--- tags: - devops - l1 - flashcard-deck - corporate-it --- [Portal](../../../../library/portal/index.md) | **Level:** [L1: Foundations](../../../../library/portal/levels.md) | **Topics:** [Corporate IT Fluency](../../../../library/portal/topics.md) | **Domain:** DevOps & Tooling id category difficulty tags question answer source_path corporate-it-fluency/79fb61cd8856 corporate-it-fluency easy itsm, incident, problem What is the difference between an Incident and a Problem in ITSM? "An Incident is an unplanned interruption to a service — the goal is to restore service ASAP. A Problem is a root cause investigation into why incidents keep happening — the goal is to eliminate the underlying cause. An Incident says ""fix it now,"" a Problem says ""figure out why it keeps breaking.""\n\nRemember: ITSM tools (ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, Zendesk) track incidents, changes, and requests. Every change should have a ticket for audit trail." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/cc6a9efe5a83 corporate-it-fluency easy itsm, cab, change-management What is a Change Advisory Board (CAB)? A recurring meeting (usually weekly) where proposed changes to production systems are reviewed and approved. You present a Change Request describing what you're changing, why, the rollback plan, and risk assessment. The board approves, rejects, or defers.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/d70a5c6f0f62 corporate-it-fluency easy itsm, cmdb What is a CMDB and why does it matter? "Configuration Management Database — the org's inventory of all IT assets (servers, apps, network devices, cloud resources) and their dependencies. It answers ""what do we have and how is it connected?"" During incidents, it helps trace which services depend on a failed component.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/3f9daac83e97 corporate-it-fluency hard itsm, sla, ola What is the difference between an SLA, an OLA, and an Underpinning Contract (UC)? SLA (Service Level Agreement) is between IT and the customer/business. OLA (Operational Level Agreement) is between internal IT teams. UC (Underpinning Contract) is between IT and an external vendor. The SLA is the promise; OLAs and UCs are what make it achievable.\n\nRemember: SLA = Service Level Agreement. Contractual commitment. SLO = internal target. SLI = the actual measurement. SLA >= SLO > SLI (target hierarchy). training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/1f10843ff701 corporate-it-fluency hard compliance, audit "What is a SOC2 audit and what does a ""finding"" mean?" "SOC2 (Service Organization Control 2) is an audit framework for cloud/SaaS companies that examines access controls, logging, and change management. A ""finding"" means an auditor identified a gap in controls. Critical findings must be fixed before the audit period ends; high findings need a remediation plan with a deadline.\n\nRemember: SOC 2 = Service Organization Control. Trust Service Criteria: Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, Privacy. Mnemonic: 'SAPCP.'" training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/a5feb20b1dd5 corporate-it-fluency easy governance, raci What do the letters in a RACI matrix stand for? R = Responsible (does the work), A = Accountable (owns the outcome — only one person per task), C = Consulted (provides input before the work), I = Informed (told about the outcome after). Every row should have exactly one A.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/7ecfeeb1d731 corporate-it-fluency medium governance, risk What is a risk register? "A living document that tracks known risks with their likelihood, impact, mitigation plans, and owners. When InfoSec says ""add this to the risk register,"" they want the risk documented, assessed, assigned, and tracked. Risk acceptance (deciding a risk is acceptable given mitigation cost) is also documented here.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/e592f8d027d6 corporate-it-fluency easy budget, finance What is the difference between CapEx and OpEx? CapEx (Capital Expenditure) is buying an asset — e.g., purchasing servers — depreciated over years. OpEx (Operational Expenditure) is ongoing usage costs — e.g., monthly cloud bills — expensed in the current period. Cloud migration is often described as a CapEx-to-OpEx shift.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/35d5b6141c5d corporate-it-fluency easy procurement, control-flow What is the difference between an RFI, RFP, and RFQ? "RFI (Request for Information) = ""tell us what you offer"" (early research). RFP (Request for Proposal) = ""give us a formal proposal with pricing"" (competitive bidding). RFQ (Request for Quote) = ""we know what we want, how much?"" (price comparison).\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/592cf0229731 corporate-it-fluency medium procurement, contracts What is the difference between an SOW and an MSA? SOW (Statement of Work) defines what a vendor will deliver, by when, and for how much — it's the specific project scope. MSA (Master Service Agreement) is the umbrella legal agreement covering all work with that vendor. You can have many SOWs under one MSA.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/4266bd0fe6c4 corporate-it-fluency hard budget, finance What does TCO mean and why is it different from purchase price? TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) includes the full cost: purchase, licensing, support contracts, labor to operate, power, cooling, training, and eventual decommission. A $10K server might have a 5-year TCO of $50K when you add support, power, rack space, and admin time.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/f72eadc2a7b6 corporate-it-fluency easy budget, networking "What does ""Run vs Grow"" mean in IT budgeting?" "Run the business = keeping lights on (maintenance, licensing, patching, support contracts). ""Grow the business"" = new capabilities (migrations, new platforms, automation). When budgets get cut, ""grow"" gets cut first. Knowing which bucket your project is in tells you how vulnerable it is.