Microsoft Frameworks Integrated Glossary
March 4, 2004
The Microsoft Integrated Glossary contains terms for:
MSF - Microsoft Solutions Framework
MOF - Microsoft Operations Framework
MSPMO - Project Management Office
L - Mlag time The interval between the end of one project activity and the beginning of a dependent project activity.lead time The interval between the start of one project activity and the start of a dependent, yet concurrent activity. life cycle The phases an IT component goes through from the time it is conceived to the time it is retired from service. The life cycle represents an approval process for configuration items, problem reports, and change documents.line-of-business application A software application that is critical to the functioning of the enterprise.living documents Documents that are regularly updated and referred to.LOB See line-of-business application.logical design A major activity in the design process, in which the team deconstructs scenarios into basic elements and makes high-level decisions about the interaction and integration of IT components, prior to making specific technology decisions.logical relationship A dependency between two project activities, or between a project activity and a milestone. The four possible types of logical relationships are:
Finish-to-start. The initiation of work of the successor depends upon the completion of work of the predecessor.
Finish-to-finish. The completion of work of the successor cannot finish until the completion of work of the predecessor.
Start-to-start. The initiation of work of the successor depends upon the initiation of work of the predecessor.
Start-to-finish. The completion of the successor is dependent upon the initiation of the predecessor.
logical structure The comprehensive organization of elements of a solution or a system, without regard to how it is implemented.logical system hierarchy The organization, classification, and ranking of functions into varying levels of hierarchy or nesting.logistics management role One of six team roles in MSF. Logistics management is responsible for ensuring smooth deployment of released products and that the product is manageable and supportable in the future. It does this by representing the operations viewpoint within the team and providing liaison between the two groups; planning and managing product deployment; participating in design and focusing on manageability, supportability, and deployability; supporting the product through beta testing; and training operations and help desk personnel for product release.maintainability (internal focus) The ability of a component or an IT service, under stated conditions of use, to be retained in or restored to a state in which it can perform its required functions.maintenance The implementation of changes in the technical infrastructure that can result from such things as errors in the application software, necessary extension of the functionality, or technical developments in the area of hardware and basic software.master project plan A deliverable of the planning phase for a development project. It consolidates feature team and role plans. For MCS, the master project plan includes a budget plan, capacity plan, communications plan, deployment plan, pilot plan, purchasing and facilities plan, security plan, test plan, and training plan.master project plan drafted interim milestone The point during the planning phase at which the project team has assembled and baselined the master project plan.master project schedule A deliverable of the planning phase. It consolidates feature team and role schedules. For MCS, the master project schedule includes a development schedule, testing schedule, user education schedule, logistics management schedule, and product management schedule.master project schedule drafted interim milestone The point during the planning phase at which the project team has created and baselined the master project schedule.master risk assessment document A deliverable of the planning phase. It consolidates feature team and role risk assessments.materials resource Physical objects consumed during the course of a project. Generally not a large factor in IT projects.mean time between failure The average elapsed time between the full restoration of an IT service or supporting component and the next occurrence of a failure to the same service or component.mean time between system incidents The average elapsed time between the occurrence of one system failure and the next failure.mean time to failure The mean time expected to the first failure of a component. It is a statistical value and is meant to be the mean over a long period of time and large number of component units.mean time to repair The average elapsed time from the occurrence of an incident to resolution of the incident.Microsoft Operations Framework A framework developed by Microsoft for managing, running, and maintaining distributed computing systems. The manage, run, and maintain phase within Microsoft's IT-related frameworks. MOF provides comprehensive and prescriptive technical guidance for achieving mission-critical reliability, availability, and manageability solutions and services on Microsoft technologies. MOF comprises white papers, operations guides, assessment tools, operations kits, best practices, case studies, and support tools that address the people, process, and technologies for effectively managing production systems within today's complex distributed IT environment.Microsoft Solutions Framework A framework developed by Microsoft for planning, building, and managing distributed computing systems. MSF is a set of proven practices for organizing software development teams and project planning that can be applied to planning and implementing almost any form of computing technology. This guidance includes white papers, case studies, and courseware in the areas of enterprise architecture, application development, component design, and infrastructure deployment.milestone A point (there may be many of them) on the project schedule at which the project team assesses progress and corrects deviations from scope, specifications, or other issues. A project may have interim milestones for internal use only, as well as external or major milestones, typically at the end of major phases of work, that are associated with the completion of major deliverables.milestone, external A point that represents team and customer agreement to proceed and signals a transition from one phase into the next. In scheduling, these often appear as a task with a duration of zero work units. Major milestones are generally exposed on customer reports. See also milestone, major and milestone, interim.milestone, interim A point in time that signals a transition within a phase and helps to divide large projects into workable pieces. See also milestone, internal and milestone, major.milestone, internal A task with no duration (zero days) used to identify internal events, or checkpoints, within a schedule rationalized by team leads, such as team focus and motivation on key deliverables/events, a tool to manage and track progress, or synchronization points for internal/external dependencies. These milestones are usually not displayed on customer reports.milestone, major A point that represents team and customer agreement to proceed and signals a transition from one phase into the next. In scheduling, these often appear as a task with a duration of zero work units. Major milestones are generally exposed on customer reports. See also milestone, external and milestone, interim.mitigation, risk In risk management activities, an action that may be taken to reduce the probability or impact of a risk, transfer the risk to another party, or avoid the risk entirely. A given risk may have several, one, or no mitigation actions attached to it.
mode of operational failure In reference to the MOF risk model, the four main ways in which IT operations problems can cause failure:
Cost. The infrastructure can work properly, but at too high a cost, causing too little return on investment.
Agility. The infrastructure can work properly, but be unable to adapt to changing circumstances.
Performance. The infrastructure can fail to meet users' expectations, either because the expectations were set wrong, or because the infrastructure performs incorrectly.
Security. The infrastructure can fail the business by not providing enough protection for data and resources, or by enforcing so much security that legitimate users can't access data and resources.
model A representation of a complex, real-world phenomenon designed to help understand questions about that phenomenon.MOF See Microsoft Operations Framework.MOF service management functions Foundational-level best practices and prescriptive guidance that are the core of the MOF process model. Although no service management function (SMF) is exclusive to a given quadrant in MOF, each SMF has a home quadrant or primary planning and execution quadrant. The following are examples of SMFs:
Configuration management
Problem management
Service continuity management
Workforce management
MSF See Microsoft Solutions Framework.MSF enterprise architecture process model A process model based on MSF principles that establishes the enterprise architecture process as not just a plan, but also the implementation. Planning and implementation become simultaneous activities in this model.MSF process model A project life cycle model that establishes the order for all development cycle activities up to the initial release of an IT solution, or for the deployment of an existing solution into an enterprise.
MTTF See mean time to failure.MTTR See mean time to repair.
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