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IT Glossary
management to agentic AI and AIOps.
Agentic IT & AIOps
Agentic AI
AI systems that can autonomously plan and execute multi-step IT operations tasks — correlating data, calling tools, holding context across steps — and exercising judgment about when to act on infrastructure or escalate to a human, rather than simply responding to a single prompt. Market research estimates place the AIOps market at roughly $14–20B in 2026, growing to $40B+ by 2030 as manual IT operations shift toward AI-assisted correlation. Research and Markets, AIOps Market Report 2026
Agentic IT
The application of agentic AI to IT operations and infrastructure management, where AI agents take real actions against live systems — discovery, remediation, change execution — rather than only summarizing or recommending.
AIOps
The use of AI and machine learning across the full IT operations lifecycle — ingesting and correlating operational data (logs, metrics, events, traces) to reduce alert noise, detect anomalies, pinpoint root cause, and in more mature implementations, trigger automated remediation — so teams can move from reactive troubleshooting to faster, often proactive, incident resolution. Market research estimates place the AIOps market at roughly $14–20B in 2026, growing to $40B+ by 2030 as manual IT operations shift toward AI-assisted correlation. Research and Markets, AIOps Market Report 2026
ITOM — IT Operations ManagementHigh Frequency Discovery
Scheduled, high-frequency discovery cycles that update assets, configs, and relationships as of the latest completed scan, rather than a static point-in-time inventory
Trusted Runtime Truth overviewAI Agent Guardrails
Policy, access, and validation controls that constrain what an AI agent is allowed to see or act on within IT infrastructure, used to prevent unsafe or unauthorized changes.
Agentic Remediation Guardrails
The subset of AI agent guardrails applied at the point of remediation — validating that a proposed fix, its blast radius, and its approval chain are all safe before an agent is allowed to execute a change against live infrastructure.
Trusted Runtime Truth
Live, continuously validated context about IT assets, dependencies, and blast radius that lets IT teams and AI agents act on current infrastructure state rather than stale CMDB snapshots or ticket history. It is governed by policy and traceable to its discovery source, not just aggregated from static records.
Trusted Runtime Truth overviewViVID™ (Virima Visual Impact Display)
Virima’s interactive visual engine for dynamic service mapping. ViVID™ renders complete business service maps by linking discovered IT assets and application dependencies directly to the business services they support. By overlaying active ITSM data, including open incidents, pending changes, and asset vulnerabilities, ViVID™ provides clear visual context into change risk and operational blast radius.
ViVID™ Service MappingCMDB & Configuration Management
Configuration Management Database (CMDB)
A centralized repository that stores information about IT components — configuration items — and the relationships between them, used as a reference point for IT service management processes. More than 40% of unplanned IT outages are attributed to change, configuration, or release management failures. Gartner, via Oomnitza
Configuration Item (CI)
Any component — physical, virtual, or logical — that needs to be managed to deliver an IT service, such as a server, application, network device, or cloud resource.
CI Relationship Mapping
The practice of recording and visualizing how configuration items connect to and depend on one another, forming the basis for impact and dependency analysis.
Configuration Drift (CI Drift)
The gradual, undocumented divergence of a system's actual configuration from its intended or baseline state, typically caused by manual changes or failed automation. Elite-performing teams with mature change processes see change failure rates around 5%, versus roughly 40% for low performers. DORA, 2024 State of DevOps Report
Configuration management use caseCMDB Health Score
A composite measure of how complete, accurate, and current the data in a CMDB is, often used to track configuration management maturity over time.
CMDB Health Score: What It Is, How to Measure ItCMDB Reconciliation
The process of merging configuration data from multiple discovery sources into a single, de-duplicated, authoritative CI record.
Common Service Data Model (CSDM)
A standard framework, popularized by ServiceNow, for organizing CMDB data into consistent categories — such as services, applications, and infrastructure — so different teams work from the same data model.
