CAB   Change Advisory Board
       
CAB/EC   Change Advisory Board / Emergency Committee

Call   (Service Operation) A telephone call to the Service Desk from a User. A Call could result in an Incident or a Service Request being logged.
       
Call Center   (Service Operation) An Organization or Business Unit which handles large numbers of incoming and outgoing telephone calls.

See Service Desk.
       
Call Type   (Service Operation) A Category that is used to distinguish incoming requests to a Service Desk. Common Call Types are Incident, Service Request and Complaint.
       
Capability   (Service Strategy) The ability of an Organization, person, Process, Application, Configuration Item or IT Service to carry out an Activity. Capabilities are intangible Assets of an Organization

See Resource.
        
Capability Maturity Model (CMM)   (Continual Service Improvement) The Capability Maturity Model for Software (also known as the CMM and SW-CMM) is a model used to identify Best Practices to help increase Process Maturity. CMM was developed at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) of Carnegie Mellon University. In 2000, the SW-CMM was upgraded to CMMI® (Capability Maturity Model Integration). The SEI no longer maintains the SW-CMM model, its associated appraisal methods, or training materials.
       
Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)   (Continual Service Improvement) Capability Maturity Model® Integration (CMMI) is a process improvement approach developed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) of Carnegie Melon University. CMMI provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes. It can be used to guide process improvement across a project, a division, or an entire organization. CMMI helps integrate traditionally separate organizational functions, set process improvement goals and priorities, provide guidance for quality processes, and provide a point of reference for appraising current processes. See http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/ for more information.

See CMM, Continuous Improvement, Maturity.
        
Capacity   (Service Design) The maximum Throughput that a Configuration Item or IT Service can deliver whilst meeting agreed Service Level Targets. For some types of CI, Capacity may be the size or volume, for example a disk drive.
       
Capacity Management   (Service Design) The Process responsible for ensuring that the Capacity of IT Services and the IT Infrastructure is able to deliver agreed Service Level Targets in a Cost Effective and timely manner. Capacity Management considers all Resources required to deliver the IT Service, and plans for short, medium and long term Business Requirements.
       
Capacity Management Information System (CMIS)   (Service Design) A virtual repository of all Capacity Management data, usually stored in multiple physical locations.

See Service Knowledge Management System.
       

Capacity Plan   (Service Design) A Capacity Plan is used to manage the Resources required to deliver IT Services. The Plan contains scenarios for different predictions of Business demand, and cost options to deliver the agreed Service Level Targets.
       
Capacity Planning   (Service Design) The Activity within Capacity Management responsible for creating a Capacity Plan.
       
CAPEX   Capital Expenditure
       

Capital Expenditure (CAPEX)   (Service Strategy) The Cost of purchasing something that will become a financial Asset, for example computer equipment and buildings. The value of the Asset is Depreciated over multiple accounting periods.
       
Capital Item   (Service Strategy) An Asset that is of interest to Financial Management because it is above an agreed financial value.
       
Capitalization   (Service Strategy) Identifying major Cost as capital, even though no Asset is purchased. This is done to spread the impact of the Cost over multiple accounting periods. The most common example of this is software development, or purchase of a software license.
       
Category   A named group of things that have something in common. Categories are used to group similar things together. For example Cost Types are used to group similar types of Cost. Incident Categories are used to group similar types of Incident, CI Types are used to group similar types of Configuration Item.
       
Certification   Issuing a certificate to confirm Compliance to a Standard. Certification includes a formal Audit by an independent and Accredited body. The term Certification is also used to mean awarding a certificate to verify that a person has achieved a qualification.
       
CCM   Component Capacity Management
       
Change   (Service Transition) The addition, modification or removal of anything that could have an effect on IT Services. The Scope should include all IT Services, Configuration Items, Processes, Documentation etc.
       
CFIA   Component Failure Impact Analysis
       
Change Advisory Board (CAB)   (Service Transition) A group of people that advises the Change Manager in the Assessment, prioritization and scheduling of Changes. This board is usually made up of representatives from all areas within the IT Service Provider, the Business, and Third Parties such as Suppliers.
       
Change Case   (Service Operation) A technique used to predict the impact of proposed Changes. Change Cases use specific scenarios to clarify the scope of proposed Changes and to help with Cost Benefit Analysis.

Change History   (Service Transition) Information about all changes made to a Configuration Item during its life. Change History consists of all those Change Records that apply to the CI.
       
Change Management   (Service Transition) The Process responsible for controlling the Lifecycle of all Changes. The primary objective of Change Management is to enable beneficial Changes to be made, with minimum disruption to IT Services.
       

