Glossary of Terms
This glossary provides ISO 11179-compliant definitions for all concepts in the IT Management Graph learning graph. Each definition follows ISO 11179 metadata registry guidelines: precise, concise, distinct, non-circular, and unencumbered with business rules.
Access Control
A security mechanism that restricts who can view or modify specific data or system resources based on defined permissions.
See also: Role-Based Access Control, Security Model
Accuracy
A data quality dimension measuring the degree to which data correctly represents the real-world entities or events it describes.
Example: An asset database showing server PROD-01 has 64GB RAM when it actually has 128GB fails the accuracy criterion.
AI-Assisted Curation
The application of machine learning algorithms to automate the review, classification, and quality improvement of data within management systems.
Example: An AI system automatically flags CMDB entries with missing dependency relationships for human review.
Anomaly Detection
The use of algorithms, often machine learning-based, to identify data patterns that deviate significantly from expected norms.
See also: Data Validation, Machine Learning
Application Dependency
A relationship where one software application relies on another application to function properly.
Example: The checkout application depends on the payment processing application to complete customer transactions.
Application Portfolio
The complete collection of software applications owned and operated by an organization.
See also: Digital Estate, IT Portfolio
Artificial Intelligence
The capability of computer systems to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, and pattern recognition.
See also: Machine Learning, Graph RAG
Asset Management
The systematic approach to tracking, maintaining, and optimizing the value and lifecycle of organizational assets.
Example: Asset management tracks all servers from procurement through deployment to decommissioning.
Atlassian
A software company providing collaboration and project management tools including Jira, Confluence, and IT service management solutions.
Audit Trail
A chronological record of system activities and changes that enables reconstruction of events for security or compliance purposes.
Example: The CMDB audit trail shows who changed the server configuration and when, supporting compliance investigations.
See also: Compliance Reporting
Auto-Discovery
Abbreviated term for Automated Discovery.
See also: Automated Discovery
Automated Discovery
The capability of systems to automatically detect and catalog IT resources, configurations, and relationships without manual intervention.
Example: Discovery tools scan the network every hour to automatically update the topology map with new devices.
See also: OpenTelemetry, eBPF
Best Practice
A technique or methodology that through experience and research has proven to reliably lead to desired outcomes.
See also: Industry Standard, Framework Adoption
Blast Radius
The set of all IT resources and business services potentially affected when a specific component fails or changes.
Example: When database DB-PROD-01 fails, its blast radius includes 15 microservices and 3 business capabilities.
See also: Impact Analysis, Downstream Dependency
Breadth-First Search
A graph traversal algorithm that explores all nodes at the current depth level before moving to nodes at the next depth level.
See also: Depth-First Search, Graph Traversal
Build vs Buy
The strategic decision framework for determining whether to develop a capability in-house or purchase an existing solution.
See also: Vendor Evaluation, Technology Selection
Business Case
A structured justification for a proposed initiative that evaluates costs, benefits, risks, and alternative approaches.
See also: Return on Investment, Total Cost of Ownership
Business Rule
A statement that defines or constrains some aspect of business operations, describing what must or must not occur.
Example: A business rule might state that all production servers must have automated backups configured.
Business Service
An IT-supported capability that delivers value to business stakeholders and supports business processes.
Example: The "Customer Order Processing" business service depends on multiple technical services including databases and payment systems.
See also: Technical Service, Service Mapping
Business Service Mapping
The process of identifying and documenting relationships between business services and their underlying technical components.
Example: Mapping shows that the "Online Banking" business service depends on 12 technical services and 47 infrastructure components.
See also: Service Mapping, Service Topology
Capability Model
A structured representation of an organization's abilities to perform specific functions or processes at varying levels of maturity.
See also: Process Maturity
Change Impact Assessment
The analysis of potential effects that a proposed change may have on interconnected systems and business services.
Example: Before upgrading the database, impact assessment reveals 23 dependent applications requiring testing.
See also: Impact Analysis, Change Management
Change Management
The systematic approach to controlling and coordinating modifications to IT infrastructure in a standardized and traceable manner.
Example: All production changes must follow the change management process including approval, testing, and rollback planning.
See also: ITIL, Service Support
Circular Dependency
A situation where two or more components depend on each other either directly or through a chain of dependencies, forming a cycle.
Example: Service A depends on Service B, which depends on Service C, which depends back on Service A.
See also: Directed Acyclic Graph, Dependency Chain
Classification System
A scheme for organizing items into categories based on shared characteristics or properties.
See also: Taxonomy
CMDB
Acronym for Configuration Management Database.
See also: Configuration Management Database, Configuration Management
Column
A vertical element in a relational database table representing a specific attribute or data field that stores values of the same type.
See also: Table, Row, Database Schema
Completeness
A data quality dimension measuring the degree to which all required data values are present and populated.
Example: A CMDB entry missing the server's operating system version fails the completeness criterion.
See also: Accuracy, Data Quality Dimension
Compliance
Adherence to laws, regulations, industry standards, and organizational policies governing operations and data management.