ServiceNow integrationConfiguration Management System (CMS)
A broader set of tools and databases, of which a CMDB is one part, used to manage configuration data across an IT environment.
Single Source of Truth (SSOT)
A principle where one authoritative data source is designated as the accurate reference for a given type of information, reducing conflicting records across systems.
Configuration Baseline
A formally reviewed and agreed-upon snapshot of a configuration item's attributes at a point in time, used as a reference for later change comparisons.
CMDB Automation
The use of automated discovery and reconciliation tools to populate and maintain a CMDB, replacing manual data entry.
CMDB Federation
An architecture where multiple CMDBs or data sources are linked and queried together rather than consolidated into one physical database.
Virima CMDBIT Asset Management (ITAM)
IT Asset Management (ITAM)
The set of practices and tools used to track, manage, and optimize an organization's IT assets — hardware, software, licenses, and contracts — across their lifecycle.
Virima ITAMSoftware Asset Management (SAM)
The ITAM discipline focused specifically on tracking software licenses, usage, and compliance to control cost and audit risk.
Hardware Asset Management (HAM)
The ITAM discipline focused on tracking physical IT equipment from procurement through disposal.
IT Asset Lifecycle Management
The end-to-end tracking of an asset from acquisition and deployment through maintenance, upgrades, and eventual retirement or decommission.
IT asset management use caseSoftware License Compliance
Ensuring an organization's actual software usage stays within the terms of its purchased licenses, avoiding audit penalties or unbudgeted true-up costs. STAT Software audits can carry six- to seven-figure true-up costs for enterprises facing vendor compliance reviews.
Ivanti, The Real Cost of a Software AuditIT Asset Inventory
A current, itemized record of all hardware and software assets an organization owns or uses.
Asset Tagging
Assigning a unique identifier, physical or digital, to an IT asset so it can be tracked consistently across systems.
End-of-Life (EOL) / End-of-Support (EOS) Tracking
Monitoring when a vendor stops selling (EOL) or supporting (EOS) a hardware or software product, so it can be replaced before it becomes a security or compliance risk.
IT Asset Intelligence
The application of analytics to asset data to surface risk, cost, and compliance insights, rather than just maintaining a static inventory list.
Shadow IT
Unsanctioned or unmanaged IT resources (SaaS, cloud, hardware) operating outside formal governance, surfaced through discovery scanning rather than self-reported inventories. STAT Roughly half of enterprise cloud activity comes from unsanctioned, IT-unapproved applications.
Netskope Cloud and Threat Report, via AuvikIT Operations Management (ITOM)
IT Operations Management (ITOM)
The discipline of managing the availability, performance, and health of IT infrastructure and services, spanning monitoring, event management, and operational workflows.
Event Management
The process of detecting, filtering, and responding to notifications generated by IT infrastructure and applications.
Incident Management
The ITIL practice of restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible after an unplanned disruption, minimizing impact on the business.
Incident response & MTTR use caseProblem Management
The ITIL practice of identifying and addressing the root cause of incidents to prevent them from recurring.
Change Management
The process of planning, assessing, approving, and implementing changes to IT systems in a controlled way to minimize risk.Poor change, configuration, or release management practices are linked to more than 40% of unplanned IT outages. Gartner (Donna Scott), via OpsTrails
Change management use caseChange Risk Assessment
Evaluating the potential impact and blast radius of a proposed IT change before it is approved for implementation.
Change management use caseMean Time to Resolution (MTTR)
The average time it takes to fully resolve an incident, from the moment it's reported until service is restored.
Mean Time to Detect (MTTD)
The average time it takes to become aware that an incident has occured, measured from when it actually started.
Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
A structured process for identifying the underlying cause of an incident or problem, rather than just addressing its symptoms.
Incident response & MTTR use caseBusiness Service Management (BSM)
An approach to IT management that ties technical infrastructure and services directly to the business functions they support.
