Glossary of IT Infrastructure Library Terms (ITIL®)
March 3, 2004
Glossary of Terms for the IT Infrastructure Library
Aabsorbed overhead Overhead which, by means of absorption rates, is included in
costs of specific products or saleable services, in a given
period of time. Under- or over-absorbed overhead: the
difference between overhead cost incurred and overhead cost
absorbed: it may be split into its two constituent parts for
control purposes.
absorption costing A principle whereby fixed as well as variable costs are allotted to cost units and total overheads are absorbed according to
activity level. The term may be applied where production costs
only, or costs of all functions are so allotted.
action lists Defined actions, allocated to recovery teams and individuals,
within a phase of a plan. These are supported by reference data.
alert Warning that an incident has occurred.
alert phase The first phase of a Business Continuity Plan in which initial emergency procedures and damage assessments are
activated.
allocated cost A cost that can be directly identified with a business unit.application portfolio An information system containing key attributes of applications deployed in a company. Application portfolios are used as tools
to manage the business value of an application throughout its lifecycle.
apportioned cost A cost that is shared by a number of business units (an indirect cost). This cost must be shared out between these units on an
equitable basis.asset Component of a business process. Assets can include people, accommodation, computer systems, networks, paper records,
fax machines, etc.asynchronous/synchronous In a communications sense, the ability to transmit each character as a self-contained unit of information, without additional timing information. This method of transmitting data is sometimes called start/stop. Synchronous working involves the use of timing information to allow transmission of data,
which is normally done in blocks. Synchronous transmission is usually more efficient than the asynchronous method.
availability Ability of a component or service to perform its required
function at a stated instant or over a stated period of time. It is usually expressed as the availability ratio, i.e., the proportion of time that the service is actually available for use by the customers within the agreed service hours.
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