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/644ef8e160ab corporate-it-fluency easy itsm, change-management What is a Standard Change vs a Normal Change? A Standard Change is a pre-approved, low-risk, routine change (e.g., restart a service, add a DNS record) that skips CAB review. A Normal Change requires full CAB review and approval. Understanding which your deployments are determines your deploy velocity.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/70654eded8f7 corporate-it-fluency hard itsm, change-management What is an Emergency Change and when is it used? An Emergency Change bypasses normal CAB process to address an urgent issue (typically during a P1 incident). It still requires approval — usually from the change manager or an on-call approver — and mandatory post-implementation review. It is not a way to skip process; it is a fast-tracked version of it.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/a5f1c7170a56 corporate-it-fluency hard itsm, problem-management What is a Known Error in ITSM? A Known Error is a Problem that has been diagnosed — the root cause is understood and documented, but the permanent fix has not yet been implemented. It typically includes a workaround so that future Incidents can be resolved faster while the real fix is planned.\n\nRemember: ITSM tools (ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, Zendesk) track incidents, changes, and requests. Every change should have a ticket for audit trail. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/0b483f69c9ea corporate-it-fluency easy itsm, control-flow, logging, processes What is ITIL and how does it relate to IT service management? ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is the most widely used IT Service Management framework. It defines processes for incident management, problem management, change management, and more. You don't need certification — you need to know the vocabulary.\n\nRemember: ITIL = IT Infrastructure Library. Framework for IT service management. Key processes: Incident, Problem, Change, Release, Service Level management. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/7d3168ef4645 corporate-it-fluency easy org-structure, titles "What does ""IC"" mean in a job listing?" "IC = Individual Contributor — a technical role with no direct reports. ""Senior IC"" means a senior engineer who does technical work rather than managing people. The IC track (IC1 through IC6+) allows career advancement in seniority without becoming a people manager.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/22fad48a49eb corporate-it-fluency easy org-structure, functions "What is the difference between ""dotted line"" and ""solid line"" reporting?" Solid line = your actual manager who does your performance reviews and approvals. Dotted line = someone you also report to functionally (e.g., a project lead or matrix manager) but who does not manage your career or reviews.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/f176a29d481d corporate-it-fluency easy meeting-culture, jargon "What does ""let's take that offline"" usually mean in a corporate meeting?" "It usually means ""stop talking about this now."" It may or may not lead to a follow-up conversation. If the topic is important to you, don't wait for the other person — follow up directly within 24 hours. If they dodge twice, escalate or raise it again in the next meeting.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/043592d99f2b corporate-it-fluency easy meeting-culture, jargon "What is a ""tiger team""?" "A small, focused group assembled to solve a specific problem fast. Unlike a standing team, a tiger team is temporary and cross-functional — pulled together for a specific mission (e.g., ""fix the payment reliability issues"") and disbanded when done.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/e36418bd69f9 corporate-it-fluency easy meeting-culture, jargon "What does ""swim lane"" mean in a corporate context?" "Your team's or function's area of responsibility. ""That's in their swim lane"" means it's another team's responsibility. Swim lane diagrams visually show which team owns which steps in a process. Staying in your swim lane means not doing work that belongs to another team.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/60d0059042a7 corporate-it-fluency hard project-management, logging, storage What is a RAID log in project management? RAID = Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies. It's a project tracking tool: Risks (what might go wrong), Assumptions (what we're taking as true), Issues (what's already wrong), Dependencies (what we need from others). Updated regularly and reviewed in project status meetings.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/ceec6f0cc579 corporate-it-fluency easy jargon, strategy "What does ""north star"" mean in corporate IT?" "The long-term guiding vision or metric for a team or project. ""Our north star is 99.99% availability"" means that is the overarching goal that should guide all technical decisions. It's not a near-term target — it's the direction everything should point toward.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/0957d762db49 corporate-it-fluency easy jargon, networking, text-processing "What does ""table stakes"" mean in business context?" "The minimum expected capability — not a differentiator. ""Monitoring is table stakes"" means every team should have it; having it doesn't make you special, but not having it is a problem. Used to set baseline expectations.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/425c87817809 corporate-it-fluency easy jargon, incident "What does ""blast radius"" mean in IT?" "How many things break if something goes wrong. ""What's the blast radius of this change?"" asks how many services, users, or systems are affected if the change fails. Smaller blast radius = lower risk. Used in change management and deployment strategy.