IT Glossary

conductor

1. Any equipment, such as a wire or cable, that can carry an electric current. 2. One wire of a multiwire cable.

Binary Code

Binary code is the representation of quantities expressed in the base-2 number system.

Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)

Building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems are photovoltaic (PV) solar energy systems that are specifically designed to blend in with the architecture of a building, combining the economic and sustainability benefits of distributed solar energy generation with the aesthetic appeal of a seamless integration into the overall building design.

coaxial cable

Cable consisting of an outer conductor surrounding an inner conductor, with a layer of insulating material in between. Such cable can carry a much higher bandwidth than a wire pair.

Channel Capacity

Channel capacity is an expression of the maximum data traffic that can be handled by the channel.

Cloud Email

Cloud email describes a vendor-offered, multitenant, Internet-delivered email service that is scalable and flexible.

geofencing

Creating a virtual boundary in which a device, individual or asset can be tracked and monitored or detected if the boundary is violated. Examples are the tracking of pets, children and Alzheimer's patients, criminals sentenced to home detention, trucks and high-value cargos.

Crisis/Incident Management (C/IM) Software

Crisis/incident management (C/IM) software is used to manage the actions of the workforce and other key stakeholders in response to a particular crisis or incident with a consistent and quick approach so as to return to normal as soon as possible. C/IM software functionality should include crisis communications and collaboration, recovery plan repository, plan training/exercising,...

KPIV (key process input variable)

Key process input variable — the most important input(s) to a process.

LISP

LISP is an object-oriented programming language.

Local Modifications Memory

Local modifications memory is a technology that remembers manual changes to the graphical user interface (GUI) design and reapplies them should the screen need to be reconverted and generated.

gemba walk

See Waste Walk.

Clinical Context Object Workgroup (CCOW)

The Clinical Context Object Workgroup (CCOW) is a group that defines standards for collaboration among visual (GUI-based) applications on clinical workstations. Originally an independent consortium, CCOW is now technical committee of the Health Level Seven (HL7) standards organization.

Digitization

Digitization is the process of changing from analog to digital form.

kaikaku

Radical and significant improvement.

Minutes of use (MOUs)

 Minutes of use (MOUs) is a measurement (usually monthly) of a wireless user's total circuit-switched voice connection time.

Data Broker

A Data Broker is a business that aggregates information from a variety of sources.

Bookmark

A bookmark is defined as a pointer to an Internet address kept within a Web client (browser).

Checksum

A checksum is a value calculated from a block of data, used to detect errors in transmitted data.

telco

A contraction of the term "telephone company." It generally refers to the local-exchange carrier (LEC).

SDSL (symmetric digital subscriber line)

A digital subscriber line (DSL) technology that operates over voice-grade lines at 1.5 megabits per second one way, or 768 kilobits per second both ways, over an 8,000-foot distance.

PCM (pulse code modulation)

A digital technique that involves sampling an analog signal at regular intervals and coding the measured amplitude into a series of binary values, which are transmitted by modulation of a pulsed, or intermittent, carrier. It is the standard technique in telecommunications transmission.

Java applet

A small piece of Java code that implements a specific function. Applets may run on a server or be downloaded and run on the client's machine.

Opportunity Management System

An opportunity management system (OMS) is a system tied closely to the sales process; it is the framework for any sales force automation (SFA) design. All other applications are subordinate to the OMS. Transactions flow from the OMS to other applications on users' portable computers. Applications can be integrated among vendors.

Enterprise Architecture (EA) Tools

Enterprise architecture (EA) tools are software applications targeted primarily at supporting participants and stakeholders of the EA discipline in their strategically driven planning through to execution. Support for strategic decision making is provided through capturing vital enterprise context background, along with content development and analysis capabilities across the business, information, technology and solution architectures. Read...

Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)

Enterprise asset management (EAM) consists of asset register, work order management, inventory and procurement functions in an integrated business software package.

Appliances

Appliances is a generic term that encapsulates many aspects of integrated systems and related solutions cutting across data center, PC and software delivery. It can have many meanings and interpretations from the industry, vendors with related market initiatives and derivatives. However, appliances are more than just IT bundles with marketing; they offer joint technology, hardware,...

Architected Rapid Application Development (ARAD)

Architected rapid application development (ARAD) has developed from object-oriented analysis and design tools, and incorporates analysis and design patterns and frameworks. Typically, organizations can generate 50% to 70% of source artifacts from the patterns, frameworks and (optional) models. Increasingly, organizations are blending traditional iterative methods used with ARAD with agile principles and practices to create...

Back-End

Back-end is defined as the server side of a client/server system.

Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)

Business process re-engineering (BPR) is defined as an integrated set of management policies, project management procedures, and modeling, analysis, design and testing techniques for analyzing existing business processes and systems; designing new processes and systems; testing, simulating and prototyping new designs prior to implementation; and managing the implementation process. Register for the Gartner Business Process...

claims analytics

Gartner defines "claims analytics" as the use of business intelligence (BI), reporting solutions, dashboards, data mining and predictive modeling technologies to manage and analyze claims data, which can result in improved performance. Overall, three processes are supported in claims analytics tools claims analysis, reporting and predictive modeling.

Diagnostic Analytics

Gartner defines Diagnostic Analytics as a form of advanced analytics which examines data or content to answer the question "Why did it happen?"

Cloud Management Platforms

Gartner defines cloud management platforms as integrated products that provide for the management of public, private & hybrid cloud environments. Click here

Grid Computing

Gartner defines grid computing as a method for applying large numbers of resources, usually large amounts of processing capacity, to a single task, by applying resources from more than one system. A grid is a collection of resources that's coordinated to enable the resources to solve a common problem. A computing grid harnesses multiple computers...

Gaze Control

Gaze control is about effecting computer action by changing the direction of one's gaze. This involves determining the angle or position of a user's visual attention, usually through the use of cameras, and choosing from a set of available instructions that are mapped to those positions.

Clinical Kiosks

Clinical kiosks are completely self-contained units, fixed or portable, that allow patients to have a full diagnostic and/or clinical treatment interaction with a physician, without the need for on-site personnel. Clinical kiosks are self-service platforms that perform clinical functions, including taking certain clinical and biometric readings, completing tests, and enabling patients to upload vital signs...

Cloud Security Gateways

Cloud security gateways are on-premises or cloud-based security policy enforcement points placed between cloud service consumers and cloud service providers to interject enterprise security policies as the cloud-based resources are accessed. Cloud security gateways consolidate multiple types of security policy enforcement. Example security policies include authentication, single sign-on, authorization, security token mapping, encryption, tokenization, logging,...

communities

Communities of interest and communities of practice (CoP) exhibit more structure and more purpose than open social-networking sites. As with their precedents (bulletin boards or list servers), the people who participate in communities are linked by their interest in a topic. When CoP form within a company, it has identified members and expects to produce...

Constant Bit Rate (CBR)

Constant bit rate (CBR) is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) service category, defined by the ATM Forum, that guarantees a constant bandwidth with low delay, jitter and cell loss. Circuit emulation is a typical application.

DNA Logic

DNA logic utilizes the properties of DNA molecules for storage and processing. Logic functions are formed from the binding of DNA molecules in various combinations. A DNA "AND" gate, for example, would chemically join two separate DNA codes in an end-to-end string. Rapid search functions are possible since DNA strings are attracted to identical or...

Data Center Outsourcing (DCO)

Data center outsourcing (DCO) is a multiyear, annuity contract or relationship involving the day-to-day management responsibility for operating server or host platforms, including distributed servers and storage. Services include any combination (or all) of professional services and product support, as they relate to the ongoing management of computing and storage resources.

ECM - Enterprise Content Management - Gartner IT

Visit Gartner for the latest research and webinars covering IT tech trends and Enterprise Content Management (ECM).

Managed Network Services

Managed network services (MNSs) refer to a vendor's delivery of primarily operational support for a new environment in which the hardware assets, financial obligations and personnel still remain on the books of the customer.

syntax

Message format or grammar (e.g., field lengths and delineators, headers, footers and optional fields).

Mobile IM

Mobile instant messaging (mobile IM) refers to the use of an online IM application, including presence and buddy lists, on a mobile device and a wireless network.

Object-Based Technologies

Object-based technologies are technologies in which objects have encapsulation.

screening

Prevention of electric, magnetic, or electromagnetic fields from escaping or entering an enclosed area by means of a barrier. Also called shielding.

server virtualization infrastructure

Server virtualization infrastructure includes the hypervisor, VM and virtual machine monitors (VMMs). The key to "virtualizing" a server is the hypervisor. A hypervisor is a layer of software (the term "software" can mean preloaded software that runs in a protected area or microcode/firmware, depending on the implementation) that runs directly on hardware and allows the...

Switch-Based Storage Virtualization

Switch-based virtualization is an out-of-band approach to storage virtualization that capitalizes on processors behind Fibre Channel switch ports to eliminate most storage network block virtualization performance and scalability issues by splitting the control path (slow path) from the data path (fast path).

frequency band

The range of frequencies defined and dedicated to a particular type of service or radio technology; a frequency band is usually divided into a number of channels.

Activity-Based Management (ABM)

Activity-Based Management (ABM) is the use of activity-based costing (ABC) principles in the ongoing management of costs and resources.

Free Cooling (Economizers)

"Free cooling," refers to any technique used to reduce the energy consumed by cooling systems or the time that the cooling units run by using the outside temperature of air or water to cool the data center or other facilities. Generally, it comes from the use of air-side and water-side economizers.Air-side economizers work in two...

clipping

1. Loss of parts of words or of syllables in the operation of voice-actuated devices. 2. Distortion of a signal that has reached the limit of its modulation parameter (e.g., amplitude) and can no longer be effectively modulated.