See also: Regulatory Compliance, HIPAA, GDPR, DORA
Compliance Reporting
The systematic generation of documentation demonstrating adherence to regulatory requirements and organizational policies.
Example: Quarterly compliance reports show all servers meet HIPAA encryption requirements by querying the CMDB.
See also: Audit Trail, Regulatory Compliance
Configuration Audit
A formal review process that verifies actual configuration states match documented baselines and approved specifications.
See also: Configuration Baseline, Configuration Management
Configuration Baseline
An approved and documented specification of configuration attributes at a specific point in time, used as a reference for comparison.
Example: The production baseline documents that all web servers should run Ubuntu 22.04 with specific security patches.
See also: Configuration Audit
Configuration Drift
The divergence of actual system configurations from their documented or intended state over time.
Example: Servers configured identically at deployment now show different package versions, indicating configuration drift.
See also: Drift Detection, Configuration Baseline
Configuration Item
An IT resource, asset, or component that is identified, tracked, and managed within a configuration management system.
Example: A physical server, virtual machine, software license, or network switch can each be a configuration item.
See also: Configuration Management, Asset Management
Configuration Management
The discipline of identifying, organizing, controlling, and documenting IT resources and their relationships throughout the lifecycle.
Example: Configuration management tracks what servers exist, their specifications, and how they connect to applications.
See also: Configuration Item, CMDB, ITIL
Configuration Management Database
A repository that stores information about configuration items, their attributes, and relationships in an IT environment.
Example: The CMDB stores data about 5,000 servers, their installed software, and connections to 200 applications.
See also: CMDB, Configuration Management
Consistency
A data quality dimension measuring the degree to which data values agree across different systems and over time.
Example: The same server ID returning different hostnames in different databases indicates a consistency issue.
See also: Data Quality Dimension
Continuous Improvement
An ongoing effort to incrementally enhance processes, products, or services through systematic analysis and refinement.
See also: Operational Excellence, Best Practice
Cycle Detection
An algorithm that identifies circular dependencies or loops within a directed graph structure.
Example: Cycle detection reveals that three microservices have circular dependencies that should be refactored.
See also: Circular Dependency, Directed Acyclic Graph
Cypher Query Language
A declarative query language designed specifically for querying and manipulating graph databases, particularly Neo4j.
Example: The Cypher query MATCH (s:Server)-[:DEPENDS_ON*]->(d) RETURN d finds all transitive dependencies of a server.
See also: Neo4j, Graph Query
DAG
Acronym for Directed Acyclic Graph.
See also: Directed Acyclic Graph
Data Catalog
A centralized inventory of data assets with metadata describing their content, location, ownership, and usage.
See also: Metadata, Data Governance
Data Custodian
An individual or team responsible for the technical management and security of data systems and storage.
See also: Data Owner, Data Steward
Data Governance
The framework of policies, procedures, roles, and standards for managing data quality, security, and usage as an organizational asset.
Example: Data governance establishes who can approve changes to the CMDB and what validation rules apply.
See also: Data Management, Data Quality, Data Steward
Data Lineage
The documentation of data's origins, transformations, and movement through systems from creation to consumption.
Example: Data lineage traces how server configuration data flows from discovery tools through the CMDB to reporting dashboards.
See also: Metadata, Data Governance
Data Management
The discipline of collecting, storing, organizing, maintaining, and using data effectively and securely across the organization.
See also: Data Governance, DMBOK
Data Migration
The process of moving data from one system, format, or location to another, typically during system upgrades or consolidation.
Example: Migrating from a legacy CMDB to a graph-based system requires transforming relational tables into nodes and edges.
See also: Legacy Migration, System Cutover
Data Owner
An individual or role with authority and accountability for data quality, access decisions, and usage policies for specific data domains.
See also: Data Steward, Data Governance
Data Quality
The fitness of data for its intended purposes, measured across dimensions including accuracy, completeness, and timeliness.
Example: A CMDB with 40% accuracy cannot support reliable impact analysis for incident response.
See also: Data Quality Dimension, Fitness for Purpose
Data Quality Dimension
A specific aspect of data quality used for measurement, such as accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, or validity.
See also: Accuracy, Completeness, Consistency, Timeliness, Validity
Data Steward
An individual responsible for ensuring data quality, defining standards, and facilitating proper data usage within a domain.
See also: Data Owner, Data Governance
Data Validation
The process of checking data against defined rules, constraints, and formats to ensure correctness and quality.
Example: Data validation rejects CMDB entries where the server IP address format is invalid.
See also: Validation Rule, Data Quality
Database Index
A data structure that improves the speed of data retrieval operations on database tables at the cost of additional storage and slower writes.
See also: Query Performance, Query Optimization
Database Schema
The formal description of how data is organized in a database, including tables, columns, data types, and relationships.
Example: The CMDB schema defines tables for servers, applications, and relationships between them.
