i-doit & ITSM FAQ

We have collected and explaid the most important tecnical terms in our ITSM & i-doit FAQ.

i-doit answers

What are interfaces?

Interfaces are integrations of i-doit with other open source applications. The interfaces allow the exchange of data between i-doit and other software products. Depending on the type of software, this can be done uni or bi-directional. There are interfaces for Nagios, Bestpractical Request Tracker, OCS Inventory, hInventory and Syslog servers. Several other interfaces are currently being planned

What are modules?

i-doit is modular and allows the installation of additional add-ons that extend the functionality of specific topics. Most modules are supplied as standard with basic functionality included and installed.

What are clients?

Clients are content separate documentation systems, which are made available from the same i-doit server instance. I-doit is installed only once, but can provide documentation for different organizations or departments. The data is stored separately on different databases, thus allowing no cross-access.

What is an object?

Objects are configuration items (CIs). An object is any single documented logical or physical unit in i-doit, e.g. a server, a building, an item of software or a cable.

What is an object type?

Object types are predefined collections of categories, defining the characteristics of certain kinds of objects. Object types are, for example, Clients or Operating systems. The pre-defined object types in i-doit can of course be adapted or hidden and new object types can be installed by the user. Object types are synonymous with the term classes.

What is a category?

Categories are collections of attributes. Attributes are the properties of an object, for example, the name, location and technical characteristics such as the IP address. Categories are predefined collections of thematically-related attributes. Through this combination, users can navigate more easily. It is possible both to define their own categories with their own attributes and to hide existing categories.

What is SCRUM?

Scrum (English "crowd") is a process model of agile software development that meets the following conditions:
1. Individuals and interactions are more important than processes and tools.
2. Working software interactions are more important than comprehensive documentation.
3. Ongoing collaboration interactions with the customer are more important than contract negotiation.
4. Courage and openness to change is preferable to a fixed plan.

ITSM answers

What is ITSM?

IT Service Management is the totality of measures and methods that are necessary to achieve the best possible support of business processes through the organisation of IT. In this respect, ITSM describes the extent of the change in information technology for the customer and service orientation. The warranty and monitoring of business services is important, as is the visibility of the IT services to the customer. In this sense, the efficiency, quality and profitability of each IT organization is continuously improved.

What is ITIL?

The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a collection of Best Practices and Good Practices in a series of publications that describe the possible implementation of IT service management (ITSM) and is now internationally recognized as the de facto standard for this. Processes, organizational structure and the tools are described, through the control and definition of the work necessary for the operation of an IT infrastructure. The ITIL is based on the IT operations which bring the most economical value to the customer. At the same time, the planning, delivery, support and efficiency optimization of IT services are considered, in terms of their use as a relevant factor in achieving the business objectives of a company.

What is a CMDB (Configuration Management Database)?

After the IT Infrastructure Library [ITIL], is the CMDB which is a databaseused to access and control the configuration items. In IT management, every IT resource is called a Configuration Item (CI). The term configuration is somewhat misleading. In this context, it refers to the existence and mutual dependencies of managed objects. A CMDB serves more than just a pure inventory. The aim is to support all the modules of the Service Support and Service Delivery related to Configuration Items (CIs). This might include the organizational and commercial information of a CI, for example, the user of the CI and their departments - but also cost and time values as well as the gathering of information concerning the product life cycle of a CIs.

What is CoBIT?

CobiT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology) is the internationally recognized framework for IT governance and it divides the tasks of the IT processes and control objectives. CobiT is not defined here primarily for the implementation of requirements as a priority, but instead on what is to be implemented.

What is Asset Management?

An asset management system collects current information on the basis of data from the hardware and software components of an IT organization. Asset Management should continue to provide the appropriate tools for analysis and summary of the collected data.

What is an SLA (Service Level Agreement)?

The term "Service-level agreement" (SLA) means a contract or the interface between the client and service provider for recurring services. The aim is to make the control options transparent for the client, by describing guaranteed performance characteristics in detail, such as scope, reaction time and speed of processing. An important element here is the quality of service (service level), which describes the agreed service quality. A characteristic of an SLA, is that the service provider offers every relevant service parameter, unsolicited in different levels (Levels), from which the client can use the option which is most economically valuable. With a traditional service contract, service providers do not offer these contract options.

