IT Management

Career paths and IT certifications

• DevOps engineer

  A DevOps engineer is an IT professional who works with software developers, system operators and other production IT staff to create and oversee code releases and deployments.

• data scientist

  A data scientist is a professional responsible for collecting, analyzing and interpreting extremely large amounts of data. The data scientist role is an offshoot of several traditional technical roles, including mathematician, scientist, statistician and computer professional.

• release train engineer (RTE)

  A release train engineer (RTE) is a servant leader who facilitates program level processes and execution, drives continuous development, manages risks and escalates impediments while also acting as a full time chief scrum master for a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).

Compliance, risk and governance

This glossary contains definitions related to compliance. Some definitions explain the meaning of words used in compliance regulations. Other definitions are related to the strategies that compliance officers use to mitigate risk and create a manageable compliance infrastructure.

• disaster recovery plan (DRP)

  A disaster recovery plan (DRP) is a documented, structured approach that describes how an organization can quickly resume work after an unplanned incident.

• foreign qualification

  Foreign qualification is the process that a corporation or limited liability corportation (LLC) in the United States follows to carry out business legally in a state other than the one where the corporation was incorporated. It’s important to note that a foreign qualification is not related to international work; it only applies to interstate commerce. 

• private cloud (internal cloud or corporate cloud)

  Private cloud is a type of cloud computing that delivers similar advantages to public cloud, including scalability and self-service, but through a proprietary architecture.

CRM

The goal of customer experience management (CEM) is to optimize customer satisfaction at each touchpoint of the customer journey. Definitions in this glossary include terms about marketing and creating a customer-centric view of business, the use of AI and RPA in martech, capturing and analyzing customer feedback and contact center automation.

• virtual agent

  A virtual agent (sometimes called an intelligent virtual agent, virtual rep or chatbot) is a software program that uses scripted rules and, increasingly, artificial intelligence applications to provide automated service or guidance to humans.

• behavioral targeting

  Behavioral targeting is the presentation of content and marketing based on the previous choices of users across websites.

• contact center

  A contact center -- also referred to as a customer interaction center or e-contact center -- is a central point from which all customer interactions across various channels are managed.

ERP

Terms related to business, including definitions about project management and words and phrases about human resources, finance and vertical industries.

• pandemic planning

  Pandemic planning is a strategic approach to business continuity that anticipates and prepares for a widespread, dangerous outbreak of an infectious disease that poses life-threatening risks to employees and their families in different geographical areas at the same time.

• Generation Z

  Generation Z is the demographic cohort following Generation Y -- which is more popularly known as the Millennial Generation. Entry-level employees in many industries today belong to Gen Z.

• cloud computing

  Cloud computing is a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the internet.

Government IT

Terms related to government IT, including definitions about specific federal, state and local government programs as well as words and phrases about policy and compliance.

• RIFAN 2

  Reseau Internet de la Force Aeronavale etape 2 (RIFAN 2) is a secure internet developed for military applications.

• Australian Assistance and Access Bill

  The Australian Assistance and Access Bill is legislation introduced and passed in 2018 by the Parliament of Australia to support law enforcement and security agencies in their ability to collect evidence from electronic devices.

• cybersecurity

  Cybersecurity is the protection of internet-connected systems -- including hardware, software and data -- from cyberattacks.

Healthcare IT

Terms related to healthcare IT, including definitions about healthcare information and management systems and words and phrases about electronic health records, meaningful use, government regulations and medical technology.

• medical imaging (radiology)

  Medical imaging, also known as radiology, is the field of medicine in which medical professionals recreate various images of parts of the body for diagnostic or treatment purposes.

• CT scan

  A computerized tomography (CT scan) is a form of computer-assisted imaging, that is assembled from many xrays. CT Scans are also known as CAT scans.

• cybersecurity

  Cybersecurity is the protection of internet-connected systems -- including hardware, software and data -- from cyberattacks.

HR management

• employee activism

  Employee activism is actions taken by workers to speak out for or against their employers on controversial issues that impact society.

• employee experience

  Employee experience is a worker's observations and perceptions about his or her employment at a particular company.