Change Model   (Service Transition) A repeatable way of dealing with a particular Category of Change. A Change Model defines specific pre-defined steps that will be followed for a Change of this Category. Change Models may be very simple, with no requirement for approval (e.g. Password Reset) or may be very complex with many steps that require approval (e.g. major software Release).

See Standard Change, Change Advisory Board.
       
Change Record   (Service Transition) A Record containing the details of a Change. Each Change Record documents the Lifecycle of a single Change. A Change Record is created for every Request for Change that is received, even those that are subsequently rejected. Change Records should reference the Configuration Items that are affected by the Change. Change Records are stored in the Configuration Management System.
       
Change Request   Synonym for Request for Change.
       
Change Schedule   (Service Transition) A Document that lists all approved Changes and their planned implementation dates. A Change Schedule is sometimes called a Forward Schedule of Change, even though it also contains information about Changes that have already been implemented.
       
Change Window   (Service Transition) A regular, agreed time when Changes or Releases may be implemented with minimal impact on Services. Change Windows are usually documented in SLAs.
       
Charging   (Service Strategy) Requiring payment for IT Services. Charging for IT Services is optional, and many Organizations. choose to treat their IT Service Provider as a Cost Center.
       
Chronological Analysis   (Service Operation) A technique used to help identify possible causes of Problems. All available data about the Problem is collected and sorted by date and time to provide a detailed timeline. This can make it possible to identify which Events may have been triggered by others.
       
CI   Configuration Item 
       
CI Type   (Service Transition) A Category that is used to Classify CIs. The CI Type identifies the required Attributes and Relationships for a Configuration Record. Common CI Types include: hardware, Document, User etc.
       
Classification   The act of assigning a Category to something. Classification is used to ensure consistent management and reporting. CIs, Incidents, Problems, Changes etc. are usually classified.
       
Client   A generic term that means a Customer, the Business or a Business Customer. For example Client Manager may be used as a synonym for Account Manager.
The term client is also used to mean:

A computer that is used directly by a User, for example a PC, Handheld Computer, or Workstation.

The part of a Client-Server Application that the User directly interfaces with. For example an email Client.

Closed   (Service Operation) The final Status in the Lifecycle of an Incident, Problem, Change etc. When the Status is Closed, no further action is taken.
       
Closure   (Service Operation) The act of changing the Status of an Incident, Problem, Change etc. to Closed.
       
CMDB   Configuration Management Database
       
CMIS   Capacity Management Information System
       
CMM   Capability Maturity Model
       
CMMI   Capability Maturity Model Integration
       
CMS   Configuration Management System
       
COBIT   (Continual Service Improvement) Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) provides guidance and Best Practice for the management of IT Processes. COBIT is published by the IT Governance Institute. See http://www.isaca.org/ for more information.
       
Code of Practice   A Guideline published by a public body or a Standards Organization, such as ISO or BSI. Many Standards consist of a Code of Practice and a Specification. The Code of Practice describes recommended Best Practice.
       
Cold Standby   Synonym for Gradual Recovery.
       
Commercial off the Shelf (COTS)   (Service Design) Application software or Middleware that can be purchased from a Third Party.
       
Compliance   Ensuring that a Standard or set of Guidelines is followed, or that proper, consistent accounting or other practices are being employed.
       
Component   A general term that is used to mean one part of something more complex. For example, a computer System may be a component of an IT Service, an Application may be a Component of a Release Unit. Components that need to be managed should be Configuration Items.
       
Component Capacity Management (CCM)   (Service Design) (Continual Service Improvement) The Process responsible for understanding the Capacity, Utilization, and Performance of Configuration Items. Data is collected, recorded and analyzed for use in the Capacity Plan.

See Service Capacity Management.

Component CI   (Service Transition) A Configuration Item that is part of an Assembly. For example, a CPU or Memory CI may be part of a Server CI.
       
Component Failure Impact Analysis (CFIA)   (Service Design) A technique that helps to identify the impact of CI failure on IT Services. A matrix is created with IT Services on one edge and CIs on the other. This enables the identification of critical CIs (that could cause the failure of multiple IT Services) and of fragile IT Services (that have multiple Single Points of Failure).
       
Computer Telephony Integration (CTI)   (Service Operation) CTI is a general term covering any kind of integration between computers and telephone Systems. It is most commonly used to refer to Systems where an Application displays detailed screens relating to incoming or outgoing telephone calls.

See Automatic Call Distribution, Interactive Voice Response.