SVGA (Super Video Graphics Array)

A Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) display standard that provides higher resolution than the 640 x 480 Video Graphics Array (VGA) standard. It can support as many as 16 million colors, depending on the computer system and amount of available memory.

Background Task

A background task is a task performed by a system during the time when its primary application is idle.

distributed function

A form of client/server computing in which some of the application program logic executes on one computer, possibly with a database, and the rest of the application resides on another computer, possibly along with presentation services.

distributed data management

A form of client/server computing in which some portion of the application data executes on two or more computers.

5 whys

A form of root-cause analysis that entails asking "why" (at least) five times until the underlying causes of an outcome are understood.

LED (light-emitting diode)

A semiconductor that produces light when activated.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS)

Advanced planning and scheduling (APS) is a sub-component of supply chain planning, contextually describing manufacturing planning and scheduling.

PACS (personal access communication services)

American National Standards Institute common air interface standard for low-mobility digital cellular or fixed-wireless access to users operating in the 1,900MHz band. See also mobile WLL.

DAPP (data analysis and provider profiling)

DAPP vendors are those that provide healthcare value-added analytic applications to support analysis of administrative data for the purposes of network management, actuarial and underwriting functions, medical management and performance measurement — including Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) reporting.

Dual Mode

Dual mode refers to mobile devices that function on two different bearer technologies, such as GSM and WCDMA, or 1x and WCDMA. Most 3G phones are dual-mode and tri- or quad- band to enable users to roam onto 2G networks when they are outside the 3G coverage area.

IDE (integrated development environment)

Environments for writing application logic and designing application interfaces. They contrast with integrated application environments (IAEs) by their lack of solutions that include application servers (with a runtime framework or middleware component) and a development framework (e.g., with integrated testing, project and process management, software configuration management, component design and assembly).

Customer Experience - CRM

Free Gartner Webinars & Research On Customer Experience Management and Keeping Customers Engaged and Interested.

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)

HIPAA, which became effective in August 1997, calls for electronic data interchange (EDI) use in medical transactions and also calls for protecting patient healthcare information. Enterprises face fines of up to $250,000 and 10 years imprisonment for wrongfully disclosing patient information.

Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs)

Head-mounted displays (HMDs) are small displays or projection technology integrated into eyeglasses or mounted on a helmet or hat. Heads-up displays are a type of HMD that does not block the user's vision, but superimposes the image on the user's view of the real world. An emerging form of heads-up display is a retinal display...

Home Health Monitoring

Home health monitoring is the use of IT and telecommunications to monitor the health of patients in their homes and to help ensure that appropriate action is taken. Patients are provided devices that measure vital signs, such as blood pressure, glucose level, pulse, blood oxygen level and weight, and then transmit the data to clinicians....

Idea Management

Idea management is a structured process of generating, capturing, discussing and improving, organizing, evaluating and prioritizing valuable insight or alternative thinking that would otherwise not have emerged through normal processes.

source traffic descriptor

In asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), a set of parameters used during the setting up of a connection.

connected devices

Media tablets, e-readers, portable navigation devices, media players, imaging devices and mobile gaming devices.

PDM (product data management)

PDM technologies and products have historically been positioned as the primary application backbone for managing and controlling the flow of design intent across the three major design stages concept design, detail design and production. But in practice, PDM has served as a complementary application tower to computer-aided design (CAD) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems...

stalking horses

Stalking horses are conceptual models used to test out new concepts and stimulate dialogue about them.

sales enablement

The activities, systems, processes and information that support and promote knowledge-based sales interactions with client and prospects.

subnet mask

The bits of an Internet Protocol (IP) address used for a subnetwork.

CPU (central processing unit)

The component of a computer system that controls the interpretation and execution of instructions. The CPU of a PC consists of a single microprocessor, while the CPU of a more powerful mainframe consists of multiple processing devices, and in some cases, hundreds of them. The term "processor" is often used to refer to a CPU.

Data Integration

The discipline of data integration comprises the practices, architectural techniques and tools for achieving the consistent access and delivery of data across the spectrum of data subject areas and data structure types in the enterprise to meet the data consumption requirements of all applications and business processes. Data integration tools have traditionally been delivered via...

disciplined multisourcing

The disciplined provisioning and blending of business and IT services from the optimal set of internal and external providers in the pursuit of business goals.

Dynamic Web Application Tools

The dynamic Web application tool market includes tools that support interpreted and dynamic languages, such as Perl, Python, PHP, Ruby and ECMAScript. These tools are focused primarily (although not exclusively) on combining traditional integrated development environment features with Web design features.

CRP (capacity requirements planning)

The process of specifying the level of resources (facilities, equipment and labor force size) that best supports the enterprise's competitive strategy for production.

CPP (commercial parallel processing)

The use of parallel-processing systems for complex commercial applications.

direct channel

This is a channel through which hardware, software and peripherals are sold by the manufacturer directly to the end user • Direct sales force — This is a channel through which products move directly from the manufacturer or vendor to the end user, usually by a professionally trained field sales force. • Direct fax/phone/Web —...

spam

Usenet messages flooded to many newsgroups indiscriminately. The term is also loosely applied to junk mail.

SFA (sales force automation)

Using technology to automate the sales process. Some technologies that can be used for sales automation are •     Laptop computers •     Personal digital assistants •     Contact databases •     Interactive selling systems

switchover

When a failure occurs in the equipment, a switch to an alternative component can occur. Also called failover.

selective sourcing

Gartner defines selective sourcing when an internal IT organization decouples or carves up the scope of business or IT processes for purposes of individually or selectively sourcing each component separately and distinctly. The main business driver is to determine the best risk-reward combination for each individual scope of work. Most often, this is done to...

IPA (integrated publishing architecture)

A Gartner concept that defines the creation, assembly and production functions to support the complete document life cycle. Creation includes document component modeling, authoring, content identification, revision, review and approval; assembly includes document aggregation modeling, on-demand document construction and database interchange; and production includes composition, layout and file formatting for multiple communication channels.

daemon

A Unix process initiated during system boot and activated automatically to perform a particular task.

Base Station Controller (BSC)

A base station controller (BSC) is a network element that controls and monitors a number of base stations and provides the interface between the cell sites and the mobile switching center (MSC).

clamshell

A computer system that weighs less than 3 pounds and opens lengthwise to expose a keyboard and screen.

Control Code

A control code is a multibit code reserved for controlling hardware, such as printers.

Geographic Information System (GIS)

A geographic information system (GIS) is a collection of computer hardware, software and geographic data for capturing, managing, analyzing and displaying every form of geographically referenced information, often called spatial data.

Lurker

A lurker is a user who does not participate in an online discussion (e.g., in a chat room), but merely observes the activity.

Marketing Database System

A marketing database system is a database system designed to meet the specialized analytical and application needs of marketers.

Mashup

A mashup is an assembly of existing software and data services into new Web-based solutions.

ROE (return on equity)

A measure of a company's financial performance (net income divided by the value of the stockholders' equity, and expressed in percent).

Multidimensional Database Management System

A multidimensional database management system (MDDBMS) is a database management system that stores and manages data in dimensional arrays, indexed by dimensions and measured over time.

Multifunction Product

A multifunction product (MFP) is a network-attached document production device that combines two or more of the copy, print, scan and fax functions.

Multimode Fiber

A multimode fiber is a fiber supporting propagation of multiple modes. The cable has a core diameter of 50-100 microns. It causes more distortion and gives less bandwidth than single-mode (monomode) fiber.

synchronous network

A network in which all the communications links are synchronized to a common clock.

digital network

A network incorporating both digital switching and digital transmission.

Next-Generation Network

A next-generation network (NGN) is a generic term that describes the evolution and migration of fixed and mobile network infrastructures from distinct, proprietary networks to converged networks based on IP.

shielded pair

A pair of conductors in a cable that are wrapped with metallic foil designed to insulate the pair from interference.

pulse carrier

A series of identical pulses intended for modulation.

statistical quality control/statistical process control

A set of techniques based on statistical principles and methods used to regulate the quality of products and processes.

Smartphone

A smartphone is a mobile communications device that uses an identifiable open OS. An open OS is supported by third-party applications written by a notable developer community. Third-party applications can be installed and removed, and they can be created for the device's OS and application programming interfaces (APIs). Alternatively, developers must be able to access...

IDL (interface definition language)

A standard language for defining objects' abstract descriptions in terms of their external interfaces (i.e., methods and parameters). The IDL compiler will create relevant runtime static and dynamic interface binding information.

CMYK (sometimes YMCK or "process color printing")

A subtractive color model used in color printing. This color model is based on mixing pigments of the following colors to make other colors cyan, magenta, yellow and black.

closed-loop MRP (closed-loop material requirements planning)

A system built around MRP that also includes production planning, master production schedule, and capacity requirements planning. Once the planning phase is complete and the plans have been accepted as realistic and attainable, the execution functions come into play. These include the shop floor control functions of input/output measurement, detailed scheduling and dispatching, as well...

client appliance

A type of computing appliance that provides end-user access to applications. Examples include network computers and certain handheld computers. See computing appliance.

Semantic nets

A type of knowledge representation that uses nodes (representing objects or events) and links (representing relationships between those objects or events).

JIT (just in time)

An approach of sequencing the arrival of material to a work center just prior to consumption to avoid large work-in-process inventories.

Earth Station

An earth station is a collection of equipment installed on the earth's surface that enables communications over one or more satellites. Earth stations consist of a reflector antenna (or parabolic dish), a feed system to send and receive the RF carrier, data handling equipment and mechanical tracking equipment to keep the satellite within the antenna's...