See also: Table, Column, Schema Rigidity
Dependency Chain
A sequence of components where each depends on the next, forming a path through the dependency graph.
Example: The web application depends on the API service, which depends on the database, forming a three-element chain.
See also: Dependency Map, Transitive Dependency
Dependency Map
A visual representation showing how IT components depend on one another across the infrastructure.
Example: The dependency map reveals that 15 applications ultimately depend on a single aging database server.
See also: Dependency Chain, Service Topology
Dependency Tracing
The process of following relationships in a graph to identify all components connected through dependency relationships.
Example: Dependency tracing from a failed database identifies all affected applications within seconds using graph queries.
See also: Upstream Dependency, Downstream Dependency, Graph Traversal
Depth-First Search
A graph traversal algorithm that explores as far as possible along each branch before backtracking to explore other branches.
See also: Breadth-First Search, Graph Traversal
Digital Estate
The comprehensive inventory of all digital and IT assets owned or managed by an organization.
See also: Application Portfolio, IT Portfolio
Digital Operational Resilience Act
An EU regulation requiring financial entities to ensure information and communication technology security and operational resilience.
See also: DORA, Regulatory Compliance
Digital Transformation
The strategic integration of digital technology into all areas of business operations to fundamentally change how value is delivered.
Example: Digital transformation replaces manual CMDB updates with automated discovery and AI-assisted data quality management.
See also: IT Modernization, Business Case
Directed Acyclic Graph
A directed graph containing no cycles, meaning there is no path that starts and ends at the same node.
Example: A proper IT dependency graph should be a DAG to avoid circular dependencies that prevent clean service startup.
See also: DAG, Directed Graph, Cycle Detection
Directed Graph
A graph structure where each edge has a specific direction, pointing from one node to another.
Example: In an IT dependency graph, edges point from dependent services to the services they depend on.
See also: Undirected Graph, Edge, Node
DMBOK
Acronym for Data Management Body of Knowledge, a comprehensive framework for data management practices.
See also: Data Management, Data Governance
DORA
Acronym for Digital Operational Resilience Act.
See also: Digital Operational Resilience Act
Downstream Dependency
A component or service that depends on the current component, potentially affected if the current component fails or changes.
Example: The downstream dependencies of the payment database include all checkout and order processing services.
See also: Upstream Dependency, Blast Radius
Drift Detection
The automated identification of configuration changes that cause systems to deviate from their intended or baseline state.
Example: Drift detection alerts when production servers no longer match their documented configuration baseline.
See also: Configuration Drift, Automated Discovery
Dynamic Topology
The real-time representation of IT infrastructure and service relationships that automatically updates as components and connections change.
Example: Dynamic topology mapping continuously updates as containers are created and destroyed in a Kubernetes cluster.
See also: Network Topology, Service Topology, Automated Discovery
Dynatrace
A software intelligence platform providing application performance monitoring, infrastructure monitoring, and full-stack observability capabilities.
See also: Monitoring, Observability
eBPF
Acronym for extended Berkeley Packet Filter.
See also: Extended Berkeley Packet Filter
Edge
A connection or link between two nodes in a graph representing a relationship, association, or dependency.
Example: In an IT dependency graph, an edge from App A to Database B represents "App A depends on Database B."
See also: Node, Relationship, Directed Graph
Edge Property
An attribute or metadata value associated with an edge in a property graph.
Example: An edge property might store "criticality: high" on the dependency relationship between a revenue system and its database.
See also: Property Graph, Node Property
Exception Reporting
The systematic identification and notification of data or conditions that violate defined rules or fall outside expected parameters.
Example: Exception reports flag all CMDB entries missing required fields or containing invalid relationship types.
See also: Data Quality, Validation Rule
Extended Berkeley Packet Filter
A technology enabling custom programs to run safely in operating system kernels for high-performance monitoring, networking, and security.
Example: eBPF programs capture every network connection in real-time to auto-discover service dependencies without agents.
See also: eBPF, Telemetry, Automated Discovery
Fitness for Purpose
A data quality measure assessing whether data is suitable and adequate for its intended use case.
Example: CMDB data accurate enough for asset tracking may not have sufficient detail for automated incident resolution.
See also: Data Quality
Foreign Key
A column or set of columns in one database table that uniquely identifies rows in another table, establishing a relationship between tables.
Example: The "server_id" column in the applications table is a foreign key referencing the "id" column in the servers table.
See also: Primary Key, Table, Join Operation
Framework Adoption
The process of implementing and integrating established methodologies or best practice frameworks into organizational operations.
Example: Framework adoption involves training staff on ITIL processes and customizing them to organizational needs.
See also: ITIL, Best Practice
GDPR
Acronym for General Data Protection Regulation.
See also: General Data Protection Regulation
General Data Protection Regulation
A comprehensive European Union regulation establishing requirements for the collection, processing, and protection of personal data.
See also: GDPR, Regulatory Compliance, Compliance
Graph Algorithm
A computational procedure designed to solve problems or perform analyses on graph structures.
