IT Glossary

Balanced Scorecard

"A strategic planning and management system that is used extensively in business   and industry, government, and nonprofit organizations worldwide to align business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization, improve internal and external communications, and monitor organization performance against strategic goals (Balanced Scorecard Institute, 2014)."

Business Process

"A business process is a collection of activities designed to produce a specific output for a particular customer or market. It implies a strong emphasis on how the work is done within and organization, in contrast to a product's focus on what. A process is thus a specific ordering of work activities across time and place, with a beginning, an end, and clearly defined inputs and outputs: a structure for action (Sparx Systems, 2004)."

Business Value

"Business value is the standard measure of value used in business valuation. Different standards of value may lead you to different conclusions as to what a business is worth. It is not surprising, for example, that an investor focused on purely financial returns may value a business differently than an entrepreneur looking to fulfill personal goals (ValuAdder, 2014)."

IT Assurance

"The role of IT assurance in the financial services sector has expanded – both in the ever-increasing complexity of systems, IT processes and continued regulatory requirements over security and data integrity, as well as in the continued demand for IT to deliver real value to the organisation (Moore Stephens)."

IT Governance

"The responsibility of executives and the board of directors; consists of the leadership, organizational structures and processes that ensure that the enterprise’s IT sustains and extends the enterprise's strategies and objectives (ISACA, 2014)."

IT Policy

"Generally, a document that records a high-level principle or course of action that has been decided on. The intended purpose is to influence and guide both present and future decision making to be in line with the philosophy, objectives and strategic plans established by the enterprise’s management teams (ISACA, 2014)."

IT Risk

"The business risk associated with the use, ownership, operation, involvement, influence and adoption of IT within an enterprise (ISACA, 2014)."

IT Resource

"Any enterprise asset that can help the organization achieve its objectives (ISACA, 2014)."

IT Strategic Plan

"A long-term plan (i.e., three- to five-year horizon) in which business and IT management cooperatively describe how IT resources will contribute to the enterprise’s strategic objectives (ISACA, 2014)."

Key Goal Indicator (KGI)

"A measure that tells management, after the fact, whether an IT process has achieved its business requirements; usually expressed in terms of information criteria (ISACA, 2014)."

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

"A measure that determines how well the process is performing in enabling the goal to be reached (ISACA, 2014)."

Return On Investment (ROI)

"A measure of operating performance and efficiency, computed in its simplest form by dividing net income by the total investment over the period being considered (ISACA, 2014)."

Scoping Process

"Identifying the boundary or extent to which a process, procedure, certification, contract, etc., applies (ISACA, 2014)."

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

"An agreement, preferably documented, between a service provider and the customer(s)/user(s) that defines minimum performance targets for a service and how they will be measured (ISACA, 2014)."

Strategic Planning

"The process of deciding on the enterprise’s objectives, on changes in these objectives, and the policies to govern their acquisition and use (ISACA, 2014)."

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

"A concept that allows an enterprise to more effectively and efficiently manage the activities of design, manufacturing, distribution, service and recycling of products and service its customers (ISACA, 2014)."