A · C · E · I · L · M · O · P · R · S · T · U
A
- Agent
- A small program installed on each managed computer that reports health data to an RMM and carries out approved actions such as running scripts.
- Alert
- A notification raised when a monitored value crosses a threshold or a check fails, such as low disk space or a stopped service.
- Attended session
- A remote session where the person at the computer is present and accepts the connection before it starts.
- Audit trail
- A tamper-resistant record of who did what, on which device, when and why. Essential for remote support and for answering POPIA questions.
- Auto-remediation
- Automatically applying a known fix when a matching problem is detected, usually limited to low-risk, tested actions.
C
- Canary device
- The first device to receive a change. If it behaves well, the change moves on to more devices in stages.
E
- Endpoint
- Any device at the edge of a network that people use, such as a laptop, desktop or server.
- Execution policy
- A PowerShell setting that controls whether and which scripts may run. It is a safety feature, not a security boundary.
I
- Information Officer
- Under POPIA, the person responsible for an organisation's compliance. By default the head of the organisation, and registered with the Information Regulator.
L
- Least privilege
- Giving each person, service or device only the access it needs to do its job, and nothing more.
M
- MFA
- Multi-factor authentication: signing in with something you know (a password) plus something you have, such as an authenticator app.
- MSP
- Managed service provider: a company that looks after IT for other businesses, usually for a monthly fee.
- Maintenance window
- An agreed time when disruptive changes such as restarts or updates may be made, usually outside working hours.
- Multi-tenancy
- Serving many separate clients from one system while keeping each client's data and devices completely apart.
O
- Operator
- Under POPIA, a person or company that processes personal information on behalf of a responsible party, such as an MSP supporting a client's systems.
P
- PSA
- Professional services automation: business software for IT providers that handles tickets, contracts, time tracking and billing.
- Patch Tuesday
- The second Tuesday of each month, when Microsoft releases its main security updates.
- PowerShell
- Microsoft's command-line shell and scripting language, used to manage Windows and to automate support tasks.
R
- RMM
- Remote monitoring and management: software that watches many devices continuously and lets IT staff fix them remotely.
- Remote desktop
- Software that lets someone view and control another computer's screen over a network.
- Responsible party
- Under POPIA, the person or organisation that decides why and how personal information is processed.
- Ring
- A group of devices that receives updates at the same time, used to roll changes out in stages.
- Rollback
- Undoing a change to return a device to its previous working state.
- Runbook
- A documented, repeatable sequence of steps for handling a known situation, which can be partly or fully automated.
S
- Script library
- A managed collection of tested scripts, each with a purpose, parameters and risk level, that technicians or automation can run.
- Service desk
- The team and tools that receive, track and resolve IT requests and incidents, usually through tickets.
- Signed script
- A script with a digital signature or recorded hash, so any change after approval can be detected.
T
- Telemetry
- Data a device reports about its own state, such as services, disk space, event log entries and installed updates.
- Tenant
- One client or organisation within a multi-tenant system, with its own isolated data, users and devices.
- Ticket
- A record of a support request or incident, with a number, a conversation and a history of the work done.
U
- Unattended session
- A remote session that starts without someone at the computer accepting it. Should only be allowed by explicit client policy.