Microsoft Frameworks Integrated Glossary

E

EA plan approved milestone
The second of four major milestones, representing the culmination of the planning phase, indicating the project team, customer, and key project stakeholders agree on what will be delivered and when.

EA release milestone
The last of four major milestones, representing the culmination of the stabilizing phase, at which point responsibility for the product shifts to the operations team.

EA scope complete milestone
The third of four major milestones, representing the culmination of the developing phase, indicating all features have been completed and the product is ready for external testing and stabilization.

EA vision approved milestone
The first of four major milestones, representing the culmination of the envisioning phase, indicating team and customer agreement on project direction.

effort-driven task
A task whose duration will decrease if more resources are assigned to it (for example, more people are working on it).

element
One of the parts, substances, or principles that make up a compound or complex whole.

end user
The person who actually uses an application, as opposed to the customer, who pays for it.

endgame
The process of driving the product to a releasable state.

enterprise
A large company or corporation.

enterprise architecture
A structure that describes:

• The organization's business activities.
• The applications and automation that support those business activities.
• The information necessary to carry out those business activities.
• The technologies and infrastructure used to deliver the applications and information.

The enterprise architecture is the blueprint for integrating these key business processes and technologies.

enterprise architecture planning
The process of working from a current state to an envisioned future state of the enterprise architecture. The process anticipates and plans for the obstacles that impede progress toward initiation of projects that will move the organization forward.

enterprise architecture process
A rational way to make decisions that lead to action rather than reporting. Once this rational process is in place, the team can focus on project selection and prioritization, and plan while building rather than plan first and then build.

enterprise strategy consultant
A Microsoft Consulting Services consultant assigned to strategic consultation duties for an enterprise-caliber client.

entity
A unit of application that represents information.

environment
A collection of hardware, software, network communications, and procedures that work together to provide a discrete type of computer service. There may be one or more environments on a physical platform-for example, test and production. An environment has unique features and characteristics that dictate how they are administered in similar, yet diverse, manners.

envisioning phase
The first of four distinct phases of the MSF process model. It is the period during which the team and the customer define the business requirements and the overall goals of the project. It culminates in the vision/scope approved milestone, indicating team and customer agreement on project direction.

error control
Correcting and/or minimizing the negative consequences of existing errors in the IT infrastructure to provide the agreed service level.

error handling
The design of a system to trap all types of processing errors, with proper notification of the error condition to the end user and system administrator, and ending in a proper way that allows the system to recover state and clean up invalid data.

error (known)
An undesired situation in the IT infrastructure in which a particular configuration item is identified as the cause of a (potential) decline in the agreed service level. In general, an error is the root cause of a problem.

error management
See error control.

ESC
See enterprise strategy consultant.

escalation
The process of informing increasing levels of management when a service level is not met. This is defined according to service level management rules established in the service level agreement.

execute strategy
One of the four strategies designed to extricate an organization from the IT abyss. Organizations eager to leave the IT abyss focus on execution, in both operations and new development to reach competitive status as soon as possible.

exposure
In the MOF and MSF risk models, the result of multiplying the probability of risk by the impact. For example, if the probability is 20 percent and the impact is 3, then the exposure is 0.6.

extend strategy
One of the four strategies designed to extricate an organization from the IT abyss. A strategy for organizations that aspire to lead and must focus their energies on identifying and testing new opportunities while continuing to drive performance.