IT Management

Career paths and IT certifications

• Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)

  Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) is an advanced certification which indicates that an individual possesses the knowledge and experience required to develop and manage an enterprise information security (infosec) program.

• liaison officer

  A liaison officer is an employee who is responsible for establishing a positive working relationship between two or more people, organizations or agencies, typically with the goal of working through a mutual problem or concern.

• microlearning (microtraining)

  Microlearning is an educational strategy that breaks complex topics down into short-form, stand-alone units of study that can be viewed as many times as necessary, whenever and wherever the learner needs them. Microlearning instructional modules are designed to address one specific skill or knowledge gap.

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.

• compliance framework

  A compliance framework is a structured set of guidelines that details an organization's processes for maintaining accordance with established regulations, specifications or legislation.

• What is cybersecurity? Everything you need to know

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

• regulatory compliance

  Regulatory compliance is an organization's adherence to laws, regulations, guidelines and specifications relevant to its business processes.

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.

• chief experience officer (CXO)

  A chief experience officer (CXO) is an executive in the C-suite who ensures positive interactions with an organization's customers.

• buyer personas

  A buyer persona is a composite representation of a specific subdivision of a market segment.

• customer experience (CX)

  Customer experience (CX) is the sum total of customers' perceptions and feelings resulting from interactions with a brand's products and services.

ERP

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

• chief experience officer (CXO)

  A chief experience officer (CXO) is an executive in the C-suite who ensures positive interactions with an organization's customers.

• customer experience (CX)

  Customer experience (CX) is the sum total of customers' perceptions and feelings resulting from interactions with a brand's products and services.

• RFI (request for information)

  An RFI (request for information) is a formal process for gathering information from potential suppliers of a good or service.

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.

• 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.

• Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)

  The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a symmetric block cipher chosen by the U.S. government to protect classified information.

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.

• What is cybersecurity? Everything you need to know

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

• emergent medical data (EMD)

  Emergent medical data (EMD) is health information gathered about an individual from seemingly unrelated user behavior data.

• polygenic risk score (PRS)

  A polygenic risk score (PRS) is an expression of someone's likelihood of having or developing a particular medical condition.

HR management

• E-Verify

  E-Verify is a free web service that allows employers to confirm the legal eligibility of an individual who wants to work in the United States.

• Individual Retirement Account (IRA)

  An Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is a retirement savings account set up with a financial institution or brokerage firm that offers tax breaks for those investing income for their retirement.

• 401(k) plan

  A 401(k) plan is a type of retirement savings account. It is a tax-deferred savings pension account frequently offered for employees by employers.

IT procurement

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

• RFI (request for information)

  An RFI (request for information) is a formal process for gathering information from potential suppliers of a good or service.

• request for proposal (RFP)

  A request for proposal (RFP) is a document that an organization, often a government agency or large enterprise, posts to elicit a response -- a formal bid -- from potential vendors for a desired IT solution.

• procurement plan

  A procurement plan -- also called a procurement management plan -- is a document that is used to manage the process of finding and selecting a vendor.

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.

• Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

  Secure Access Service Edge, also known as SASE -- pronounced 'sassy' -- is a cloud architecture that bundles network and security solutions together and delivers them as a unified cloud service.

• remote desktop protocol (RDP)

  Remote desktop protocol (RDP) is a secure network communications protocol from Microsoft.

• cloud disaster recovery (cloud DR)

  Cloud disaster recovery (cloud DR) is a combination of strategies and services intended to back up data, applications and other resources to public cloud or dedicated service providers.

Project management

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

• Eisenhower Matrix

  The Eisenhower Matrix is a time management tool for prioritizing tasks.

• MoSCoW method

  The MoSCoW method is a four-step approach to prioritizing which project requirements will provide the best return on investment (ROI).

• project scope

  Project scope is the part of project planning that involves determining and documenting a list of specific project goals, deliverables, tasks, costs and deadlines.

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.

• 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.

• hard-drive encryption

  Hard-drive encryption is a technology that encrypts the data stored on a hard drive using sophisticated mathematical functions.

• PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)

  The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a widely accepted set of policies and procedures intended to optimize the security of credit, debit and cash card transactions and protect cardholders against misuse of their personal information.

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.

• Mobile Threat Defense (MTD)

  Mobile Threat Defense (MTD) is a security software meant to protect organizations and individual users from security threats on mobile platforms.

• Software as a Service (SaaS)

  Software as a service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts applications and makes them available to customers over the Internet.

• 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.

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 disaster recovery (cloud DR)

  Cloud disaster recovery (cloud DR) is a combination of strategies and services intended to back up data, applications and other resources to public cloud or dedicated service providers.

• cloud computing

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

• 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).