IT Management

Career paths and IT certifications

• network engineer

  A network engineer is a technology professional who has the necessary skills to plan, implement and oversee the computer networks that support in-house voice, data, video and wireless network services.

• Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)

  The Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) is a certification and globally recognized standard for appraising an IT auditor's knowledge, expertise and skill in assessing vulnerabilities and instituting IT controls in an enterprise environment. 

• MCSA (Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate)

  MCSA (Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate) is a certification program intended for people who seek entry-level jobs in an information technology (IT) environment.

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.

• data protection management (DPM)

  Data protection management (DPM) comprises the administration, monitoring and management of backup processes to ensure backup tasks run on schedule and data is securely backed up and recoverable.

• enterprise document management (EDM)

  Enterprise document management (EDM) is a strategy for overseeing an organization's paper and electronic documents so they can be easily retrieved in the event of a compliance audit or subpoena.

• Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3)

  Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is a scalable, high-speed, web-based cloud storage service.

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.

• customer satisfaction (CSAT)

  In customer relationship management, customer satisfaction (CSAT) is a measure of the degree to which a product or service meets customer expectations.

• speech recognition

  Speech recognition, or speech-to-text, is the ability for a machine or program to identify words spoken aloud and convert them into readable text.

• contact center as a service (CCaS)

  Contact center as a service (CCaaS) is a framework for contact center infrastructure management that combines the principles of contact center hosting and cloud-based contact center infrastructure.

ERP

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

• enterprise document management (EDM)

  Enterprise document management (EDM) is a strategy for overseeing an organization's paper and electronic documents so they can be easily retrieved in the event of a compliance audit or subpoena.

• PaaS (platform as a service)

  PaaS (platform as a service) is a cloud computing model where a third-party provider delivers hardware and software tools to users over the internet.

• general ledger (GL)

  A general ledger (GL) is a set of numbered accounts a business uses to keep track of its financial transactions and to prepare financial reports.

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.

• Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)

  The Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) is United States legislation that defines a framework of guidelines and security standards to protect government information, operations and assets.

• United Launch Alliance (ULA)

  United Launch Alliance (ULA) is a private aerospace launch provider. Formed in 2006, ULA is a joint venture between The Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin Corporation

• Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21)

  Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21) is an infrastructure protection and resilience directive in the United States that aims to strengthen and secure the country's critical infrastructure.

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.

• protected health information (PHI) or personal health information

  Protected health information (PHI), also referred to as personal health information, generally refers to demographic information, medical histories, test and laboratory results, mental health conditions, insurance information, and other data that a healthcare professional collects to identify an individual and determine appropriate care.

• HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)

  HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is United States legislation that provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information.

• What is cybersecurity? Everything you need to know

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

HR management

• human capital management (HCM)

  Human capital management (HCM) is a comprehensive set of practices and tools used for recruiting, managing and developing employees.

• talent acquisition

  Talent acquisition refers to the process employers use for recruiting, tracking and interviewing job candidates, and onboarding and training new employees.

• human resource management (HRM)

  Human resource management (HRM) is the practice of recruiting, hiring, deploying and managing an organization's employees.

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.

• ERP (enterprise resource planning)

  ERP, or enterprise resource planning, is modular software designed to integrate the main functional areas of an organization's business processes into a unified system.

• IT operations

  IT operations is the overarching term for the processes and services administered by an organization's information technology (IT) department.

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.

• data protection management (DPM)

  Data protection management (DPM) comprises the administration, monitoring and management of backup processes to ensure backup tasks run on schedule and data is securely backed up and recoverable.

• PaaS (platform as a service)

  PaaS (platform as a service) is a cloud computing model where a third-party provider delivers hardware and software tools to users over the internet.

• quality of service (QoS)

  Quality of service (QoS) refers to any technology that manages data traffic to reduce packet loss, latency and jitter on the network.

Project management

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

• positioning statement

  A positioning statement is an expression of how a given product, service or brand fills a particular consumer need in a way that its competitors don’t.

• performance testing

  Performance testing is a testing measure that evaluates the speed, responsiveness and stability of a computer, network, software program or device under a workload.

• project management framework

  A project management framework is a set of processes, tasks, and tools that provide guidance and structure for the execution of a project.

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.

• data protection management (DPM)

  Data protection management (DPM) comprises the administration, monitoring and management of backup processes to ensure backup tasks run on schedule and data is securely backed up and recoverable.

• backdoor (computing)

  A backdoor is a means to access a computer system or encrypted data that bypasses the system's customary security mechanisms.

• cloud access security broker (CASB)

  A cloud access security broker (CASB) is a software tool or service that sits between an organization's on-premises infrastructure and a cloud provider's infrastructure.

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.

• PaaS (platform as a service)

  PaaS (platform as a service) is a cloud computing model where a third-party provider delivers hardware and software tools to users over the internet.

• IT operations

  IT operations is the overarching term for the processes and services administered by an organization's information technology (IT) department.

• predictive analytics

  Predictive analytics is a form of advanced analytics that uses both new and historical data to forecast activity, behavior and trends.

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).

• data protection management (DPM)

  Data protection management (DPM) comprises the administration, monitoring and management of backup processes to ensure backup tasks run on schedule and data is securely backed up and recoverable.

• cloud SLA (cloud service-level agreement)

  A cloud SLA (cloud service-level agreement) is an agreement between a cloud service provider and a customer that ensures a minimum level of service is maintained.

• 3Vs (volume, variety and velocity)

  The 3Vs (volume, variety and velocity) are three defining properties or dimensions of big data.