Information Services Knowledge Base

P

package release

A set of software and/or hardware release units that are tested and introduced into the live environment together.

page fault

A program interruption that occurs when a page that is marked ‘not in real memory’ is referred to by an active page.

paging

The I/O necessary to read and write to and from the paging disks: real (not virtual) memory is needed to process data. With insufficient real memory, the operating system writes old pages to disk, and reads new pages from disk, so that the required data and instructions are in real memory.

pain factor

Sometimes referred to as 'Pain Value', the impact of a particular type of Incident or Problem (usually recurring) together with how frequently it occurs and what it would cost to fix it as opposed to living with it.

pareto principle / analysis

The concept that, in many situations, some 80% of the outputs will be generated by only 20% of the inputs.  For example, 20% of users will make 80% of the calls to a Service Desk. This principle can be applied in many situations. Problem Management, for example, to identify the areas of an organisation or process that will deliver maximum benefit when improved or when faults or weaknesses are addressed.

partial release

See: Delta Release.

partnership

A working relationship between two or more parties creating added value for the Customer and, often, sharing risks and profits. Partners can include suppliers, distributors, joint ventures, and alliances.  However, external suppliers may not always be recognised as formal partners.

partnership development

An organisation works more effectively when it has mutually beneficial relationships, built on trust, sharing of knowledge and integration, with its partners.

people

All of the individuals employed by the organisation including full time, part time, temporary and contract employees.  The term may also include Customers, Users and contractors.

people development and involvement

The full potential of an organisation's people is best released through shared values and a culture of trust and empowerment, which encourages the involvement of everyone.

percentage utilisation

The amount of time that a hardware device is busy over a given period of time. For example, if the CPU is busy for 1800 seconds in a one-hour period, its utilisation is said to be 50%.

perception

The opinion of an individual or group of people.

performance

A measure of attainment achieved by an individual, team, organisation or process.

performance criteria

The expected levels of achievement which are set within the SLA against specific Key Performance Indicators.

performance management

The task of ensuring that technical resources in the infrastructure provide the best possible value for money and that they are behaving in the manner assumed or described in technical documentation.

personal computer (PC)

A small, relatively inexpensive computer designed for an individual User, although PCs are commonly linked together to form a network. In terms of power, there is great variety. At the high end, there is little distinction between PCs, Laptops and Workstations.

performance test

The process of testing to determine the performance of a software product

phantom line error

A communications error reported by a computer system that is not detected by network monitoring equipment. It is often caused by changes to the circuits and network equipment (e.g., re-routeing circuits at the physical level on a backbone network) while data communications is in progress.

physical I/O

A read or write request from a program has necessitated a physical read or write operation on an I/O device.

post implementation review (PIR)

One or more reviews held after the implementation of a Change to determine initially, if the Change has been implemented successfully and subsequently, if the expected benefits have been obtained.

pricing

Establishing the policy and setting agreed rates for charging Customers.

prime cost

The total cost of direct materials, direct labour and direct expenses. The term prime cost is commonly restricted to direct production costs only and so does not customarily include direct costs of marketing or research and development.

PRINCE

The standard UK government method for Project Management. PRINCE2 (Third Edition 2002) is the current version of PRINCE.

priority

The value given to an Incident, Problem or Change to indicate its relative importance in order to ensure the appropriate allocation of resources and to determine the timeframe within which the action is required. Priority is based upon a coherent and up-to-date understanding of business impact and urgency and, sometimes, technical severity.

proactive problem management

The task of identifying and resolving Problems and Known Errors before Incidents occur.

problem

The unknown root cause of one or more existing or potential Incidents. Problems may sometimes be identified because of multiple incidents that exhibit common symptoms. Problems can also be identified from a single significant Incident, indicative of a single error, for which the cause is unknown.  Occasionally Problems will be identified well before any related Incidents occur.

problem classification

See: Classification.