SyncML (Synchronization Markup Language)

An initiative originally set up to develop a uniform synchronization protocol operating on any device over any network and among various vendors' products. The protocol was intended to provide support for a wide range of transports and media types.

integration appliances

An integration appliance can be regarded as a combination of hardware and software that fulfills a specific integration purpose, such as enabling the partially predefined integration of certain applications together with new ones. It is not uncommon to see packaged integration, packaged processes, and SOA governance mechanisms and technologies alongside traditional appliance technologies, such as...

contingent workforce

An on-demand workforce staffing strategy using contract workers, agency staffing, independent contractors and people who will work directly for an enterprise on an on-call basis.

Application Obfuscation

Application obfuscation refers to a set of technologies used to protect an application and its embedded intellectual property (IP) from application-level intrusions, reverse engineering and hacking attempts. Application obfuscation tools protect the application code as the increasing use of intermediate language representations (such as Java and .NET) enables hackers to easily reverse-engineer IP embedded in...

Multicore Processor

Multicore processors are single processors that incorporate more than one processor core. Each core includes the functional elements required to enable it to execute instructions independently of the other cores.

Application Sharing

Application sharing is defined as the ability of two or more participants to have equal and simultaneous control over the content of a document inside an application (e.g., a word processing document, spreadsheet or conference slide) over a wide-area network, local-area network or modem connection. Enables users in different locations to work together on the...

partitioning code

Applications can be broken into three logical parts — presentation, logic and data. These are areas in which the program can be separated to facilitate execution of each logical piece on a different machine. Each segment is known as a partition. For example, the thin-client Web model requires that interface presentation be handled by the...

Procure-to-Pay Solution

As its name implies, a procure-to-pay (or purchase-to-pay) system is a fully integrated solution designed to support an end-to-end process that begins with goods and services requisitioning and ends with ready-to-pay files for upload into an accounts payable system. Procure-to-pay solutions use a scan-and-capture service, supplier portal and/or a multienterprise network to enable suppliers to...

Attenuation

Attenuation is the decrease in magnitude of a current, voltage or power of a signal in transmission between points because of the transmission medium. Attenuation is usually expressed in decibels.

Business Process Analysis Tools

Business process analysis tools are primarily intended for use by business end users looking to document, analyze and streamline complex processes, thereby improving productivity, increasing quality, and becoming more agile and effective. These tools also support the roles of business process architect and business process analyst, and enable them to better understand business processes, events,...

Computer-Aided Design and Drafting (CADD)

Computer-aided design and drafting (CADD) programs are interactive graphic programs that automate the methodologies of drafting and design layouts. A few programs are successful enough so that it is difficult to justify designing layouts manually. Applications include integrated circuits and printed circuit boards.

Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM)

Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) is defined as the manufacturing of goods controlled and automated via computer and robot. Frequently used in conjunction with computer-aided design (CAD).

Operational Data Store - ODS - Gartner Tech Definitions

Gartner defines an operational data store (ODS) as an alternative to having an operational decision support system (DSS). Click for more!

R-UIM (removable user identity module)

Introduced by the CDMA Development Group (CDG) and the 3GPP2, an R-UIM card is a smart card for use with CDMA-based mobile phones. It enables customers to switch phones without changing their mobile numbers, stores frequently called numbers and provides some functions similar to the SIM card in GSM mobile phones.

IT (information technology)

This is the common term for the entire spectrum of technologies for information processing, including software, hardware, communications technologies and related services. In general, IT does not include embedded technologies that do not generate data for enterprise use.

client computing hardware services

This segment includes PC services and workstation services. Personal computer services — PCs are single-user systems and include desk-based, notebook and ultraportable PCs. This also includes workstations which are single-user systems based on high-end Intel or reduced instruction set computer (RISC) CPU architectures with high-performance graphics, OSs and system architecture.

Operational Resilience

Operational resilience is a set of techniques that allow people, processes and informational systems to adapt to changing patterns. It is the ability to alter operations in the face of changing business conditions. Operationally resilient enterprises have the organizational competencies to ramp up or slow down operations in a way that provides a competitive edge...

Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE)

Part of the 3GPP set of standards and based on GSM and shared media packet data, Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) uses a different and more efficient modulation scheme the eight-phase shift key (8-PSK), rather than the Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) modulation scheme used over the radio interface by GSM and GPRS....

Human Capital Management (HCM) in Social Software

Social software technologies are transforming human capital management (HCM)-related processes and systems. Social networks, such as LinkedIn, Xing, Twitter and Facebook, have altered recruitment techniques and strategies, and wikis and internal blogs enable policies and procedures to be developed more collaboratively. Social software features have appeared in HCM applications such as recruitment, performance management and...

PIM (personal information manager)

Software that organizes and manages random information for fast retrieval on a daily basis. It provides a combination of features, including telephone list with automatic dialing, calendar and scheduler.

fuel cell

Technology for low-cost miniature battery power supplies. As with batteries, fuel cells generate electricity through a chemical reaction. However, fuel cells are recharged by refilling or replacing the chemicals (examples include hydrogen, methyl alcohol or aluminum mixed with oxygen from the air) instead of plugging a charger into a wall socket. Fuel cells deliver energy...

Blanking Interval

The blanking interval is the area in a video signal that falls between frames. It is often used to accommodate data such as synchronizing information.

Data Scientist

The data scientist role is critical for organizations looking to extract insight from information assets for "big data" initiatives and requires a broad combination of skills that may be fulfilled better as a team, for example Collaboration and team work is required for working with business stakeholders to understand business issues. Analytical and decision modeling...

CNS (converged network services)

The delivery of voice, data, video and other forms of network services with the following characteristics 1. Services are usually from a customer premises-based access concentrator, owned by a network service provider (NSP) that converts traffic to an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) or Internet Protocol (IP) stream 2. Service is delivered via one means of...

Category Management

The entire category management process facilitates fact-based selling by providing analytics from a retailer's as well as a manufacturer's perspective so that the mutual value of the business proposition can be known. Considerations include product assortment, pricing, promotion, placement, timing and, to some degree, packaging. The IT component is the automation of data loads and...

stickiness

The general term applied to website qualities that attract and hold visitors. A sticky website is assumed to be offering higher value than one that is not sticky.

Portal Fabric

The portal fabric is a concept whereby portals and Web resources adapt to users' preferred environments and interaction patterns, rather than forcing them to change their behaviors based on a portal they're visiting. The technology underpinnings of the portal fabric rely on standards for federated identity and access management, context awareness, social interaction, content interoperability,...

portal-enabling middleware

The toolset for a portal including the platform middleware and the integration and context management tools.

conditioning

A procedure that restricts transmission impairments of a circuit to certain specified limits.

CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)

A certification program administered by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC2).

3D Printing

3D printing is an additive technique that uses a device to create physical objects from digital models.

4K x 2K TV Displays

4K x 2K is a screen resolution for next-generation HDTVs. The screen format is 3840 pixels by 2160 pixels, which offers a total resolution of 8.3 megapixels. This is a four-fold improvement in resolution compared with current 1080 HD screens, which offer only a total resolution of 2.1 megapixels. 4K x 2K is also a...

Access Point (AP)

An access point is a pico base station or network access point in a WLAN radio network, consisting of a radio (often more than one) and a network connection, enabling WLAN clients to access network resources connected to a home or enterprise network.

DPO (defects per opportunity)

A measure of quality that reflects whether a specific product or service has any defects.

QoS (quality of service)

A negotiated contract between a user and a network provider that renders some degree of reliable capacity in the shared network.

SNOMED (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine)

A nomenclature created by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for use in pathology. SNOMED has gradually been extended to cover other domains of medicine. It contains over 150,000 items and includes coverage for numerous medical specialties. CAP is also developing SNOMED RT for reference terminology and SNOMED CT for combined terminology.

satellite computer

A programmable machine that relieves a primary processor of such time-consuming operations as compiling, editing, and controlling input/output devices.

CMOL (CMIP over LLC)

A proprietary network management draft developed jointly by 3Com and IBM that specifies using Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP) over Logical Link Control (LLC) to provide network management of devices on mixed-media local-area networks (LANs).

DAP (Directory Access Protocol)

A protocol for working among X.500 Directory Service Agents.

Home-Area Network (HAN)

A home-area network (HAN) connects in-home digital devices, such as PCs, mobile phones, entertainment technology, thermostats, home security systems and smart appliances, into a common network. In the context of energy utilities, HAN is a means for utility companies to extend their reach beyond the meter, and to incorporate the "smart thermostat," direct load control...

LCD (liquid crystal display)

A low-powered, flat-panel display technology. LCD displays create images using liquid crystal molecules controlled by an electrical field.

DAT (digital audiotape)

A magnetic tape that stores audio data converted to digital form.

Binary Table (Byte)

A binary table (byte) is a group of eight bits handled as a logical unit. In text files, a byte is equivalent to a single character such as a letter, number or punctuation mark.

signature verification

A biometric technique that uses characteristics of a person's signature (including pressure, pen lifts, speed and direction of pen strokes) to authenticate identity. Signature is less accurate than some other biometrics (e.g., fingerprints, iris) but is popular in document authentication applications that have traditionally used written signatures. Some growth may be fueled by the adoption...

Blog

A blog, which derives from the term "weblog," is a website designed to make it easy for users to create entries in chronological order. The entries are then displayed in reverse chronological order (most recent entry first) and are generally archived on a periodic basis. Blogs are mostly used to express opinions on topical events...

consumer broadband connections

A broadband connection is a direct path between two termination points, one of which is in the consumer's home, the other at the carrier's central office (CO) or local broadband aggregation node. In the case of wireless broadband access, it is a wireless connection between the home and the aggregation node. The number of connections...