Example: Graph algorithms can find the shortest path between nodes or identify all components within N hops of a starting point.
See also: Graph Traversal, Path Finding
Graph Complexity
A measure of how intricate or computationally challenging a graph structure is based on factors like size, density, and connectivity patterns.
See also: Graph Density, Node Degree
Graph Database
A database that uses graph structures with nodes, edges, and properties to represent and store data, optimized for relationship queries.
Example: A graph database stores servers as nodes and dependencies as edges, enabling instant multi-hop dependency queries.
See also: Property Graph, Neo4j, Native Graph Storage
Graph Density
The ratio of actual edges to possible edges in a graph, indicating how interconnected the nodes are.
Example: A highly dense IT dependency graph suggests tight coupling that may complicate changes and increase blast radius.
See also: Graph Complexity, Edge
Graph Layer
A graph-oriented interface or processing layer built on top of a non-graph storage system like a relational database.
Example: Some vendors provide a graph query layer over their existing RDBMS-based CMDB rather than native graph storage.
See also: Native Graph Storage, Graph Database
Graph Metric
A quantitative measure characterizing properties of a graph structure such as density, centrality, or clustering coefficient.
See also: Graph Complexity, Node Degree
Graph Query
A database operation that leverages graph structure to find patterns, paths, or relationships between nodes.
Example: A graph query finds all servers within three dependency hops of a specific application in milliseconds.
See also: Cypher Query Language, Pattern Matching, Graph Traversal
Graph RAG
A retrieval-augmented generation approach that combines graph databases with large language models to provide context-aware AI responses.
Example: Graph RAG uses the IT dependency graph to provide accurate answers about which services would be affected by planned maintenance.
See also: Retrieval Augmented Generation, Knowledge Graph
Graph Theory
The mathematical study of graphs as abstract structures consisting of vertices connected by edges.
Example: Graph theory provides the algorithms and principles underlying efficient dependency analysis in IT management systems.
See also: Node, Edge, Graph Database
Graph Traversal
The process of systematically visiting nodes in a graph by following edges according to a specific strategy or pattern.
Example: Graph traversal from a database node visits all dependent applications by following dependency edges.
See also: Depth-First Search, Breadth-First Search, Path Finding
Hardware Asset
A physical IT resource such as a server, network device, storage system, or end-user device.
Example: A Dell PowerEdge server is a hardware asset tracked in the asset management system.
See also: IT Asset, Software Asset
Health Insurance Portability
The full name of HIPAA, referring to the act's provisions for healthcare coverage continuity and data privacy.
See also: HIPAA
HIPAA
Acronym for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a US law establishing privacy and security standards for health information.
Example: HIPAA compliance requires tracking which systems store patient data and ensuring appropriate access controls.
See also: Health Insurance Portability, Regulatory Compliance
Horizontal Scaling
Increasing system capacity by adding more machines or instances rather than upgrading existing hardware.
Example: Horizontal scaling adds five more web servers to handle increased load rather than upgrading to larger servers.
See also: Vertical Scaling, Scalability
Impact Analysis
The systematic assessment of potential effects from a change, failure, or incident by tracing through dependency relationships.
Example: Impact analysis before database maintenance reveals 12 applications requiring notification and service windows.
See also: Blast Radius, Change Impact Assessment, Root Cause Analysis
In-Degree
The number of edges pointing into a node in a directed graph, indicating how many other nodes depend on it.
Example: A database with high in-degree indicates many applications depend on it, making it critical infrastructure.
See also: Out-Degree, Node Degree, Directed Graph
Incident Management
The process of restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible following an unplanned interruption or service degradation.
Example: Incident management uses the dependency graph to quickly identify the root cause and affected services.
See also: ITIL, Problem Management, Incident Response
Incident Response
The systematic approach to handling security breaches, system failures, or service interruptions to minimize damage and restore operations.
Example: Incident response teams query the graph database to instantly identify the blast radius of a database failure.
See also: Incident Management, Mean Time to Detect
Industry Standard
A widely accepted specification, protocol, or practice established through formal consensus or common adoption across an industry.
See also: Best Practice, Framework Adoption
Information Technology Infrastructure Library
A comprehensive framework of best practices for IT service management originally developed by the UK government.
Example: ITIL provides process frameworks for configuration management, incident management, and change management.
See also: ITIL, Service Support, Service Delivery
Infrastructure Dependency
A relationship where a service or application relies on underlying infrastructure components such as networks, servers, or storage.
Example: The web application has infrastructure dependencies on load balancers, web servers, and network connectivity.
See also: Application Dependency, Technical Service
Inner Join
A relational database operation that returns only rows where matching values exist in both tables being joined.
Example: An inner join between servers and applications tables returns only servers that have applications installed.
See also: Outer Join, Join Operation
IT Asset
Any technology resource owned or managed by an organization including hardware, software, and digital resources.
Example: Servers, software licenses, and network equipment are all IT assets tracked in the asset management system.
