Technology & Digital Tools Flashcards

What is the difference between 'availability' and 'reliability' in IT service management metrics?

Answer: Availability measures uptime percentage while reliability measures the consistency of performing without failure over time

Availability is the percentage of agreed service time a system is operational, while reliability measures how consistently a system performs its intended function without failure.

Which technology enables IT teams to provision and manage infrastructure resources through code rather than manual processes?

Answer: Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) allows IT teams to define and manage infrastructure resources using machine-readable scripts, enabling consistent, repeatable, and automated provisioning.

In a service desk context, what does 'API integration' allow organizations to do?

Answer: Enable different software systems to communicate and share data automatically

API (Application Programming Interface) integration allows disparate software tools — such as a ticketing system and a monitoring platform — to exchange data and trigger actions automatically.

What security technology is most commonly used to verify the identity of remote service desk users before granting system access?

Answer: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) requires users to provide two or more verification factors, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized access even if a password is compromised.

A service desk manager wants to measure how quickly the team acknowledges new tickets after they are submitted. Which metric should they track?

Answer: Mean Time to Acknowledge (MTTA)

Mean Time to Acknowledge (MTTA) measures the average time between when an incident is logged and when the service desk formally acknowledges and begins working on it.

Which approach to knowledge management ensures that solutions discovered during incident resolution are documented and made available for future use?

Answer: Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) methodology

Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) is a methodology that integrates knowledge creation into the incident resolution workflow, ensuring that solutions are captured and reused systematically.

What is the purpose of a 'digital experience monitoring' (DEM) tool in a modern service desk?

Answer: To measure and analyze the end-user's actual experience with applications and services from their perspective

Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) tools capture real-time data on how end users experience applications, helping service desks proactively identify and resolve performance issues affecting productivity.