Glossary

Information Technology- "Stands for "Information Technology," and is pronounced "I.T." It refers to anything related to computing technology, such as networking, hardware, software, the Internet, or the people that work with these technologies. Many companies now have IT departments for managing the computers, networks, and other technical areas of their businesses. IT jobs include computer programming, network administration, computer engineering, Web development, technical support, and many other related occupations. Since we live in the "information age," information technology has become a part of our everyday lives. That means the term "IT," already highly overused, is here to stay."

Hardware- "The term hardware refers to the physical components of your computer such as the system unit, mouse, keyboard, monitor etc."

Software- "The software is the collection of instructions which makes the computer work. For instance, when you type in words via the keyboard, the software is responsible for displaying the correct letters, in the correct place on the screen. Software is held either on your computer’s hard disk, CD-ROM, DVD or on a diskette (floppy disk) and is loaded (i.e. copied) from the disk into the computers RAM (Random Access Memory), as and when required."

Database- electronic list of information that can be sorted and/or searched with primary keys

IT Governance- "Following COBIT, the procedures and processes allowing the executive management of an organization to Direct IT for optimal advantage. Measure the value provided by IT. Manage IT-related risks. Continuously improve IT and its contribution to the organization" (IT Governance Institute, 2007).

IT Policy- "Administrative and operational procedures allowing and facilitating the disciplined and systematic implementation of sound and safe IT in support of organizational goals and business processes."

IT Professional- "Someone who has acquired the education, training and skills needed to perform duties of an IT job. The duties of an IT Professional can vary depending on the area of IT and the previous background experience/education. Typically an IT Professional has knowledge in more than more area of IT; However, they may specialize in one particular area and, thus, have a job title and duties centered around that specialization."

IT Strategy- "Plans to, over the long term, align the IT function with the mission, strategic plans, goals, needs, business model and values of the overall organization and support fulfilling efficiently and effectively its business processes."

Benchmarking- Comparing your performance with the best.

ITIL- "The ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) framework is designed to standardize the selection, planning, delivery and support of IT services to a business."

COBIT- An IT governance framework and supporting toolset that allows managers to bridge the gap between control requirements, technical issues and business risks. COBIT enables clear policy development and good practice for IT control throughout organizations. COBIT emphasizes regulatory compliance, helps organizations to increase the value attained from IT, enables alignment and simplifies implementation of the enterprises' IT governance and control framework.

Risk Management- is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks -wikipedia

Maturity Model- A framework for helping organizations improve their processes and systems

Business model- The management process for how a organization creates and measures value.

Business process- a set of task that produce a certain outcome.

Business value- The total worth of a business

Outsourcing- When a company reaches out to a third party for extra resources and goods in order to acomplish a goal. A SLA document is usually created when using a third party.

SLA- a part of a standardized service contract where a service is formally defined. Particular aspects of the service – scope, quality, responsibilities – are agreed between the service provider and the service user. -wikipedia