ViVID™ Service MappingIT Discovery
IT Asset Discovery
The automated process of identifying hardware, software, and cloud resources present in an IT environment, typically the first step in populating a CMDB.
Agentless Discovery
Discovery that gathers data about devices and systems without installing dedicated software on each target, often using network protocols or APIs instead.
Agent-Based Discovery
Discovery that relies on a small piece of installed software on each target device to report detailed configuration data back to a central system.
Discovery agents (Windows, macOS, Linux)Network Discovery
Scanning a network to identify connected devices, their addresses, and basic characteristics.
Cloud / Multi-Cloud Discovery
Identifying and cataloging resources running across one or more cloud provider environments, such as AWS or Azure.
AWS discovery and service mappingHybrid IT Discovery
Discovery that spans both on-premises infrastructure and cloud environments within a single, unified view.
Virima IT DiscoveryService Mapping & Dependency
Service Dependency Mapping
The general practice of identifying which infrastructure and application components a business service relies on — sits between ADM's technical detail and Business Service Mapping's business framing, and is often used as the umbrella term for both.
ViVID™ Service MappingBusiness Service Mapping
The business-facing layer: connecting technical infrastructure directly to the named business services it supports, so impact and prioritization decisions get made in business terms. Compare with Service Dependency Mapping, the more technical version of the same idea.
Application Dependency Mapping (ADM)
The technical layer above topology: discovering which servers, services, and network paths a specific application depends on to run. Narrower than Service Dependency Mapping, which extends this view up to business services.
Blast Radius
The scope of impact a failure, change, or security incident could have, measured by how many systems, services, or users are affected. Originally an explosives-engineering term, now standard vocabulary across SRE, DevOps, and cybersecurity.
Service Impact Analysis
The exercise performed using a business service map: assessing which business services would be affected if a specific component failed or changed. Mapping produces the artifact; impact analysis is what you do with it.
Topology Mapping
The foundational layer: visualizing the physical or logical layout of network devices, servers, and connections. Application and business-service maps are built on top of this layer.
Service Map / Service Graph
The general term for the rendered output of any of the above — a diagram or graph, regardless of whether it represents the physical, application, or business layer.
ITSM / ITIL Core
IT Service Management (ITSM)
The set of processes and practices used to design, deliver, manage, and improve the way IT services are provided to an organization.
IT service management use caseITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
A widely adopted framework of best practices for IT service management, covering everything from incident response to change and configuration management.
ITIL configuration management softwareService Desk vs. Help Desk
A service desk handles the full range of IT service requests and incidents as a strategic ITSM function, while a help desk is typically a narrower, reactive point of contact for user issues.
Change Enablement
The ITIL 4 term for what was previously called change management, emphasizing enabling beneficial change rather than just controlling risk.
Change management use caseKnown Error Database (KEDB)
A repository of previously identified problems and their workarounds, used to speed up resolution of recurring incidents.
Definitive Media Library (DML)
A secure repository for storing authorized, definitive versions of software media, used to ensure only approved software gets deployed.
ITIL configuration management softwareCompliance, Audit & Governance
Audit Readiness
The state of having accurate, well-documented IT records and processes available to satisfy an internal or external audit with minimal scrambling.
Reporting & auditing use caseData Provenance / Source Traceability
The ability to trace a piece of data back to the specific system or process that originally generated it, establishing confidence in its accuracy.
Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC)
A combined approach to aligning IT activity with organizational goals (governance), managing uncertainty (risk), and meeting regulatory or policy obligations (compliance).
SOC 2 Type 2
An independent audit report confirming that a service organization's security controls have been operating effectively over a defined period of time, not just at a single point in time.
Virima Earns SOC 2 Type 2 CertificationISO/IEC 27001
An international standard specifying requirements for an information security management system (ISMS), used to certify that an organization manages security risk systematically.
Virima Achieves ISO/IEC 27001:2022 CertificationNo terms match your filter.
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