What is Change Management?

Change management (from ITIL) is defined in the Service Transition Book as a process discipline, as the business change requirements for the IT services landscape. The aim of Change Management through ITIL, is to control all adjustments made to the IT infrastructure in an efficient way to minimize risks.

A high proportion of high-cost IT service disruptions can often be traced back to poorly coordinated and inadequately controlled changes in the IT services landscape. These problems increase with huge quantity of interactive IT processes, and can lead to enormous costs. This justifies investment in processes, which examine the need for a change and the possible negative effects, thus reducing problems to an acceptable minimum through appropriate measures. It is the task of change management to ensure that there are standardized methods and procedures to carry out changes and that these are used efficiently.

What is Release Management?

Release Management is a process originally derived from the experience of product management for the software industry, which ensured the bundling of configuration changes to a release or version package and their proper integration into the infrastructure.

Release management is the planning and execution of the release of the idea or the first requirements to the end user. It interacts between Change and Configuration Management. It is part of ITSM and the ITIL Service Management. The Release Management has the task of ensuring that an expected requirement can be implemented successfully in a process change in the required time and with an acceptable level of risk. Making adjustments to the business due to the constantly changing external demands, requires constant reconfiguration of the systems that control the underlying processes. At the same time, in a complex environment of evolutionary processes with continuous re-configuration of systems, the risks of disrupting vital business processes through misconfiguration, the influence on unforeseen circumstances or coming to a complete standstill are increased. A company can justify the use of Release Management as it can reduce the sometimes considerable cost of any process disturbance caused by configuration changes. Release Management has the responsibility to reduce the risks of interruption to business processes for configuration changes to existing systems, which are caused by poorly planned or inadequately tested system configurations.

What is Incident Management?

Incident Management typically includes the entire process of organizational and technical response to detected or suspected security incidents or disturbances in IT fields as well as the preparatory activities and processes. The nature of possible incidents ranges from technical problems and vulnerabilities to specific attacks on the IT infrastructure. IT Incident Management in the strictest sense must be organisational as well take into account legal and technical detail. The aim of the Incident Management process is to provide the fastest possible restoration of service performance (also with workarounds). In an incident / disturbance is defined in the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) as: "An event that is not standard in the operating of a service and the actual or potential disruption of services causes a reduction of the appointed quality."

What a NMS (Network Management System)?

An NMS is a combination of software and hardware that is used to manage a network. NMS tends to use different protocols (e.g. SNMP) to automatically monitor the condition and take an inventory of network devices. In case of problems or defined situations, an automatic alarm is made to the administrator.

What is the BSI Baseline Protection Catalogue?

The IT Baseline Protection Manual (pre-2005: IT baseline protection manual) is a collection of documents of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), which is used to detect and combat security-related vulnerabilities in the IT environment (IT network). The collection consists of inductions and catalogues over 4000 pages and is the basis for certification of IT baseline protection of a company.

What is ISO 27001?

The international standard ISO / IEC 27 001 specifies the requirements for preparation, implementation, operation, monitoring, maintenance and improvement of a documented Information Security Management System, taking into account the risks within the organization. Here, all types of organizations (e.g. commercial enterprises, government organizations, non-profit organizations) are considered.

What are IT Services?

IT Service is a service that is provided for one or more customers of an IT service provider. An IT Service is based on the use of information technology supporting the business processes of customers. An IT Service is a combination of people, processes and technologies and should be defined by a service level agreement (SLA). An IT Service is offered as a self-contained unit, alike to a product.

IT Services can be provided by external providers, as well as by corporate departments. This is known as Outsourcing. The advantage of an external provider to the company is that highly qualified expertise can be provided on demand, and without this, the company has to acquire the appropriate knowledge itself.

What is a CI (Configuration Item)?

See What is an object?

What is a class?

See What is an object type?

What is an attribute?

See What is a category?