Broadcast Storm

A broadcast storm is defined as excessive one-to-many or many-to-many transmissions, especially troublesome on Ethernet networks.

Browser

A browser is a software program used to locate and display information on the Internet or an intranet. Browsers are most often used to access Web pages. Most can display graphics, photographs and text; multimedia information (e.g., sound and video) may require additional software, often referred to as "plug-ins."

Buffer

A buffer is a storage device used to compensate for a difference in rate of data flow, or time of occurrence of events, when transmitting data from one device to another.

Bug

A bug is an unexpected problem with software or hardware. Typical problems are often the result of external interference with the program's performance that was not anticipated by the developer. Minor bugs can cause small problems like frozen screens or unexplained error messages that do not significantly affect usage. Major bugs may not only affect...

integrated software

A business software productivity program that incorporates a number of applications (typically word processing, database management, spreadsheet, graphics and communications) into one product, allowing data sharing between all or most modules.

Cable Service Provider

A cable service provider owns cable infrastructure and provides cable TV (and increasingly telecom services). Examples include Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

Channel Bank

A channel bank is the equipment typically used in a telephone central office that performs multiplexing of lower-speed, digital channels into a higher-speed composite channel. The channel bank also detects and transmits signaling information for each channel and transmits framing information so that time slots allocated to each channel can be identified by the receiver.

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)

A communications protocol based on the U.S. Department of Defense's standards for reliable internetwork delivery of data.

Compact Disc-ReWritable (CD-RW)

A compact disc-rewritable (CD-RW) drive permits the user to back up data to compact discs (CDs).

source encoding

A compression technique that takes into account the nature of the information to be compressed. See entropy encoding.

LCD (lowest common denominator)

A computer-based patient record system from Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services. LCR provides a longitudinal view of patients' lifetime clinical histories.

DPMO (defects per million opportunities)

A critical measure associated with Six Sigma-based quality management.

Customer Engagement Center (CEC)

A customer engagement center (CEC) refers to a logical set of technologies and business applications that are engineered to provide customer service and support, regardless of the interaction (or engagement) channel. The goal of the CEC is not only to provide service to customers as they move among communications channels — including social media and...

RDBMS (relational database management system)

A database management system (DBMS) that incorporates the relational-data model, normally including a Structured Query Language (SQL) application programming interface. It is a DBMS in which the database is organized and accessed according to the relationships between data items. In a relational database, relationships between data items are expressed by means of tables. Interdependencies among...

hierarchical database

A database that is organized in a tree structure in which each record has one owner. Navigation to individual records takes place through predetermined access paths.

distributed database

A database whose objects (tables, views, columns and files) reside on more than one system in a network, and can be accessed or updated from any system in the network.

Service Desk

A service desk is a help desk that is equipped with the resources for resolving service requests and problem calls. It gives the customer service representative or end user the ability to efficiently diagnose, troubleshoot and correct technical-support problems, rather than being a "pass through."

deal sweet spot analysis

A service provider's deal sweet spots comprise five characteristics that epitomize the nature and boundaries of the services that a provider can most likely excel at when delivering IT professional services to clients.

NDC (networked data center)

A service that goes beyond making data center functionality available on a network. An NCC employs networking technology to treat multiple data centers and the network as a single system to efficiently access and process applications.

SIMM (single in-line memory module)

A small printed circuit board that plugs into a socket on a personal computer and increases the available random-access memory (RAM).

Solution Architecture

A solution architecture (SA) is an architectural description of a specific solution. SAs combine guidance from different enterprise architecture viewpoints (business, information and technical), as well as from the enterprise solution architecture (ESA).

Solution

A solution is an implementation of people, processes, information and technologies in a distinct system to support a set of business or technical capabilities that solve one or more business problems.

PCM (patient care management)

A system that enrolls or assigns patients to interventions across the continuum of health and illness. It includes wellness exams and routine screenings, utilization reviews, event focus, short-term case management, and the management of long-term chronic conditions.

coordination mechanics

A term coined by Coordination Technology's founder, Anatole Holt. It generally refers to a class of workflow that is heuristic in nature; i.e., a higher form of workflow concentrating on human behavior.

hybrid modeling

A term, coined by Gartner, that is used to signify second-generation, dimension-driven, constraint-based solids modeling technology beyond first-generation parametric modeling. Hybrid modelers offer multiple design input mechanisms, flexible constraint management, and robust interoperability with legacy computer-aided design (CAD) data.

SMA (service management agreement)

A tool for monitoring, measuring, managing and demonstrating the contribution of IT to the enterprise.

RAD (rapid application development)

An application development (AD) approach that includes small teams (typically two to six people, but never more than 10) using joint application development (JAD) and iterative-prototyping techniques to construct interactive systems of low to medium complexity within a time frame of 60 to 120 days.

social computing

An approach to IT whereby individuals tailor information-based and collaborative technologies to support interactions with relatively large and often loosely defined groups.

RAAD (rapid architected application development)

An approach to large-scale application development (AD) that includes the following phases, which are executed by up to 10 teams of 10 people each during a period of no more than 18 months • Phase 1 Business and technical architecture reconciliation. • Phase 2 Functional requirements gathering and specification. • Phase 3 Initial architecture design,...

CM (configuration management)

CM software includes both stand-alone products and suites of products that can initially provision/configure desktops, servers or mobile devices, and then manage the change of configuration settings, software, and increasingly the files and data on those elements on an ongoing basis. Included in this category are stand-alone products for software distribution, various discovery requirements, remote...

customer self-service and support

Customer self-service and support is a blend of customer-initiated interaction technologies that are designed to enable customers to service themselves. It includes electronic records management systems, chat and knowledge bases.

Content Optimization

Content optimization is a process by which a content provider is able to use a variety of techniques to improve search results and ranking, as well as extend the value of core content by automating the content management process to develop new Web pages on the fly.

Context-Aware Computing

Context-aware computing  is a style of computing in which situational and environmental information about people, places and things is used to anticipate immediate needs and proactively offer enriched, situation-aware and usable content, functions and experiences.

Brand Extension

Brand extension is the expansion an existing "house" (or "master") brand to cover a new category of solution. The brand becomes an umbrella brand for all the company's offerings. The alternative is to create sub-brands for each individual proposition.

Business Process Fusion (BPF)

Business process fusion (BPF) transforms business activities by integrating previously individual business processes to create a new scope of combined management capabilities—for example, a vehicle manufacturer that combines parts management and ordering processes with diagnostic and warranty data.

Application Integration

Application integration is defined as the process of Keeping redundant copies of data (in independently designed applications) consistent, or Enabling end-users to access data and functionality from independently designed applications on a single user interface.

PaaS - ALM PaaS - Application Life Cycle Management PaaS

Application life cycle management PaaS solutions are defined as cloud-delivered tools designed to govern the development and delivery of software

Internet Radio

Internet radio streams music that is stored on a server to an Internet-connected vehicle by using embedded wireless networking technologies (such as a connected "infotainment" head unit) or via a wireless consumer device that is connected to the vehicle (such as a user's smartphone). In both cases, music is accessed online, without storing any music...

Haptics

Haptics is a tactile or force-feedback technology that leverages a person's sense of touch by applying vibrations and/or motion to the user's fingertips. This stimulation can assist the technology in the development of virtual objects on the device screen. In its broad sense, haptics can be any system that incorporates tactile feedback and vibrates through...

Low Frequency

Low frequency generally indicates frequencies between 3 and 300 kilohertz (kHz).

Demand-Driven Value Network (DDVN)

Demand-driven value network (DDVN) is a business environment holistically designed to maximize value of and optimize risk across the set of extended supply chain processes and technologies that senses and orchestrates demand based on a near-zero-latency demand signal across multiple networks of corporate stakeholders and trading partners.

desktop outsourcing

Desktop outsourcing is a multiyear or annuity contract or relationship involving the day-to-day management responsibility for operating desktop/client platforms. Services include any combination (or all) of the product support and professional services as they specifically relate to the ongoing management of the desktop resources (including desktop peripherals). Minimally, desktop outsourcing contracts always include services encompassed...

HDML (handheld device markup language)

Device- and network-independent language developed by Openwave for Web programming on a handheld device with limited memory and display, such as a cellular phone.

Dual-View Displays

Dual-view displays are LCD screens that use a parallax barrier technology to show two different images from the left and right angles of the same screen. Applications allow drivers to view information that differs from what the passenger can see. For example, a driver may be able to see a scene captured by a rearview...

Dynamic Data Masking (DDM)

Dynamic data masking (DDM) is an emerging technology that aims at real-time data masking of production data. DDM changes the data stream so that the data requester does not get access to the sensitive data, while no physical changes to the original production data take place.

E-Learning

E-learning is the use of Internet technology for learning outside of the classroom. E-learning suites are software solutions that enable automation, administration and training over the Internet. E-learning suites are integrated product collections that comprise learning management systems (LMSs), virtual classrooms, courseware and learning content management systems (LCMSs). An LMS is software that automates the...

Electronic Prescribing (E-prescribing)

Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) is the process by which clinicians in hospital and ambulatory settings directly enter outpatient prescriptions using computer applications that provide clinical decision support and can deliver the prescriptions electronically in structured form to dispensing organizations (HDO pharmacies, drugstores and mail-order fulfillment houses).

Federated Application Life Cycle Management (FALM)

Federated application life cycle management (FALM) is a suite of technologies and practices that generally includes metadata integration, workflow and process management facilities, tying together the management of at least two stages of development, underlying change version and configuration, and including the ability to customize the process flow of application development, integration and maintenance projects.

fiber optics

Fiber optics is a high-bandwidth transmission technology that uses light to carry digital information. One fiber telephone cable carries hundreds of thousands of voice circuits. These cables, or light guides, replace conventional coaxial cables and wire pairs. Fiber transmission facilities occupy far less physical volume for an equivalent transmission capacity, which is a major advantage...