See also: Hardware Asset, Software Asset, Configuration Item
IT Modernization
The process of updating legacy systems, processes, and technologies to contemporary platforms and approaches.
Example: IT modernization replaces the relational CMDB with a graph database for real-time dependency analysis.
See also: Digital Transformation, Legacy Migration
IT Portfolio
The complete collection of IT assets, applications, services, and investments managed by an organization.
See also: Application Portfolio, Digital Estate
ITIL
Acronym for Information Technology Infrastructure Library.
See also: Information Technology Infrastructure Library
ITIL Version 1
The original 1989-1990 release of ITIL focusing on IT service management best practices developed for UK government agencies.
See also: ITIL, Service Support, Service Delivery
Join Operation
A relational database operation that combines rows from two or more tables based on related columns.
Example: Joining the servers table with the applications table shows which applications run on each server.
See also: Inner Join, Outer Join, Foreign Key
Key Performance Indicator
A measurable value that demonstrates how effectively an organization or function achieves key business objectives.
Example: Mean time to resolve incidents is a KPI measuring IT operations effectiveness.
See also: KPI, Performance Metric
Knowledge Graph
A graph structure that represents entities, concepts, and their semantic relationships to enable advanced reasoning and query capabilities.
Example: A knowledge graph of IT infrastructure connects technical components to business capabilities and compliance requirements.
See also: Property Graph, Ontology, Graph RAG
KPI
Acronym for Key Performance Indicator.
See also: Key Performance Indicator
Legacy Migration
The process of transitioning from outdated systems and platforms to modern technologies.
Example: Legacy migration from a relational CMDB to a graph database requires data transformation and process changes.
See also: IT Modernization, Migration Strategy, Data Migration
Legacy System
An outdated computing system, application, or technology that remains in use despite newer alternatives being available.
Example: The 15-year-old CMDB built on Oracle is a legacy system requiring significant manual maintenance.
See also: Technical Debt, IT Modernization
Machine Learning
A subset of artificial intelligence where systems improve performance on tasks through experience and data without explicit programming.
Example: Machine learning models predict which CMDB relationships are likely incorrect based on historical correction patterns.
See also: Artificial Intelligence, AI-Assisted Curation
Master Data Management
The discipline of creating and maintaining consistent, accurate, and authoritative master data across the enterprise.
Example: Master data management ensures the same server has one canonical record across all IT systems.
See also: Data Management, Reference Data
Mean Time to Detect
The average duration between when an incident occurs and when it is first identified or detected by monitoring systems or personnel.
Example: Improved observability reduced mean time to detect from 45 minutes to 3 minutes for critical service failures.
See also: MTTD, Mean Time to Resolve, Incident Response
Mean Time to Resolve
The average duration from incident detection to full restoration of normal service operation.
Example: Graph-based dependency tracing reduced mean time to resolve by enabling faster root cause identification.
See also: MTTR, Mean Time to Detect, Incident Management
Metadata
Structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise characterizes other data resources.
Example: Metadata for a CMDB table includes column names, data types, update timestamps, and data owner information.
See also: Data Lineage, Data Catalog
Migration Strategy
A planned approach for transitioning from current systems or architectures to target future states.
Example: The migration strategy phases the transition from relational CMDB to graph database over 18 months.
See also: Legacy Migration, Data Migration
Military-Spec Configuration
Configuration management practices derived from military and defense industry standards emphasizing strict version control and documentation.
Example: Military-spec configuration management tracks every hardware component revision, which is excessive for dynamic cloud infrastructure.
See also: Configuration Management
Monitoring
The continuous observation and collection of metrics, logs, and events to track the health, performance, and behavior of systems.
Example: Monitoring collects CPU, memory, and network metrics from all servers every 30 seconds.
See also: Observability, Telemetry
MTTD
Acronym for Mean Time to Detect.
See also: Mean Time to Detect
MTTR
Acronym for Mean Time to Resolve.
See also: Mean Time to Resolve
Multi-Hop Query
A database query that traverses multiple relationship levels to find indirectly connected data.
Example: A multi-hop query finds all infrastructure components three or more levels removed from a business service.
See also: Transitive Dependency, Graph Traversal
Native Graph Storage
A database storage architecture specifically designed for graph structures, storing nodes and edges directly rather than mapping them to tables.
Example: Neo4j uses native graph storage, enabling faster traversals than graph layers built on relational databases.
See also: Graph Database, Graph Layer
Neo4j
A leading native graph database platform that uses the Cypher query language and is widely adopted for knowledge graphs and network analysis.
Example: Neo4j stores the IT dependency graph with servers as nodes and dependencies as relationships.
See also: Graph Database, Cypher Query Language, Native Graph Storage
Network Topology
The arrangement and interconnection of network devices and communication paths in an infrastructure.
Example: Network topology mapping shows how routers, switches, and firewalls connect to form the corporate network.