problem control

The process of identifying, recording, classifying and progressing Problems through investigation and diagnosis until either 'Known Error' status is achieved or an alternative procedural reason fro the Problem is revealed.

problem management

The Service Management process that encompasses Problem Control, Error Control and the production of management information (MI).  Problem Management is a process that identifies the root cause of defects, actual and potential.  The primary objective is to make sure services are stable, timely and accurate and that Problems neither occur nor recur.  Process maturity is denoted by its ability to focus on problem prevention.

problem record

A record of the details and history of a Problem.

problem report

A form, or screen, containing details of Problems with any component of an IT Infrastructure or any aspect of the IT service.

procedure

A set of specific steps that describe how an activity should be carried out, and by whom. For example, the procedure dealing with carrying out a post-implementation review of a Change would be likely to describe the scope of the procedure (to what Changes does this procedure apply), its purpose and how the success of the Change will be measured, the individual procedural steps and the responsibilities for carrying out or being involved in each of those steps. Procedures may be supported by more detailed Work Instructions.

process

A process is a series of related activities aimed at achieving a set of objectives in a measurable, usually repeatable, manner. It will have defined information inputs and outputs, will consume resources and will be subject to management controls over time, cost and quality. It will also need to balance benefits against risks. A process defines what is to be achieved; procedures define how the objectives are to be achieved.

process control

The task of planning and regulating a process, with the objective of performing it in an efficient, effective and consistent manner.

process manager

The process manager is responsible for the execution of a process. This role includes operating the defined and agreed process, ensuring it interfaces with all other relevant process, target setting, process audits, effectiveness and efficiency reviews and managing the process improvement cycle. Management of a process is separate from the execution of that process.

process maturity

An indication of how close a process is to being developed and complete, and capable of continuous improvement through quantitative measure and feedback.

process owner

A Process Owner is a senior manager with overall responsibility for ensuring the sustainability of a process. The Process Owner's responsibilities include those of sponsorship, design (including relevant metrics for process) and operation, mainly quality assurance of continuing process suitability.

production environment

See: Live Environment

profit centre

IT is run as a business with profit objectives. Typically, a type of IT organisation that acts as a business in its own right, although its objectives are set by the organisation as a whole.

program

An organised list of instructions that, when executed, causes a computer to behave in a predetermined manner. Programs contain variables representing numeric data, text or graphical images and statements that instruct the computer what to do with variables.

programme

A portfolio of projects and other activities that are planned, initiated and managed in a co-ordinated way in order to achieve a set of defined business objectives.

project

A temporary organisation created for the purpose of delivering one or more business products according to a specified business case.

project evaluation review

A review carried out, normally at the end of a project, to confirm whether or not, and if not in what respect, a project attained its specified objectives.

projected service availability

A document in Change Management to outline the effect Changes on the levels of availability defined in the SLA. This document is linked to the Forward Schedule of Changes (FSC).

PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE)

PRINCE is an easily tailored and scaleable process-based project management method covering the organisation, management and control of projects. Each process is defined with its key inputs and outputs together with the specific objectives to be achieved and activities to be carried out.
Although PRINCE was originally developed for the needs of UK Government IT projects, the method has since become widely used on both IT and non-IT projects throughout the world. The latest version of the method, PRINCE2, provides a common language for all parties involved in a project. The method demands a business case that describes the organisation's justification, commitment and rationale for the deliverables or outcome and divides the project into manageable stages, enabling efficient control of resources and regular progress monitoring throughout.  The various roles and responsibilities for managing a project are fully described and are adaptable to suit the project's size and complexity, and the skills of the organisation.  Project planning using PRINCE2 is product-based which means the project plans are focused on delivering results and are not simply about planning when the various activities on the project will be carried out.

provider

A party who provides a service.  May be an internal service department (e.g. engineering, computer department, building services), or an external outsourcing company or third party supplier.

public responsibility

The long-term interests of an organisation and its people are best served by adopting an ethical approach and exceeding the expectations and regulations of the community at large.