DBMS management

Included here are tools for monitoring and diagnosing problems with databases, analyzing and improving the performance of databases, and routine administration of databases, including configuration changes. Examples include database management monitors, SQL tuners, space tuners, reorganization tools, utilities, loaders and unloaders, and many other tools, as well as suites that may include several of the...

Network Topology

Network topology describes the physical and logical relationship of nodes in a network, the schematic arrangement of the links and nodes, or some hybrid combination thereof.

knowledge organization

One of the five activities of the knowledge management process framework. Knowledge organization is the classification and categorization of knowledge for navigation, storage and retrieval. This includes knowledge maintenance.

Podcasting

Podcasting started out as radiolike broadcasts of spoken word content, ranging from individual recorded essays or free-form rants to more conventional talk-show-like formats across a varied set of themes. Podcasts _ video or audio _ are delivered via RSS. They can be consumed on any device that supports audio playback, ranging from smartphones to tablets...

Process Analytical Technology (PAT)

Process analytical technology (PAT) is a system for analysis and control of manufacturing processes that measures critical quality parameters and performance attributes of raw and in-process materials. It enables in-process data to be used for assessing the quality of a batch during manufacture, significantly reduces the need for finished product testing, and as a result,...

publish/subscribe architecture

Processes that acquire or receive messages from source applications and publish these messages on a systemwide bulletin board or, in alternative terminology, put them on a software bus where all other processes can "see" them. Application processes generally indicate which messages they are interested in by supplying one or more rules to the integration broker...

Mobile Voice Over Internet Protocol (mVoIP)

Mobile voice over Internet Protocol (mVoIP) offers packet-switched voice communications over a radio access network and can be offered by a communications service provider (CSP) or by a third-party provider (such as Skype).

heijunka

Production approach that focuses on producing flow smoothness within an operation.TitleHelp Desk Management | Help Desk SoftwareI | Gartner TechnologyOne click gets you FREE research from Gartner on Help Desk Management software. Learn what 12,000 CIOs and Senior IT Leaders already know.

QA (quality assurance)

The historic focus of the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA), fundamentally based on measures of compliance to standards or processes.

S-band

The portion of the electromagnetic spectrum allotted for satellite transmission in the 2GHz to 4GHz frequency range. A number of MSS providers operate part of their satellite networks using the S-band. See also Ka-band, Ku-band and L-band.

SOW (statement of work)

The statement of work includes an objectives section allowing the customer to emphasize the desired end state or performance metric to be achieved. It also mandates the assessment of past performance, technical approach and cost for each task order. The customer determines the relative importance of each criterion.

network management

These are applications designed to isolate and resolve faults on the network, measure and optimize performance, manage the network topology, track resource use over time, initially provision and reconfigure elements, and account for network elements. Suites that include fault monitoring and diagnosis, provisioning/configuration, accounting, performance management, and TCP/IP application management — but only for networks...

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Visit Gartner for FREE Research and Webinars Covering IT Tech Trends and Business Forecasting (see Compound Annual Growth Rate formula - CAGR).

Application Program

Software programs in a system are either application programs or supervisory programs, also called system software. Application programs contain instructions that transfer control to the system software to perform input/output and other routine operations, working through the application programming interface (API).

hypertext

Software technology used to create and store simple and complex navigational paths across computerized data. When the text is "clicked on," it can enable a user to navigate within or between Web pages.

proprietary software

Software that is owned by an organization or an individual, as opposed to "public-domain software," which is freely distributed. The explosion in the use of the Internet has expanded the reach of public-domain software since it is now much easier to transmit these programs. While many commercial software developers have developed software that has become...

Surface Computers

Surface computers are large-screen displays that support direct interaction via touch or gesture. They may be horizontal (built into furniture such as a tabletop), or vertical (wall-mounted or free-standing). They incorporate the elements of multitouch interactions found in handheld devices but often recognize multiple users, allowing collaborative use. Size is constrained by the ability to...

Codd's Rule Zero

Ted Codd, whose theoretical work on relational databases stimulated today's plethora of relational products, defined a fundamental "Rule Zero" for classifying relational database management systems (RDBMSs). The intent of this rule was to help enterprises focus on the requirement for a consistent integrity layer in the RDBMSs they evaluated "For any system that is advertised...

Open Compute Project

The Open Compute Project is an open, community-based project, originated by Facebook in April 2011. The aim is to achieve the greatest efficiencies for data center infrastructure. It is focused on releasing specifications and designs for data center infrastructure elements, with the community then able to identify areas where improvements can be made. Initial elements...

clustering

The capability to define resources on one or more interconnected midrange systems as transparently available to users and applications from within the specified group of loosely coupled systems in a local-or metropolitan-area network.

Hype Cycle

Gartner's Hype Cycle is a graphical depiction of a common pattern that arises with each new technology or other innovation. Each year, Gartner creates more than 90 Hype Cycles in various domains as a way for clients to track technology maturity and future potential. The five phases in the Hype Cycle are Technology Trigger, Peak of...

Infocentric

Infocentric refers to an organization that curates, manages and leverages information as an actual enterprise asset. This includes having distinct functions for information inventorying or asset management, information productization, data science (or advanced analytics), data governance, information valuation, and having a chief executive uniquely responsible for information assets, for example. a chief data officer.

SITE (strategy, iteration, testing, enablement)

Information systems (IS) departments have a history in application development of following a design process of planning, prototyping, testing and development, resulting in justifiable design decisions. SITE is a Gartner concept that seeks to build on this long-established IS department practice by creating a structured framework within which both business unit (BU) managers and IS...

Convergent Charging

Initially, convergent charging addressed the integration of mobile intelligent network (IN)-based and IT-based billing, rating and charging on a single platform to enable seamless movement between prepaid and postpaid. Recently, communications service providers (CSPs) have broadened this concept to address services outside their walled garden. This allows CSPs to combine Internet Protocol (IP)-based services from...

Interactive Visualization

Interactive visualization technology enables the exploration of data via the manipulation of chart images, with the color, brightness, size, shape and motion of visual objects representing aspects of the dataset being analyzed. These products provide an array of visualization options that go beyond those of pie, bar and line charts, including heat and tree maps,...

seiban

Japanese management practice of numbering all aspects of manufacturing.

Liquid Cooling

Liquid cooling uses a liquid, such as water, or a refrigerant, rather than air, to cool the data canter. This allows the cooling solution to be brought closer to the heat source, thus requiring less, if any, fan power. Liquid cooling can solve the high-density, server-cooling problem, because liquid (conductive cooling) conducts more than 3,000...

Load Balancing

Load balancing is the ability of processors to schedule themselves to ensure that all are kept busy while instruction streams are available.

Local Number Portability

Local number portability is the ability to change to a different local phone service provider while retaining the same phone number.

Loyads

Loyads are customers who are both loyal to a provider and who advocate the provider. In the digital era, loyalty marketing and advocacy marketing join forces to convert first-time buyers to repeat buyers to loyal customers to brand advocates. Loyads, or loyal advocates, don't just come back — they bring others with them.

MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding (AVC)

MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding (AVC), or MPEG-4 Part 10, is the standard defined by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) for compressing audio and visual data for Internet over-the-top (OTT) streaming video Internet Protocol television (IPTV) Digital broadcast TV Cable and satellite standard definition/HD linear broadcast CD/DVD distribution Videoconferencing

Magneto-Optic

Magneto-optic is a type of storage technology that uses magnetization produced by a focused light beam.TitleMobile AdvertisingMobile advertising is advertising or other paid placement on mobile device screens, most notably smartphones and media tablets. Click for more!

SPC (statistical process control)

Maintaining or improving process capability by employing statistical techniques to analyze process outputs and provide feedback for process control loops.

Managed Print Services (MPS)

Managed print services (MPS) are services offered by an external provider to optimize or manage a company's document output. The main components provided are needs assessment, selective or general replacement of hardware, and the service, parts and supplies needed to operate the new and/or existing hardware (including existing third-party equipment if this is required by...

Metadata and Data Modeling Tools

Metadata and data modeling tools support the creation and documentation of models describing the structures, flows, mappings and transformations, relationships, and quality of data. These tools enable users to discover and design data models, create relationships between models, and map and reconcile physical models to logical models.

Metalanguage

Metalanguage is a language used to describe a language. A metalanguage defines a language's constructs, such as character sets, syntax and valid sequences.

Metrication

Metrication refers to building metrics or measurement tools into applications to monitor what is happening in the network or local environment where the application is operating.

COLD (computer output to laserdisc)

Microfiche replacement system. COLD systems offer economies as a replacement medium when rapid or frequent access to archived documents is necessary. Typically, a 12-inch optical-disc platter holds approximately 1.4 million 8.5-by-11-inch pages of information, equal to 7,000 fiche masters.

Middleware

Middleware is the software "glue" that helps programs and databases (which may be on different computers) work together. Its most basic function is to enable communication between different pieces of software.

Million Instructions per Second (MIPS)

Million instructions per second (MIPS) is an approximate measure of a computer's raw processing power. MIPS figures can be misleading because measurement techniques often differ, and different computers may require different sets of instructions to perform the same activity.

Mobile Device Management Services (MDM Services)

Mobile device management (MDM) services involve sourcing, provisioning, securing and managing handheld mobile devices (primarily smartphones and media tablets) to a third party. This may include PC cards, pagers, notebooks and other mobile devices. MDM services may also include support for any or all of these main areas hardware (inventory, provisioning and asset), software (configuration...