See also: Service Topology, Infrastructure Dependency
Node
A fundamental unit in a graph structure representing an entity, object, or data point.
Example: In an IT dependency graph, each server, application, and database is represented as a node.
See also: Edge, Vertex, Graph Database
Node Degree
The number of edges connected to a node in a graph.
Example: A database node with high degree has many connections, indicating it's heavily used or central to the architecture.
See also: In-Degree, Out-Degree
Node Property
An attribute or data field associated with a node in a property graph.
Example: Node properties for a server include hostname, IP address, operating system, and CPU count.
See also: Property Graph, Edge Property
Observability
The ability to measure and understand the internal state and behavior of a system based on its external outputs including metrics, logs, and traces.
Example: Observability enables understanding why application latency increased by examining traces through the entire dependency chain.
See also: Monitoring, Telemetry, OpenTelemetry
Ontology
A formal representation of knowledge defining entities, attributes, and relationships within a domain using a shared vocabulary.
Example: An IT ontology defines that "Server" is a type of "Hardware Asset" and can have relationships like "hosts" to "Application."
See also: Taxonomy, Knowledge Graph, Semantic Model
OpenTelemetry
An open-source observability framework providing standardized instrumentation, collection, and export of telemetry data including metrics, logs, and traces.
Example: OpenTelemetry agents automatically capture service-to-service communications to build an accurate dependency graph.
See also: Telemetry, Observability, Automated Discovery
Operational Excellence
The systematic pursuit of superior performance through process improvement, measurement, and adherence to best practices.
See also: Continuous Improvement, Best Practice
Out-Degree
The number of edges pointing out from a node in a directed graph, indicating how many other nodes it depends on.
Example: An application with high out-degree depends on many other services, making it potentially fragile.
See also: In-Degree, Node Degree, Directed Graph
Outer Join
A relational database operation that returns all rows from one table and matching rows from another, with nulls where no match exists.
Example: An outer join between servers and applications shows all servers including those without any applications installed.
See also: Inner Join, Join Operation
Path Finding
The process of identifying a route or sequence of edges connecting two nodes in a graph.
Example: Path finding algorithms discover the dependency chain from a business service down to specific infrastructure components.
See also: Shortest Path, Graph Traversal
Pattern Matching
The technique of searching for specific structural configurations or sequences within data, particularly in graph queries.
Example: Pattern matching in Cypher finds all instances where an application depends on a database that depends on shared storage.
See also: Graph Query, Cypher Query Language
Performance Metric
A quantitative measure used to assess the efficiency, speed, or resource utilization of a system or process.
See also: Query Performance, Key Performance Indicator
Policy Enforcement
The automated or manual application of rules and controls to ensure compliance with organizational policies.
Example: Policy enforcement automatically blocks CMDB changes that would violate data governance rules.
See also: Data Governance, Business Rule
Primary Key
A unique identifier for each record in a database table that cannot contain null values or duplicates.
Example: The "server_id" column serves as the primary key uniquely identifying each server in the table.
See also: Foreign Key, Table
Problem Management
The process of identifying and addressing the root causes of incidents to prevent recurrence and minimize impact.
Example: Problem management analyzes recurring database incidents and discovers inadequate capacity planning as the root cause.
See also: Incident Management, Root Cause Analysis
Process Maturity
The degree to which organizational processes are explicitly defined, managed, measured, and continuously improved.
See also: Capability Model, Continuous Improvement
Property Graph
A graph model where both nodes and edges can have associated properties or attributes storing additional information.
Example: In a property graph, a server node has properties like "hostname" and "CPU_count" while dependency edges have "criticality" properties.
See also: Node Property, Edge Property, Graph Database
Query Latency
The time delay between submitting a database query and receiving the complete result set.
Example: Query latency for multi-hop dependency queries is 50ms in graph databases versus 5 seconds in relational databases.
See also: Response Time, Real-Time Query
Query Optimization
The process of improving database query performance through techniques like index usage, query rewriting, and execution plan tuning.
See also: Query Performance, Database Index
Query Performance
The speed and efficiency with which a database system executes queries and returns results.
Example: Graph databases provide superior query performance for multi-hop dependency traversals compared to relational joins.
See also: Query Latency, Performance Metric
RBAC
Acronym for Role-Based Access Control.
See also: Role-Based Access Control
RDBMS
Acronym for Relational Database Management System, a software system that manages data using the relational model.
Example: Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MySQL are popular RDBMS platforms that organize data into tables with rows and columns.
See also: Relational Database, SQL, Database Schema
Real-Time Query
A database query that executes and returns results quickly enough to support immediate decision-making, typically within seconds or sub-second.
Example: Real-time queries enable incident responders to instantly see the blast radius of a failing component.
See also: Query Latency, Response Time
Reference Data
Standardized, relatively static data used for classification and categorization across systems, such as country codes or product types.
See also: Master Data Management
Regulatory Compliance
Adherence to laws, regulations, and mandates issued by government or regulatory bodies governing specific industries or activities.
