IT Jargon Explained

An attack surface is the totality of potential entry points that can be used to access an IT environment, typically for the purpose of launching a cyberattack.

Attack surface management (ASM) takes an attacker’s perspective and helps security teams gain visibility into assets over which IT lacks governance and control.

The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is a main component of the Service Asset and Configuration Management Process.

Change Management is powerful and far-reaching, in that it supports every stage of the ITIL life cycle.

Digital employee experience, or DEX, refers to the way employees interact with their organization’s digital environment.

Enterprise Service Management (ESM) is the ability to manage processes across numerous lines of business from a single application that has the flexibility to handle it all.

Exposure management is the practice of proactively identifying, assessing and mitigating exposures to maintain them at an acceptable risk level.

A strong IT help desk provides critical support for your organization.

Identity and Access Management (IAM) is the central administration of identities and access rights in a company.

Incident Management is the process that IT organizations follow to manage the lifecycle of incidents that are reported.

An ISMS is a set of controls that an organization implements to protect its own informational assets and other information assets for which it is responsible.

iPaaS is a cloud-based service that provides a set of tools and features that make it easy to connect applications and automate workflows.

An IT service catalog is an organized, searchable, digital presentation of the services that your company provides.

IT Asset Management (ITAM) is a system of business practices that seeks to maximize the value of IT equipment within an organization.

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of IT best practices designed to assist businesses in aligning their IT services with customer and business needs.

Everything you need to know about ITIL 4, from what's changed to how to get started using it.

IT Operations Management (ITOM) is the process of managing the operations of an IT infrastructure.

IT Service Management (ITSM) is the practice of designing, implementing, delivering, and supporting IT services offered to customers in a business environment.

The goal of the Knowledge Management process is to gather, analyze, store and share organizational knowledge.

Modern device management allows you to remotely monitor, provision, patch and secure your network endpoints to improve user experience, ensure productivity and protect your organization.

Problem Management is an IT service management process tasked with managing the life cycle of underlying "Problems."

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is a strategic process that organizations use to manage, prioritize, and execute projects.

Secure by design is a development approach where security considerations are integrated into the entire software lifecycle, aiming to minimize vulnerabilities from the outset.

Shift left is a practice — better yet, a strategy — that makes problem resolution and other key activities less costly and accelerates issue resolution.

A service desk is a centralized support center that provides help and assistance to users in an organization for IT-related products or services.