Mobile Middleware

Mobile middleware is middleware designed to address specific challenges faced by mobile applications running on wireless links that may be slow, intermittent or have high latency. Mobile middleware performs functions such as protocol optimization, data synchronization and data compression.

Motion JPEG

Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) is a version of Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) for compression of motion video, as opposed to still images. Frame-to-frame redundancy is ignored, resulting in less compression than Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). The advantages are simplicity and fast access to individual images.

Multimedia

Multimedia (MM) refers to applications and technologies that manipulate text, data, images, sound and full-motion-video objects. Given the usage of multiple formats, multimedia is capable of delivering a stronger and more engaging message than standard text. Multimedia files are typically larger than text-based information and are therefore usually stored on CD-ROMs. Games and educational software commonly...

NMT-F

NMT-F is a french variation of the NMT-900 standard.

Near Field Communication (NFC)

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a wireless technology that enables a variety of contactless and proximity-based applications, such as payments, information retrieval, mobile marketing and device pairing. It has an operating range of 10 cm or less using the 13.56MHz frequency band. There are currently three user modes defined for NFC operation 1) Card emulation,...

retirements

Number of mobile devices ceasing to be in use during a given year. The retirements figure is complicated by the existence of secondhand equipment. When a used mobile device from one region is sold in another region in conjunction with a new connection, the device is not added to the sales-to-end-user line, but it is...

switched line

One of a series of lines that can be interconnected through a switching center; a line on the public telephone network.

knowledge capture

One of the five activities of the knowledge management process framework. Knowledge capture makes tacit knowledge explicit, i.e., it turns knowledge that is resident in the mind of the individual into an explicit representation available to the enterprise.

Predictive Analytics (2)

Predictive Analytics is a form of advanced analytics which examines data or content to answer the question "What is going to happen?" or more precisely, "What is likely to happen?", and is characterized by techniques such as regression analysis, forecasting, multivariate statistics, pattern matching, predictive modeling, and forecasting. Also see Gartner's Data & Analytics Summit Gartner's free research...TitleBig Data Analytics - Predictive Analytics - Gartner GlossaryVisit Gartner for FREE Research and Webinars Related to Big Data and Predictive Analytics.

Predictive Modeling Solutions

Predictive modeling is the process of analyzing data to create a statistical model of future behavior. Predictive modeling solutions are a form of data-mining technologies that work by analyzing historical and current data, and generating a model to help predict future outcomes. These technologies can be used to generate a score (for example, a credit...

Printed Semiconductors

Printed semiconductors are fabricated by depositing materials directly onto a substrate, typically using a combination of printing processes that include inkjet and gravure printing. This has the potential to open new markets in which semiconductors are printed directly onto various surfaces. Diodes are the initial focus of the technology, and they will be followed by...

Privacy Management Tools

Privacy management tools help organizations conduct privacy impact assessments, check processing activities against requirements from privacy regulations, and track incidents that lead to unauthorized disclosures of personal data (investigation, remediation, reporting). They analyze and document data flows of personal information (nature of data, purpose of processing, data controller), support authoring and distribution of privacy policies...

Private Cloud Computing

Private cloud computing is a form of cloud computing that is used by only one organization, or that ensures that an organization is completely isolated from others. See also CLOUD ACCESS SECURITY BROKERS (CASB)

Process Management

Process management is a management concept that describes the goal of increasing intraenterprise coordination of separate business functions. Business process re-engineering is a form of process management that focuses on replacing traditional functions (e.g., sales, marketing and service) with functionally integrated processes (e.g., customer relationship management). The growth in the demand for enterprise software reflects...

sell side

Processes for companies to sell their products, including catalogs, transaction processors, payment processors, and supply chain management methods and tools.

Processor Emulation

Processor emulation is a virtualization technology that allows software compiled for one processor/operating system to run on a system with a different processor/operating system, without any source code or binary changes. This is done by dynamically translating processor instructions and operating system calls as an application is running.

Quick Response Codes (QR Codes)

Quick response codes (QR codes) and color codes are high-density, two-dimensional bar codes that are readable by mobile phones and computer cameras with the correct software. Color codes enable the same physical space to encode more information by incorporating color in any pattern or shape, such as a logo, that attracts attention. Users capture the...

Java ME (Java Platform, Micro Edition)

Reduced-feature version of Java defined by Sun Microsystems for use in mobile devices, such as mobile phones. Java ME (formerly known as Java 2ME) is part of a set of related Java technologies that includes definitions of profiles and configurations.

protocol-transparent

Refers to a device's capability to perform its function independent of the communications protocol.

revenue

Revenue consists of the gross billings generated by a vendor, measured in unit currency.

downlink

Satellite communication link that involves signal transmission or retransmission from in-orbit satellites to earth stations or other receiving terminals on the ground. See also uplink.

geostationary satellite

Satellite that appears to be located at a fixed point in space when viewed from the earth's surface. Satellites located in geosynchronous orbit move in time with the rotation of the earth. Geostationary satellites are located 22,237 miles above the earth's surface. Most VSATs and DBS satellites are placed in geosynchronous orbits (GEOs). See also...

push technology

Software that automates the delivery of information to users. In contrast, the Web is a "pull" environment that requires a user to seek information. In a "push" environment, information is sent to a person proactively, through a Web browser, e-mail, or even voice mail or a pager. In business, push technology can be used for...

custom key set

Specialized multibutton telephones designed expressly for a particular private branch exchange (PBX). Unlike the locking buttons on normal key telephones, the buttons on a custom key set are used to communicate with the system and are typically nonlocking buttons. Custom key set buttons can be arranged to activate specific features such as speed dialing and...

process management

Specific to the communications environment, the practice of telecom expense management (TEM) encompasses the business processes conducted by IT and finance departments to acquire the provision (and support) of corporate telecommunications assets. Put another way, TEM is the build-out of services, or the acquisition of third-party services, to manage the supply chain for telecommunications. Gartner...

Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT)

The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) is a group formed in 1998 by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency — and coordinated through Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute (SEI) — to research and report on Internet-related security problems. SEI's CERT Coordination Center publishes security information and advisory bulletins through its website at www.cert.org.

Open Mobile Alliance

The Open Mobile Alliance is an industry open-standards forum set up to facilitate global user adoption of mobile data services by ensuring service interoperability across devices, geographies, service providers, operators and networks.

compandor

The combination of a compressor at one point in a communications path, for reducing the volume range of signals, followed by an expandor at another point, for restoring the original volume range. It is designed to improve the ratio of the signal to the interference entering the path between the compressor and expandor.

connectionless

The interconnection model in which communication takes place without first establishing a connection.

knowledge base

The knowledge, which may include assertion, rules, objects and constraints, used by a knowledge-based or expert system. Its organization is based on knowledge representations. The developer or user of the system may be unaware of the underlying knowledge representations, seeing only the domain knowledge representations.

cumulative lead time

The longest length of time involved to accomplish the activity in question. For any item planned through material requirements planning, it is found by reviewing each bill-of-material path below the item, and whichever path adds up to the greatest number defines cumulative material lead time.

Data Quality Tools - Gartner's definition FYI

The market for data quality tools has become highly visible in recent years as more organizations understand the impact of poor-quality data. Click for more

Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)

The massive open online course (MOOC) is an online phenomenon made possible by (1) social networking facilitation of acknowledged expert(s) in a field of study; (2) freely accessible online resources; and (3) hundreds to thousands of registered students. MOOCs have free (no fee) open enrollment to anyone anywhere with network access. MOOCs do not seek...

IDEF (Integrated Definition Methodology)

The most commonly used representation standard for data models.

service levels

The performance goals of specific business processes to meet overall business-unit objectives.

industrialized IT services

The standardization of IT services through predesigned and preconfigured solutions that are highly automated and repeatable, scalable and reliable, and meet the needs of many organizations. information access with search Information access technologies interact with applications such as document management, Web content management and other repositories to provide users with insight into their content. Increasingly,...

Battery-Powered Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

There are two types of battery-powered radio frequency identification (RFID) tags battery-assisted passive (BAP) tags and active tags, which are used to collect and communicate asset-level information. BAP tags, which were standardized in 2010 in ISO/IEC 18000-6C2010 Class 3, use a battery for operating the internal circuitry that facilitates the collection, processing and storage of...

PAS (personal access system)

Trademark of UTStarcom referring to its PHS-based WLL solution operating in the 1,900MHz band. See also mobile WLL.

SLED (single large expensive disk)

Traditional disk drive. That is, a conventional large-system disk system that has, on average, almost twice the diameter of a lower-cost redundant array of independent disks (RAID) system and, as its name implies, is significantly more expensive to manufacture.

DRM (digital rights management)

Trusted exchange of digital information over the Internet whereby the user is granted only the privileges that the document sender allows.

CPGA (cost per gross add)

Typically, the cost of sales and marketing, advertising and handset subsidies over total gross adds.

information delivery

Reporting — Reporting provides the ability to create formatted and interactive reports, with highly scalable distribution and scheduling capabilities. In addition, BI platform vendors should handle a wide array of reporting styles (for example, financial, operational and performance dashboards). Dashboards — This subset of reporting includes the ability to publish formal, Web-based reports,...

nemawashi

"Lining up the ducks" or "going among the roots" (literally) — the activity of laying a foundation for further activity.

digital modem

A system component that enables communication over digital access facilities with a remotely located system connected to the public network over analog facilities.

server appliance

A type of computing appliance that creates, manipulates or provides information to other network-connected computing devices. Unlike storage appliances, server appliances use an application context for the creation, manipulation or provision of information.