Example: Financial services firms must demonstrate regulatory compliance with DORA by maintaining accurate IT asset inventories.
See also: Compliance, HIPAA, GDPR, DORA
Relational Database
A database system that organizes data into tables with rows and columns, where relationships between data are established through key constraints and join operations.
Example: Traditional CMDBs built on relational databases struggle with multi-hop dependency queries that require multiple expensive join operations.
See also: RDBMS, Table, SQL, Graph Database
Relationship
A named connection or association between two entities in a data model or graph structure.
Example: The "DEPENDS_ON" relationship connects an application node to the database node it requires.
See also: Edge, Property Graph
Release Management
The process of planning, scheduling, and controlling the deployment of software releases and updates across environments.
See also: Change Management, Service Delivery
Response Time
The total elapsed time from when a request is made until a complete response is received.
See also: Query Latency, Performance Metric
Retrieval Augmented Generation
An AI technique that enhances language model outputs by retrieving relevant information from external knowledge sources before generating responses.
Example: Retrieval augmented generation queries the IT dependency graph to provide accurate answers about infrastructure relationships.
See also: Graph RAG, Knowledge Graph
Return on Investment
A financial metric calculating the ratio of net profit to initial investment cost, expressed as a percentage or ratio.
Example: The graph database migration showed 300% ROI through reduced incident resolution time and eliminated CMDB maintenance costs.
See also: ROI, Total Cost of Ownership, Business Case
Risk Assessment
The systematic process of identifying, analyzing, and evaluating potential risks to determine their likelihood and potential impact.
See also: Risk Management, Vendor Management
Risk Management
The coordinated activities to identify, assess, mitigate, and monitor risks to organizational objectives.
See also: Risk Assessment, Compliance
ROI
Acronym for Return on Investment.
See also: Return on Investment
Role-Based Access Control
A security model that grants system access and permissions based on a user's assigned roles rather than individual identity.
Example: Users with the "Database Administrator" role can modify database configuration items while developers have read-only access.
See also: RBAC, Access Control
Root Cause Analysis
The systematic investigation to identify the fundamental reason why an incident or problem occurred, not just its symptoms.
Example: Root cause analysis using dependency tracing revealed that database failures stemmed from inadequate storage capacity.
See also: Problem Management, Dependency Tracing
Row
A horizontal record in a relational database table representing a single instance or entity with values for each column.
See also: Table, Column
Scalability
The capability of a system to handle increased load or demand by adding resources without significant performance degradation.
See also: Horizontal Scaling, Vertical Scaling
Schema Evolution
The process of modifying database schema structure over time to accommodate changing requirements while maintaining data integrity.
Example: Schema evolution in relational databases requires careful migration planning, while graph databases more easily adapt to new relationship types.
See also: Schema Rigidity, Database Schema
Schema Rigidity
The characteristic of database schemas, particularly relational, that require significant effort and planning to modify their structure.
Example: Schema rigidity in the CMDB makes it difficult to quickly add new asset types or relationship categories.
See also: Schema Evolution, Database Schema
Security Model
A framework defining how access control, authentication, and authorization are implemented and enforced within a system.
See also: Role-Based Access Control, Access Control
Semantic Model
A representation of data that captures meaning and relationships using formal semantics enabling reasoning and inference.
See also: Ontology, Knowledge Graph
Service Delivery
One of two core focus areas in ITIL Version 1, encompassing processes for planning and delivering IT services to meet business needs.
See also: Service Support, ITIL
Service Dependency
A relationship where one IT service relies on another service to function correctly.
Example: The email service has service dependencies on the authentication service and storage service.
See also: Application Dependency, Infrastructure Dependency
Service Level Agreement
A formal commitment between a service provider and customer specifying expected service quality, availability, and responsibilities.
Example: The SLA guarantees 99.9% availability for the customer portal service with 15-minute response time for critical incidents.
See also: SLA
Service Mapping
The practice of identifying and documenting relationships between IT services and their underlying technical components.
Example: Service mapping reveals that the order processing service depends on 8 applications, 15 servers, and 2 databases.
See also: Business Service Mapping, Dependency Map
Service Support
One of two core focus areas in ITIL Version 1, encompassing operational processes including incident, problem, and change management.
See also: Service Delivery, ITIL, Incident Management
Service Topology
The arrangement and relationships of IT services showing how they connect and depend on one another.
Example: Service topology visualization shows how 50 microservices interconnect to deliver customer-facing capabilities.
See also: Network Topology, Service Mapping
ServiceNow
A leading enterprise platform providing IT service management, workflow automation, and configuration management database capabilities.
Example: Many organizations use ServiceNow's CMDB as their central repository for IT asset and configuration data.
See also: CMDB, Vendor Management
Shortest Path
The minimum-length route between two nodes in a graph as measured by number of edges or weighted edge costs.
Example: Finding the shortest path from a business service to failed infrastructure helps quickly identify the dependency chain.
See also: Path Finding, Graph Algorithm
SLA
Acronym for Service Level Agreement.