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/5f98038c17da corporate-it-fluency hard org-structure, leadership "What is a ""single-threaded owner""?" One person with full ownership and authority over a specific initiative or decision. The concept (popularized by Amazon) means this person's only job is to drive that initiative — they are not splitting attention across multiple projects. It ensures clear accountability.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/eedc3082c9ea corporate-it-fluency hard compliance, encryption, logging, networking What is PCI-DSS and when does it apply? PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) applies to any system that stores, processes, or transmits credit card data. It mandates specific controls: network segmentation, encryption, access controls, logging, regular testing. Non-compliance can result in fines and loss of ability to process cards.\n\nRemember: PCI DSS = Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. 12 requirements for handling cardholder data. Applies if you store, process, or transmit card data. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/c818cdccc0a0 corporate-it-fluency easy compliance, control-flow, encryption, logging What is HIPAA and when does it apply? HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) governs healthcare data in the US. If your systems handle Protected Health Information (PHI), you must implement strict access controls, encryption, and audit logging. Violations carry significant fines.\n\nRemember: HIPAA = Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Protects PHI (Protected Health Information). Fines up to $1.9M per violation category per year. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/8b16477e3abe corporate-it-fluency easy compliance, data-privacy What is GDPR and how does it affect infrastructure? GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is the EU's data privacy law. It affects data retention policies, right to deletion (you must be able to delete a user's data), data residency (where data is stored geographically), and breach notification requirements (72-hour disclosure).\n\nRemember: GDPR = General Data Protection Regulation (EU). Right to be forgotten, data portability, 72-hour breach notification, fines up to 4% of global revenue. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/primer.md corporate-it-fluency/57ea270f8e3e corporate-it-fluency easy architecture, jargon "What does ""target state architecture"" mean?" "What the organization wants the system to look like in 1-2 years. Paired with ""current state"" (how it works now). The gap between current and target state drives roadmap priorities and project justifications. Usually represented as architecture diagrams.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/street_ops.md corporate-it-fluency/9cc022f92638 corporate-it-fluency hard architecture, jargon "What does ""rationalization"" mean in enterprise IT?" "Cutting duplicate tools, platforms, or systems. ""Application rationalization"" means inventorying everything the org uses and consolidating. ""We have 4 monitoring tools; let's pick one"" is rationalization. Driven by cost savings, reduced complexity, and easier compliance.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/street_ops.md corporate-it-fluency/e9e147087273 corporate-it-fluency easy cloud, migration "What does ""lift and shift"" mean?" "Moving workloads to the cloud by copying them as-is (usually as VMs) with no redesign. Fast and low-risk but doesn't leverage cloud-native benefits. Contrasted with ""cloud-native refactor"" which redesigns the application for containers, managed services, and auto-scaling.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/street_ops.md corporate-it-fluency/0f2d47c906ed corporate-it-fluency hard architecture, patterns "What is the ""strangler fig pattern""?" "A migration strategy where you gradually replace an old system piece by piece, rather than doing a big-bang cutover. New functionality is built in the new system while the old system continues to serve existing features. Over time, the new system ""strangles"" the old one until nothing depends on it.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/street_ops.md corporate-it-fluency/b877d57bffd8 corporate-it-fluency medium strategy, procurement "What are the key considerations in a ""buy vs build"" decision?" Buy: faster to deploy, vendor handles maintenance, but ongoing licensing cost and less customization. Build: fully customized, no licensing, but development cost, maintenance burden, and opportunity cost of engineering time. Key factors: is this a core differentiator (build) or commodity capability (buy)?\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/street_ops.md corporate-it-fluency/18889a721a53 corporate-it-fluency easy strategy, jargon What is a POC and when should you be skeptical of one? POC = Proof of Concept — a small test to validate an idea works. Be skeptical when: the POC is proposed after a decision seems blocked (stalling tactic), the success criteria are vague, or nobody defines what happens after the POC succeeds. A good POC has clear criteria, a time box, and a decision framework.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices. training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/street_ops.md corporate-it-fluency/5dc897f81321 corporate-it-fluency easy security, policy "What are ""guardrails"" in enterprise IT?" "Automated policies that prevent bad configurations or actions — e.g., ""no public S3 buckets,"" ""all EC2 instances must have tags,"" ""no deployments without passing security scan."" Unlike manual reviews, guardrails enforce policy automatically and continuously. Common tools: OPA, Kyverno, AWS SCPs, Azure Policy.\n\nRemember: understanding corporate IT infrastructure helps DevOps engineers bridge the gap between traditional IT operations and modern cloud-native practices." training/library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/street_ops.md --- ## Wiki Navigation ### Related Content - [Corporate IT Fluency for Engineers](../../../../library/topics/corporate-it-fluency/index.md) (Topic Pack, L0) — Corporate IT Fluency