• e-learning (online learning)

  E-learning (sometimes called web-based training) is anywhere, any-time instruction delivered over the internet or a corporate intranet to browser-equipped learners.

IT procurement

Terms related to the activities and procedures necessary to acquire information technology (IT) products and services.

• service-level agreement (SLA)

  A service-level agreement (SLA) is a contract between a service provider and its customers that documents what services the provider will furnish and defines the service standards the provider is obligated to meet.

• Sysprep (System Preparation Tool)

  Sysprep is Microsoft's System Preparation tool intended to duplicate, test and deliver new installations for the Windows operating system based on an established installation.

• FinOps

  FinOps (financial operations) is a framework for managing operating expenditures (Opex) in the cloud. An important goal of FinOps is to help cross-functional teams within the same organization maintain financial accountability for cloud services. 

Network management

Terms related to managing computer networks, including definitions about LANS or WANS and words and phrases about network design, troubleshooting, security and backups.

• computer network

  A computer network, also referred to as a data network, is a series of interconnected nodes that can transmit, receive and exchange data, voice and video traffic.

• private cloud (internal cloud or corporate cloud)

  Private cloud is a type of cloud computing that delivers similar advantages to public cloud, including scalability and self-service, but through a proprietary architecture.

• Platform as a Service (PaaS)

  Platform as a service (PaaS) is a cloud computing model in which a third-party provider delivers hardware and software tools -- usually those needed for application development -- to users over the internet.

Project management

Terms related to project management, including definitions about project management methodologies and tools.

• gig economy

  A gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organizations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements.

• quality control (QC)

  Quality control (QC) is a procedure or set of procedures intended to ensure that a manufactured product or performed service adheres to a defined set of quality criteria or meets the requirements of the client or customer.

• team collaboration tools

  Team collaboration tools -- also known as team collaboration software -- is a term used to define the different types of software and online services available to companies and individuals that enable them to feasibly work together on common projects, regardless of their physical location.

Security management

Terms related to security management, including definitions about intrusion detection systems (IDS) and words and phrases about asset management, security policies, security monitoring, authorization and authentication.

• disaster recovery plan (DRP)

  A disaster recovery plan (DRP) is a documented, structured approach that describes how an organization can quickly resume work after an unplanned incident.

• identity theft

  Identity theft, also known as identity fraud, is a crime in which an imposter obtains key pieces of personally identifiable information (PII), such as Social Security or driver's license numbers, in order to impersonate someone else.

• cybercrime

  Cybercrime is any criminal activity that involves a computer, networked device or a network.

SEO

Definitions related to search engine optimization, including definitions about SEO and words and phrases about bots, spiders, organic traffic and all areas of search engine marketing (SEM).

• metadata

  Metadata is data that describes other data. 

• microdata

  Microdata is a type of specification language that is embedded within HTML content to improve machine readability, annotate elements and analyze web pages.

• Click to Tweet

  Click to Tweet is a website that automatically generates links for users to share content through their own Twitter accounts.

Software asset management

Terms related to software management, including definitions about licensing and words and phrases about software lifecycle management and software asset management.

• private cloud (internal cloud or corporate cloud)

  Private cloud is a type of cloud computing that delivers similar advantages to public cloud, including scalability and self-service, but through a proprietary architecture.

• Platform as a Service (PaaS)

  Platform as a service (PaaS) is a cloud computing model in which a third-party provider delivers hardware and software tools -- usually those needed for application development -- to users over the internet.

• asset turnover ratio

  The asset turnover ratio is a measurement that shows how efficiently a company is using its owned resources to generate revenue or sales.

Storage management

Terms related to data storage management, including definitions about enterprise storage and words and phrases about storage infrastructure, storage capacity and hierarchical storage management (HSM).

• cloud storage

  Cloud storage is a service model in which data is transmitted and stored on remote storage systems, where it is maintained, managed, backed up and made available to users over a network (typically the internet).

• data lake

  A data lake is a storage repository that holds a vast amount of raw data in its native format until it is needed.

• cloud computing

  Cloud computing is a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the internet.