A

Application service provider(ASP)
A company that provides software functionality over the Internet or a private network for a fee.

Application Software
Software applications that are intended for end-users, such as database programs, word processors, and spreadsheets. Application software runs on top of system software.

Architecture
The overall design of a system of hardware or software, which includes definitions ranging from precise mechanisms to broad outlines.

Artificial Intelligence(AI)
The branch of computer science concerned with making computers behave like humans.

Asset Management
The practice of collecting and maintaining a comprehensive list of items a company owns, such as hardware and software.

Asynchronous transfer mode(ATM)
A network technology that organizes digital data into units and transmits them over a physical medium using digital signal technology. ATM is a key component of broadband ISDN.

Authentication
The process of confirming a user’s identity; commonly done through the use of passwords or digital certificates.
 

B

Bandwidth
The amount of data a network can transport in a given period of time. Higher bandwidth means more data per second can be transferred.

Biometrics
A method of identifying a user based on a physical characteristic, such as a fingerprint, iris, face, voice or handwriting.

Bluetooth
A microchip based on proprietary short-range radio technology that connects handheld devices and computers without wires or cables.

Bottleneck
The place on the network (or in a single computer) where the rate of data movement is most constricted.

Boutiques
Small, specialized consulting firms.

Broadband
A telecommunications network that can process a large amount of data.

Browser
Graphical interface that enables users to access, view and navigate the Web.
 

C

Change management
The practice of steering a company in a new strategic direction and keeping all involved people and projects aligned with the new goals as the organization, jobs, technology and processes are uprooted.

Chaos theory
A theory based on treating problems as nonlinear systems that cannot be solved with a simple solution derived from current trends.

Chief information officer(CIO)
The person responsible for information technology and computer systems in an organization.

Chief knowledge officer(CKO)
The person responsible for organizing a company's knowledge and information and ensuring that the appropriate people have access to it.

Chief technology officer(CTO)
The senior technology executive responsible for research and development and new product plans.


Client
The requester of information, such as a desktop computer or terminal, in a client/server computing relationship.

Client/server computing
An interconnected network environment in which servers distribute processing power and software applications to workstations.
 

Collision
The result of two network devices attempting to transmit data at the same time on the same channel.

Computer architecture
The entire blueprint of a computer system.

Content rating
Labels that identify files’ contents so that filters can prevent certain types of content from being accessed.

Content security
A computing infrastructure that prevents information from being released by or within a company that compromises its security.

Cookie
Information that websites place on users’ hard drives to identify users and record their usage patterns.

Crash
The sudden failure of a software application or operating system or of a hardware device such as a hard disk drive.

Cryptography
The practice of coding in which data is encrypted and decrypted using an algorithm.

Customer relationship management(CRM)
The practice of designing an enterprise around customers and their wants and needs. Enterprises using the CRM approach use technology and strategy to get a more complete view of the customer.

Cybersquatting
The practice of registering a recognized trademark as an Internet domain name solely for the purpose of reselling it for a large sum of money.

D

Data mart
A repository of data that serves a particular community of knowledge workers. The data may come from an enterprisewide database or a data warehouse.

Data mining
The practice of extracting data from a data warehouse in order to analyze patterns, trends and relationships.

Data modeling
The practice of analyzing an enterprise’s data and identifying the relationships among the data.

Data scrubbing
The practice of monitoring a data warehouse and removing data that is not trustworthy or timely.

Data warehouse
A database that stores large amounts of historical business data.

Denial-of-Service Attack (DoS)
The act of purposely overloading a mail server, web server or phone system with phony requests in order to disrupt service to valid ones.

Digital Certificate
A digital document issued by a certification authority that contains the holder’s name, serial number, public key and the document’s expiration date. Digital certificates are used in public key infrastructure to send and receive secure, encrypted messages.

Digital signature
An electronic signature that uses public key infrastructure to verify the identity of the sender of a message or of the signer of a document.

Digital subscriber line(DSL)
A group of protocols that allow customers and phone companies to exchange data over telephone lines at a high speed. The individual protocols are: asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), symmetric digital subscriber line (SDSL), high-data-rate DSL (HDSL) and single-line DSL (SDSL).

Distributed Denial-of-Service Attack (DDoS)
The act of loading malignant code onto a host of other machines in order to perform a Denial-of-Service attack.

Dotcom
A company with a strong Web presence that conducts some or all of its business on its website.

Dumb terminal
A monitor with no computing power that connects to a mainframe or midrange computer over a network.

Dynamic HTML(DHTML)
The combination of the HTML Web-authoring language with languages like Javascript that enable interactivity. DHTML produces Web content that moves on the screen and rearranges itself behind the screen.

E

E-business
The process of conducting business on the Internet.

E-commerce
The process of selling and buying goods and services on the Internet.

Electronic fund transfer(EFT)
The process of electronically moving money between accounts.

