Help desk software glossary

Asset

Any resource or capability. A service provider's assets include anything that can contribute to the delivery of a service. Assets can be one of the following types: management, organization, processes, knowledge, people, information, applications, infrastructure, or financial capital.

Asset management

A generic activity or process responsible for tracking and reporting the value and ownership of assets throughout their life cycle.

Change

The addition, modification, or removal of anything that could affect IT services. The scope includes changes to all architectures, processes, tools, metrics, and documentation, as well as changes to IT services and other configuration items.

Change management

Transitioning something newly developed (i.e., an update to an existing production environment or something entirely new) from the service design phase into service operation (also known as business as usual), all while aiming to ensure that standardized methods and procedures are used for efficient handling of all changes.

Cloud

Refers to accessing computer, IT, and software applications through a network connection, often by accessing data centers using wide area networking (WAN) or internet connectivity.

Customer relationship management (CRM)

The practices, strategies, and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer life cycle, with the goal of improving business relationships with customers, assisting in customer retention, and driving sales growth.

Incident management

The process responsible for managing the life cycle of all incidents. Incident management ensures that normal service operation is restored as quickly as possible and that business impact is minimized.

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An exclusive package of a feature checklist and a request for proposal (RFP) template

IT service management (ITSM)

The implementation and management of quality IT services that meet the needs of a business. IT service management is performed by IT service providers through an appropriate mix of people, processes, and information technology.

Knowledge base

A logical database containing information used by the service knowledge management system.

KPI

A metric that is used to help manage an IT service, process, plan, project, or other activity. KPIs are used to measure the achievement of critical success factors. Many metrics may be measured, but only the most important of these are defined as KPIs and used to actively manage and report on processes, IT services, or activities. Help desks should select KPIs to ensure that efficiency, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness are all managed.

On-premises

Software that is installed and runs on computers within the premises (in the building) of the person or organization using the software, rather than at a remote facility such as a server farm or cloud.

Portal

Generally synonymous with a gateway, a portal is a website that is or proposes to be a major starting site for users when they get connected to the web, or that users tend to visit as an anchor site.

Problem

It is the cause of one or more incidents. Problem records are created for repetitive incidents to investigate the root-cause. The problem management process aims to troubleshoot, document, and find permanent resolution for incidents.

Problem management

The process responsible for managing the life cycle of all problems. Problem management proactively prevents incidents from happening and minimizes the impact of incidents that cannot be prevented.

ROI

A measurement of the expected benefit of an investment. In the simplest sense, it is the net profit of an investment divided by the net worth of the invested assets.

SaaS

A software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. It is sometimes referred to as "on-demand software."

Self-service portal

A self-service portal is a website or app that enables users—whether they are customers, employees, suppliers, or partners—to perform high-value transactions, from simple account updates to paying bills, managing support tickets, and more.

Service catalog

A database or structured document with information about all live IT services, including those available for deployment. A service catalog is part of a service portfolio, and it contains information about two types of IT services: customer-facing services that are visible to the business, and supporting services the service provider requires to deliver customer-facing services.

SLA

An official commitment that prevails between a service provider and a client. When defining SLAs, the service provider and service user agree on particular aspects of the service, including quality, availability, and responsibilities.