See also: Service Level Agreement
Software Asset
A licensed or developed software program, application, or code component owned or used by an organization.
Example: Microsoft Office licenses and custom Java applications are both software assets tracked in the asset inventory.
See also: IT Asset, Hardware Asset
SQL
Acronym for Structured Query Language.
See also: Structured Query Language
Structured Query Language
A standardized declarative programming language for creating, querying, and managing data in relational database systems.
Example: SQL queries require complex JOIN operations to trace multi-hop dependencies in relational CMDBs.
See also: SQL, RDBMS
System Cutover
The transition point when operations switch from an old system to a new replacement system.
Example: The system cutover from legacy CMDB to graph database occurred during a planned maintenance window.
See also: Migration Strategy, Data Migration
System Integration
The process of connecting different IT systems and applications to function as a coordinated whole.
See also: Application Dependency, Technical Service
Table
A collection of related data organized in rows and columns within a relational database.
Example: The "servers" table stores one row per server with columns for hostname, IP address, and operating system.
See also: Row, Column, Database Schema
Taxonomy
A hierarchical classification scheme organizing concepts or entities into categories based on shared characteristics.
Example: The IT asset taxonomy classifies resources as hardware, software, or services with multiple subcategories under each.
See also: Classification System, Ontology
TCO
Acronym for Total Cost of Ownership.
See also: Total Cost of Ownership
Technical Debt
The implied cost of future rework caused by choosing expedient solutions now instead of better approaches that would take longer.
Example: Building a custom CMDB on an aging RDBMS creates technical debt that eventually requires expensive migration.
See also: Legacy System, IT Modernization
Technical Service
An IT service that provides infrastructure capabilities supporting business services, typically not directly visible to end users.
Example: Database services and authentication services are technical services supporting customer-facing business services.
See also: Business Service, Infrastructure Dependency
Technology Selection
The process of evaluating and choosing specific technologies, platforms, or tools to meet organizational requirements.
See also: Build vs Buy, Vendor Evaluation
Telemetry
Automated measurement and transmission of data from remote sources to monitoring systems for analysis.
Example: Telemetry from application instrumentation automatically discovers service dependencies by observing actual network communications.
See also: OpenTelemetry, Monitoring, Observability
Timeliness
A data quality dimension measuring whether data is available when needed and reflects the current state appropriately.
Example: A CMDB updated monthly fails the timeliness requirement for incident response requiring real-time dependency information.
See also: Data Quality Dimension
Total Cost of Ownership
A comprehensive financial estimate including all direct and indirect costs of acquiring, deploying, operating, and maintaining an asset over its lifetime.
Example: The total cost of ownership for the relational CMDB includes licenses, hardware, maintenance, and 2 FTE for data quality management.
See also: TCO, Return on Investment
Transitive Dependency
An indirect dependency where component A depends on B, and B depends on C, implying A transitively depends on C.
Example: If the web application depends on the API service, which depends on the database, the web application has a transitive dependency on the database.
See also: Multi-Hop Query, Dependency Chain
Undirected Graph
A graph structure where edges have no specific direction and represent symmetric bidirectional relationships.
Example: In a network topology graph, undirected edges represent physical cable connections that function in both directions.
See also: Directed Graph
Upstream Dependency
A component or service that the current component depends on, which if failed would impact the current component's operation.
Example: The database is an upstream dependency of the application; if the database fails, the application cannot function.
See also: Downstream Dependency, Dependency Tracing
Validation Rule
A defined condition or constraint that data must satisfy to be considered acceptable.
Example: A validation rule requires that all server configuration items must have a valid IP address and operating system specified.
See also: Data Validation, Business Rule
Validity
A data quality dimension measuring whether data values conform to defined formats, ranges, and domain constraints.
Example: An IP address field containing "abc.def.xyz" fails validity checks because it doesn't match the required format.
See also: Data Quality Dimension, Data Validation
Vendor Evaluation
The systematic assessment of potential technology or service providers against organizational requirements and selection criteria.
Example: Vendor evaluation compared five CMDB solutions across criteria including graph capabilities, API quality, and total cost.
See also: Technology Selection, Vendor Management
Vendor Management
The practices and processes for selecting, contracting with, overseeing, and optimizing relationships with external service and technology providers.
Example: Vendor management ensures ServiceNow delivers contracted CMDB functionality and meets service level agreements.
See also: Vendor Evaluation
Vertex
An alternative term from graph theory for a node, representing a point in a graph structure.
Example: In graph theory literature, vertices are connected by edges to form graph structures.
See also: Node, Edge, Graph Theory
Vertical Scaling
Increasing system capacity by upgrading existing hardware with more powerful components rather than adding more machines.
Example: Vertical scaling upgrades the database server from 64GB to 256GB RAM instead of adding more database servers.
See also: Horizontal Scaling, Scalability
Total Terms: 200 Generated: 2025 Standard: ISO 11179 Metadata Registry Guidelines