Encryption
Encoding data so that only desired recipients can decode it.

Encryption software
Software that a business organization shares, such as ERP (enterprise resource planning) software.

Encryption/decryption
The process of using an algorithm to translate a message into an unreadable format (encryption) and then back into a readable format by someone with a secret key (decryption).

Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE)
A version of the Global System for Mobile Communication Standard (GSM) that carries messages on broadband networks.

Enterprise relationship management(ERM)
The practice of analyzing customer data from sales, marketing, service, finance and manufacturing databases in order to relate efficiently to customers.

Enterprise resource management(ERM)
The practice of providing users with efficient access to an organization’s network resources. ERM enables the enterprise to control and track the systems and resources that each user has access to and provides consistent standards for creating and changing passwords.

Enterprise resource planning(ERP)
The practice of consolidating an enterprise’s planning, manufacturing, sales and marketing efforts into one management system.

Ethernet
The most widely installed LAN (local area network) technology.

Expert system
A system programmed to use logic or rules to answer questions and solve problems.

Extensible markup language(XML)
An authoring language with which organizations design the appearance of and relationship between data. XML may eventually replace HTML as the standard Web language.

Extranet
A network of controlled-access Web resources that are available only to specific users, such as customers or trading partners.

F

Firewall
A software and/or hardware system that isolates a company's computer network from outsiders.

Flavor
A variation of an operating system. Companies make flavors by modifying their basic operating systems.

G

Globalization
A company’s business expansion into other continents. Global companies need to keep abreast of other countries’ and markets’ technological, political, economic and cultural backdrops, and their changing business environments.

Graphical user interface, pronounced (GUI)
An interface to an application that allows users to do things by clicking on a visual screen, as opposed to typing commands on a line. GUIs (pronounced “gooey”) feature the following components: a pointing device (such as a mouse), icons, windows and menus.

Groupware
Software that helps groups of people who work on a network communicate electronically and share data, such as email, meeting scheduling and file distribution applications.

H

Handheld Devices Markup Language (HDML)
An authoring language using hypertext transfer protocol that allows for the text display of Web pages on handheld devices.

Hypertext markup language(HTML)
An authoring language that is used to create documents on the Web.

I

Information services(IS)
The department within an enterprise responsible for computers, networking and data management.

Information technology(IT)
All aspects of managing and processing information with computers within companies.

Infrastructure
The hardware and physical components that make up a computing architecture.

Integrated services digital network(ISDN)
A communications standard for rapidly sending digital voice, video and data over phone lines.

Integration
The process of combining separately produced components of a product and altering them so that they can interact.

Intellectual capital
The knowledge assets that a company owns, including information in company databases as well as what individual employees know.

Intelligent agent
A program that automatically performs a service, such as gathering specific information, or that personalizes information on a Web site based on a user’s registration information and usage analysis.

Internet
A global, decentralized network, often referred to as the Net, that connects millions of independent computers.

Internet protocol(IP)
A protocol commonly used with the higher-level Transport Control Protocol (TCP). IP is the network layer of the TCP/IP suite that specifies the format of packets and the addressing scheme.

Internet service provider(ISP)
A company that provides paid users with access to the Internet. Customers use software to connect to the ISP over phone or cable lines. ISPs connect to each other through NAPs (network access points).

Intranet
A collection of Web resources kept within a firewall for an enterprise’s internal use.

IT value
The return on technology-related investments in terms of money and personnel. Companies assess IT value when prioritizing and choosing which new IT investments to make and when gauging the payoff from a recent implementation or project.

J

Java
A high-level object-oriented programming language that can run on most computers and is well suited for Web applications.

L

Linux
An operating system modeled after Unix that was written from scratch and whose source code is available for free.

Local area network(LAN)
A communications network that connects users within a single location, such as an office or university.

M

Mainframe
A computer created for large corporations’ one-way computing processes. Mainframes are not interactive and are associated with centralized rather than distributed computing.

Material resource planning(MRP)
The practice of calculating what materials are required to build a product by analyzing a bill of material data, inventory data and the master production schedule. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is an outgrowth of MRP.

Microsoft disk operating system(MS-DOS)
The first widely installed operating system for personal computers. MS-DOS runs one program at a time and requires only 1 megabyte of memory to operate. Users type commands in a text-based screen without the aid of a clickable graphical interface.

MP3(MP3)
An audio compression format that lets users download sound files, such as music, onto their computers in a short time without taking up all the room on the hard drive.

Multicasting
The practice of sending a message from one point on a network to many selected points at the same time instead of sending it to one user or to every user on the network.

N

Native
A software application written specifically for the hardware it runs on. In general, native applications run faster and use the hardware’s capabilities to a greater extent than non-native applications.

Natural-language processing
A speech-to-text system that digitizes spoken words, translates them into language a computer can understand and then converts that language to text.