ActiveX

ActiveX is an application programming interface (API) that enhances Microsoft's OLE protocol. Often compared to Java, ActiveX facilitates various Internet applications, and therefore extends and enhances the functionality of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. Like Java, ActiveX enables the development of interactive content. When an ActiveX-aware browser encounters a Web page that includes an unfamiliar feature,...

Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing is the capability to create a physical object from a digitally encoded design through the deposition of material via a 3D printing process.

Addressable TV Advertising

Addressable TV advertising technologies enable advertisers to selectively segment TV audiences and serve different ads or ad pods (groups of ads) within a common program or navigation screen. Segmentation can occur at geographic, demographic, behavioral and (in some cases) self-selected individual household levels, through cable, satellite and Internet Protocol television (IPTV) delivery systems and set-top...

Adsorption Chillers

Adsorption chillers use a different mechanism than traditional chillers and are powered by heat, rather than using electricity. The cooling mechanism is still evaporative — water transforming into a vapor — but the reliquification is different. Instead of being compressed, the water vapor is adsorbed onto the surface of another medium, such as silica gel....TitleAdvanced Analytics - Big Data Analytics Defined by GartnerAdvanced Analytics is the autonomous/semi-autonomous examination of data or content using sophisticated techniques and tools beyond those of traditional BI

Advanced Web Services

Advanced Web services use Web services standard capabilities that go beyond those that have become commonplace. The original definition referred to any Web-services-related standards beyond the basic SOAP, WSDL and UDDI capabilities. However, the advent of the Web Services Interoperability (WS-I) Organization profiles and the common acceptance of standards, such as WS-Security, BPEL and related...

Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)

Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is a composite technology composed of several elements consumption meters, a two-way communications channel and a data repository (meter data management). Jointly, they support all phases of the meter data life cycle — from data acquisition to final provisioning of energy consumption information to end customers (for example, for load profile...

Advanced Threat Detection (ATD) Appliances

Advanced threat detection (ATD) appliances are used as an extra security approach to examine all communications that standard layers of security controls have allowed to pass. These appliances look at combinations of source reputation, executable analysis and threat-level protocols to detect advanced targeted threats that existing controls cannot detect.

Advertisement Action

Advertisement action is any activity associated with an advertisement that enables interaction and communication between the advertiser and the audience, such as clicking on a phone number to call the advertiser or using a hyperlink that takes the customer to an advertiser's website.

ITU (International Telecommunication Union)

Agency of the United Nations, headquartered in Geneva. The ITU is the body through which governments and the private sector coordinate global telecommunications networks and services.

Agile Marketing Project Management

Agile marketing project management is a method that applies tools, processes and organizational design concepts, inspired by software development methodology, to make marketing programs more relevant, more adaptive and efficient.

Alliance and Relationship Management

Alliance and relationship management is the set of practices and tools required to reinforce alliances/relationships with partners, outsourced functions or activities, and to maintain visibility into a relationship with another business entity. Relationships include entities that are part of creating and delivering the value proposition of an organization.

IB (integration broker)

Also called an interface engine or a message broker, an IB is a third-party intermediary that facilitates interactions between applications. IBs minimally provide message transformation and routing services. They mostly communicate program to program; they integrate previously independent applications at the application-logic level of the software design. An assembly of electronic circuits contained on a...

SCM (software configuration management)

Also known as "software change management," SCM is a methodology for software problem/change request initiation and tracking; change impact analysis; version control; security administration of software assets; software promotion; quality reviews; and software distribution.

Automatic Restart

Also known as "warm recovery," automatic restart is the resumption of operation after a system failure with minimal loss of work or processes (as opposed to a "cold" restart, which requires a complete reload of the system with no processes surviving).

alternative delivery models

Alternative delivery models are approaches to acquire, package and deliver IT in nontraditional ways. Traditional methods of IT acquisition and delivery are wrapped in well-honed internal processes whereby the IT organization develops or acquires technology (hardware or software), deploys it, supports it and retires it. Alternative delivery and acquisition models include new channels for acquisition,...

Ambient and Glanceable Displays

Ambient and glanceable displays and devices are a distinct category of information appliances that are designed to be integrated into the home and work environments. They convey minimum and specific information in a way that is designed to exploit the "preattentive" processing ability of the human brain. This enables users to absorb the information without...

IP-service control points

An IP-SCP is a carrier-grade application server using industry-standard hardware, operating systems, open standards and protocols. The application server normally incorporates a real-time database and service logic execution functionality (also known as call triggers via a service switching point [SSP]), facilitating applications. The application server includes provisioning interfaces.

COS (class of service)

An Internet service provider (ISP) offering that prioritizes which traffic is delivered before other traffic. With COS, when an ISP's network is not congested, all traffic is treated equally. When the network is congested, however, traffic that has been designated as a higher priority will be delivered first, while lower priority traffic will be held...

SWAP (Simple Workflow Access Protocol)

An Internet-based protocol designed to provide a Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP)-based way to access a generic workflow service or a workflow enabled process or to interoperate with it. SWAP, which has been endorsed by the Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC), will offer a set of standard definitions for the type and structure of messages passed between...

serial interface

An interconnection that transmits information bit by bit rather than a whole character at a time. It is much slower and cheaper than a parallel interface.

PAD (packet assembler/disassembler)

An interface device that buffers data sent to and from character mode devices, and assembles and disassembles the packets needed for X.25 operation.

serial dot matrix

An output device that creates a character image by selectively placing individual dots on the substrate using mechanical force. These include the following   9 pin — Devices with 9-wire print heads 18 pin — Devices with 18-wire print heads 24 pin — Devices with 24-wire print heads

serial inkjet

An output device that creates the desired image by emitting ink from an array of orifices or nozzles. The array of nozzles shuttles across the page, printing one character at a time, or serially. This category includes the following types of device   Piezo electric inkjet — Print heads in which ink is ejected by...

TACS (total access communications system)

Analog cellular standard first used in the U.K. for services in the 900MHz frequency band. It allows up to 1,320 channels using 25kHz channel spacing.

social technologies

Any technology that facilitates social interactions and is enabled by a communications capability, such as the Internet or a mobile device. Examples are social software (e.g., wikis, blogs, social networks) and communication capabilities (e.g., Web conferencing) that are targeted at and enable social interactions.

iChat

Apple's Macintosh OS client for AIM.

Band

Band can be defined as follows   The range of frequencies between two defined limits.   In wide-area telephone service (WATS), the specific geographical area in which the customer is entitled to call.

Bar Code Marketing

Bar codes can be used to encode URLs, business cards and product information. Bar code marketing allows people to download content onto a mobile phone. For example, companies can print bar codes on advertisements, billboards, posters, brochures and product packages; users can scan the bar code with a phone camera to get the corresponding information....

Baseband

Baseband is the transmission of a signal in its original, unmodulated form. A baseband signal can be analog (e.g., originating from a telephone) or digital (e.g., originating from a computer).

Basic Trading Area (BTA)

Basic trading area (BTA) is a geographic area designation that was used for the allocation of 800MHz cellular licenses to mobile service providers in the U.S., which determines where they can operate. Each metropolitan trading area (MTA) is made up of several BTAs. There are 493 BTAs and 51 MTAs in the U.S.

Baud

Baud is a unit of signaling speed. The speed in bauds is the number of discrete changes per second in some aspect of a signal (e.g., voltage in a wire). Transmission speeds are now more commonly measured bits per second (bps), rather than bauds. The two terms were roughly synonymous until modems began to exceed...

Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW)

Binary runtime environment for wireless (BREW) is an application ecosystem designed by Qualcomm to support application development, provisioning, marketing and billing of handheld wireless data applications, predominantly for consumers.

Biochips

Biochips relate to a number of technologies that involve the merging of semiconductor and biological sciences. The most common form is based on an array of molecular sensors arranged on a small surface _ typically referred to as "lab-on-chip." The underlying mechanism utilizes microfluidic micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. These devices are used to analyze biological...

Biomass

Biomass is a renewable energy source derived from living (or recently living) organisms, including dedicated energy crops and trees, agricultural food and feed crops, agricultural crop waste and residue, wood waste and residue, aquatic plants, animal waste, municipal waste and other waste materials. It is commonly used as a fuel in microthermal power plants.

sales to end users

Branded, finished, new products sold directly to end users or leased for the first time during the year in question. Products distributed by manufacturers into a country or region ("sell in") — but not connected to networks in that region — are excluded. Conversely, products sold by a manufacturer to a distributor in one region...

BYOD - Bring Your Own Device - Free Gartner Research

Bring your own device (BYOD) is an alternative strategy allowing employees, business partners and other users to utilize a personally selected device to execute enterprise applications and access data

PCS (personal communications services)

Broad range of voice and data telecommunications services that enable people to communicate via two-way radio phones based exclusively on digital technologies such as CDMA and GSM. Characteristics of PCS include personal numbers assigned to individuals rather than devices, near-wireline-call-transmission quality, low-power and lightweight mobile devices, enhanced call completion, call billing and call management services....

Broadband

Broadband channels are carried on coaxial or fiber-optic cables that have a wider bandwidth than conventional telephone lines, giving them the ability to carry video, voice and data simultaneously. Cable modems and digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies are examples of broadband connectivity.

C-band

C-band refers to the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum allotted for satellite transmissions in the 4GHz to 8GHz frequency range. C-band satellite antennas are used frequently in areas of the world where signals can become degraded due to heavy rain or other intense climate-related conditions. As a rule, C-band satellite antennas range in size from...

Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT)

COBIT, which is owned by ISACA, originated as an IT control framework, and has evolved into a broader IT governance and management framework for the purpose of ensuring that the organization's investment in IT will enable the achievement of its goals. COBIT 4.1 is used by many midsize to large organizations across a wide range...

