Nobody knew who to tell
Priya sees a strange pop-up on her work laptop. She tells a friend. The friend tells a manager. Two days later the laptop has spread the problem to ten others.
A service desk would have taken her call in minutes. Today you learn the five processes that keep IT services running safely.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| IT service management | Managing IT services from start to finish so they work for customers. Short form: ITSM. |
| Service desk | The team that takes calls and reports about IT problems. |
| Incident | An event that harms or could harm a service. |
| Problem | The root cause behind one or more incidents. |
| Root cause | The first reason that something went wrong. |
| Configuration management database | A store of facts about every piece of IT, such as its owner. Short form: CMDB. |
| Hardened build | A standard set-up of a device with safe settings. |
| Change management | Making sure every change is agreed and recorded. |
| Firewall | A control that allows or blocks traffic by rule. |
| Stakeholder | A person or group affected by a decision. |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can say what ITSM is for and describe five core processes, each with a security example.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
The purpose of ITSM
IT service management manages IT services from start to finish, for customers. Customers can be staff, students or the public.
It gives everyone the same clear routines. That helps security too: odd events are noticed and handled the same way every time.
Service requests and knowledge
Service request management: handles questions and reports from customers, and tracks them until they are solved. Reporting a possible cyber event to the service desk is an example.
Knowledge management: keeps guides and records up to date. A standard hardened build guide is an example.
Assets, problems and incidents
IT asset management: tracks all hardware, software, systems and set-ups. A CMDB stores the history, location and owner of each item.
Problem and incident management: finds the root cause, then guides the team to respond and fix. A fixed routine for cyber incidents is an example.
Check: the first three
Have a go
Check: the first three
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.