Net PC
A type of network computer that acts as a terminal with a hard drive. NetPCs execute Windows applications locally and connect to a remote network to execute other applications.

Network computer (NC)
A computer with minimal memory, disk storage and processor power that executes programs and saves data on a shared network.

New economy
The current state of the global, innovative, Internet-influenced economic order. The old economy was static, with change occurring relatively slowly.

Notcom
A company with no presence on the Web.

O

Open source
Software built by programmers who think technology should be distributed without charge. Open source programs, such as the Linux operating system, post their source code for free so that anyone can use, modify and improve them.

Operating system
The software that tells a computer how to run its most basic functions and how to interpret user commands.

P

Protocol
Rules that govern communications between connected computers.

Proxy firewall
This type of firewall offers security across networks by looking at content. Other security features, such as data encryption and authentication, can be added.

Public Key Cryptography
A method of coding in which encryption and decryption are done with public and private keys, allowing users who don’t know one another other to send secure or verifiable messages.

Public Key Infrastructure
A system for securely exchanging information within a company, group or worldwide that includes a method for publishing the public keys used in public key cryptography and for tracking expired keys.

Pull
The traditional model of Web delivery by which a user’s browser requests information before the server sends it.

Push
The model of Web delivery in which a server sends a user information without receiving a request for it.

S

Search engine
A program that delivers to users information and website addresses that relate to words they entered into the program’s interface.

Secure electronic transaction(SET)
The process of sending secure financial transactions over the Internet. Transactions are conducted and verified using a combination of digital IDs between the purchaser, the purchaser's bank and the merchant.

Secure sockets layer(SSL)
A security and privacy mechanism for the Web.

Solaris
A computer operating system built by Sun Microsystems that works with Sun’s Sparc-based processors and Intel-based processors. Sun Solaris replaced SunOS.

Standards
Approved technologies, created to encourage consistency and organization within the corporate infrastructure.

Stickiness
The characteristic of a Web site that induces visitors to remain there rather than move on to another site.

Structured query language(SQL)
A programming language pronounced “sequel,” that builds applications that move information in and out of databases.

SunOS
A Unix-based computer operating system built by Sun Microsystems that works with Sun’s Sparc-based workstations and servers. SunOS was replaced by Sun Solaris.

Supply chain
The chain of suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and stores that enable a product to be made, sold and delivered.

Supply-chain management
The practice of managing the flow of goods, services and information along a supply chain—from suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, stores, on down to consumers and end users. SCM includes business strategy, information flow and system compatibility.

System Software
Software applications that manage computer resources and are not intended for end users, such as compilers, loaders, linkers, and debuggers.

T

Transmission control protocol/Internet protocol(TCP/IP)
The most common Internet communication protocol. The higher layer, TCP (transmission control protocol), assembles files into smaller packets that are transmitted over the Internet and received by another TCP layer that reassembles them. The lower network layer, (IP) Internet protocol, handles the address part of each packet so that it gets to the right destination.

Trojan Horse
A malicious program that is disguised as something benign, but contains harmful or destructive code.

Tunneling
The practice of connecting two computers securely and privately over a series of public links.

U

Unix
A computer operating system built by Bell Labs in 1969 as an interactive time-sharing system. Unix was the first standard operating system that anyone could improve or enhance and is used in workstation products from many companies.

V

Viral marketing
A marketing technique to create a slogan or campaign that is so well accepted that users pass its message to other users and increase its visibility and effect.

Virtual private network(VPN)
A remote-access system in which users connect to an ISP or a private IP-based network and from there establish a secure connection with network servers via an encrypted tunnel.

Virtual reality (VR)
Computer simulations that allow users to interact with 3D graphics.

Virus
A malicious program, usually disguised as something benign, that replicates itself and may spread to other computers, potentially causing damage to a computer system by attaching to files, boot records or documents that use macros.

W

Web server
A computer that sends Web files from their publishers to Web users.

Webcasting
The practice of broadcasting digital media over the Internet.

Wide area network(WAN)
A communications network that connects separate locations.

Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA)
A third generation wireless technology under development that allows for high-speed, high-data quality transmission. WCDMA digitizes and transmits wireless data over a wide range of frequencies.

Windows 2000
The latest version of Microsoft's evolving Windows operating system, previously called Windows NT 5.0.

Windows 95
A computer operating system built by Microsoft in 1995 that, unlike its previous operating systems, does not run on top of the company’s MS-DOS system built in the 1960s.

Windows 98
The 1998 update of Microsoft’s Windows 95 operating system for personal computers.

World Wide Web(WWW)
The graphical interface with which millions of users access Internet files that conform to the hypertext protocol (HTTP) The Web is the most accessible and widely used branch of the Internet.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
The main standards body for the World Wide Web that establishes protocols for transmitting information over the Web.

X

Extensible markup language(XML)
An authoring language with which organizations design the appearance of and relationship between data. XML may eventually replace HTML as the standard Web language.