defined criteria, producing findings that support governance and improvement.

The ability of an IT service or component to perform its required function when needed, usually expressed as a proportion of agreed time during which the service is usable.

The practice of ensuring services achieve agreed performance levels and satisfy current and future demand in a cost-effective way, through forecasting, monitoring and tuning.