Campaign Management

Campaign management applications help organizations segment, target and manage multichannel marketing messages. Elements of functionality include data mining, customer segmentation, customer-event triggering, next-best-action recommendation engines and campaign optimization.

Capable-to-Promise (CTP) Systems

Capable to promise (CTP) systems enable enterprises to commit to customer orders based on production/resource capacity (available or planned) and inventory (available or planned). CTP solutions consider resource (equipment, people and materials) availability, capacities, constraints, work in progress or planned work, multiple steps in the production process, multiple nodes in a supply chain network (including,...

cloud sourcing deals anatomy

Capacity overdrafting or cloudbursting are interchangeable terms that refer to the ability to acquire more capacity from a different cloud infrastructure automatically when the primary cloud infrastructure is overloaded. This will increase the risk that an internally implemented, progressively customized private cloud strategy won't allow for easy portability or transition into providers' future public cloud...

Capacity Utilization

Capacity utilization is the production of a fab divided by its maximum potential production.

Captive Centers

Captive centers are client-owned-and-operated service delivery centers, typically in a nondomestic, low-cost location, that provide service resources directly to their organization. The personnel in a captive facility are legal employees of the organization, not the vendor.

Care Delivery Organization (CDO)

Care delivery organizations (CDO) are legal entities whose primary mission is the delivery of healthcare-related products and services.

Clinical Resource Management

Clinical resource management is the capability to manage the resources of a clinical trial, such as investigative sites, contract research organizations (CROs), clinical study staff, supplies, relationships and patients. It represents the capabilities to plan, manage and execute clinical study activities using tools that simulate trial protocol implications, estimate resource consumption, respond to change, and...

Closed-Loop Performance Management (PM)

Closed-loop performance management (PM) is the discipline of "taking action" on the results of performance monitoring, and blending these new modified results with updated plans and goals to drive business value and impact. This is achieved through a combination of management processes, a metrics framework and applications that support real-time access to operational and strategic...

Cloud Access Security Brokers - CASB - Gartner tech definitions

Cloud access security brokers (CASBs) are on-premises, or cloud-based security policy enforcement points, placed between cloud service consumers and cloud service providers to combine and interject enterprise security policies as the cloud-based resources are accessed. CASBs consolidate multiple types of security policy enforcement. Example security policies include authentication, single sign-on, authorization, credential mapping, device profiling,...

Cloud Advertising

Cloud advertising are cloud-based services that support the selection, transaction and delivery of advertising and ad-related data in which content and price are determined at the time of end-user access, usually by an auction mechanism that matches bidders with advertising impressions as they become available. This applies to search, display, mobile, social and video ad formats.

Cloud Application Development (AD) Services

Cloud application development (AD) services are tool offerings delivered as a service and used to create custom software applications deployed on an application platform as a service (aPaaS), a cloud-enabled application platform (CEAP) or infrastructure as a service.

Cloud Encryption Gateways

Cloud encryption gateways provide cloud security proxy (typically at the application level), which performs encryption, tokenization or both on an item-by-item basis as data flows through the proxy. The obfuscated (encrypted or tokenized) data can then be stored in a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) application, such as salesforce.com. Cloud encryption gateways typically provide a choice of...

Cloud Computing - Cloud File Sharing - Gartner

Cloud file sharing refers to a range of cloud services that allows people to store and synchronize documents, photos, videos and other files in the cloud.

Co-creation

Co-creation is a collaborative initiative between companies and their customers enabling the joint design of products and services. These initiatives include the creation of goods, services and experiences, amplifying the process via the inclusion of client intellectual capital.

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

Code division multiple access (CDMA) is a spread-spectrum technology standard that assigns a pseudo-noise code to all speech and data bits, sends a scrambled transmission of the encoded speech over the air and reassembles the speech in its original format. By assigning a unique correlating code to each transmitter, several simultaneous conversations can share the...

3GPP (Third-Generation Partnership Project)

Collaborative project among various standards bodies, such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and enterprise application integration-41 (EAI-41), under the auspices of the ITU, which is developing global specifications for the evolution of 3G technologies. 3GPP focuses on the evolution of GSM and WCDMA, while 3GPP2 focuses on the evolution...

Collective

Collectives are aggregations of people who are outside the control of the enterprise, bound by a common action or opinion, and who affect the enterprise's success. Mobs, formal communities, and informal networks of friends and groups linked by their liking for a particular product or location are examples of collectives. Collectives refers to all informal...

comanagement processes

Comanagement processes are "a set of shared processes that enable internal and external IT service providers and business clients to continuously align IT service delivery to changing internal and external conditions." Comanagement processes are the visible aspect of a governance framework.

Commercial Telematics

Commercial telematics are fleet- and trucking-segment-targeted automotive information and communication technologies/services that use embedded technology or mobile and aftermarket devices. They support networks between commercial vehicles/fleets and IT applications, and focus on improving productivity, efficiency, profitability, reduced cost (such as lower insurance premiums) and sustainability objectives.

Committed Access Rate (CAR)

Committed access rate (CAR) is a metric used Internet quality of service (QoS) agreements to classify and limit customer traffic and manage excess traffic according to the network policy.

Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) Application Suites

Configure, price and quote (CPQ) application suites provide an integrated set of software applications supporting the configuration, pricing and quote generation activities that accompany solution and negotiated selling. CPQ application suites are also deployed to support self-service sales environments, including business-to-consumer (B2C) and B2B sales environments. CPQ systems typically include pricing engines, proposal generators, quoting...

connected game handhelds

Connected game handhelds use an embedded WAN digital cellular or WLAN connection to link to services designed to enhance the gaming experience, including online gaming and downloading games and game content.

contextual presence

Contextual presence is a context-specific list that is created according to specific and current needs. Contextual presence allows users such as medical staff, technical assistants and financial brokers to determine who is available to assist with a specific customer request. Contextual presence lists can be integrated with location services.

Deming PDCA cycle

Continuous improvement model of "Plan, Do, Check, Act." Often represented as the four quadrants of the rim of a circle to reflect the fact that once all four elements have been accomplished, the cycle repeats.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Analytics

Customer relationship management (CRM) analytics collect, organize and synthesize consumer data captured across the organization to help healthcare payers solve customer-facing business problems through reporting tools, dashboards, portals and other methods. It encompasses three critical business processes — marketing, sales and customer service — and pulls data from many sources to make it available to...

Dashboards

Dashboards are a reporting mechanism that aggregate and display metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs), enabling them to be examined at a glance by all manner of users before further exploration via additional business analytics (BA) tools. Dashboards help improve decision making by revealing and communicating in-context insight into business performance, displaying KPIs or business...

removable modules

Data cards and USB modems that provide wireless broadband connections to notebook computers and other mobile computing equipment.

Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)

Data center infrastructure management (DCIM) tools monitor, measure, manage and/or control data center utilization and energy consumption of all IT-related equipment (such as servers, storage and network switches) and facility infrastructure components (such as power distribution units [PDUs] and computer room air conditioners [CRACs]). You may also be interested in Master Data Management

Data Ops

Data ops is the hub for collecting and distributing data, with a mandate to provide controlled access to systems of record for customer and marketing performance data, while protecting privacy, usage restrictions and data integrity.

Data Quality - SaaS

Data quality software as a service (SaaS) refers to data quality functionality (such as profiling, matching, standardization and validation).

Demand Forecasting

Demand forecasting applications incorporate historical and predictive customer demand information into production line and sales quotas.

Demand Pattern Analysis

Demand pattern analysis is an emerging area in supply chain management (SCM) that analyzes customer and demand data to better predict demand across multiple time horizons in a demand-driven value network (DDVN). For example, in the strategic time horizon (12 months to three years), companies can analyze macro changes in customer demand, macroeconomic indicators and...

Demand Response (DR)

Demand response (DR) is broadly defined as a measure for reducing energy load in response to supply constraints, generally during periods of peak demand.

Descriptive Analytics

Descriptive Analytics is the examination of data or content, usually manually performed, to answer the question "What happened?" (or What is happening?), characterized by traditional business intelligence (BI) and visualizations such as pie charts, bar charts, line graphs, tables, or generated narratives.

DFSS (design for Six Sigma)

Design for Six Sigma is a technique that prescribes a specific approach to product design emphasizing variability reduction and quality.

Design-to-Demand

Design-to-demand technology in the automotive industry provides the ability to incorporate consumer requirements faster and more accurately into product attributes (such as vehicle design, control ergonomics and overall functionality) and product applications (for example, product life cycle management [PLM]) to develop desirable automobiles that meet higher consumer acceptance.

supply chain segmentation

Designing and operating distinctly different end-to-end value chains (from customers to suppliers) optimized by a combination of unique customer value, product attribute, manufacturing and supply capabilities, and business value considerations. In essence, supply chain segmentation is the dynamic alignment of customer channel demands and supply response capabilities optimized for net profitability across each segment.

Desktop Virtualization

Desktop virtualization is a technology that decouples a PC desktop environment from a physical device so that the virtual machine (VM) of the PC desktop stored in a centralized server can be accessed from a remote client device through a network. There are various desktop virtualization technologies targeting different use cases, such as hosted virtual...

Document Management (DM)

Document management (DM) is a function in which applications or middleware perform data management tasks tailored for typical unstructured documents (including compound documents). It may also be used to manage the flow of documents through their life cycles. Long-established document management products have traditionally focused on managing a small group of documents vital to the...

Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP)

Electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) comprises the presentation of online billing statements to residential, commercial or industrial customers for viewing and the enablement of Web-based payment methods, such as credit card charging and electronic funds transfer (EFT).

Electronic Waste (E-Waste)

Electronic waste (e-waste), is a generic term used to describe all types of old, end-of-life or discarded electrical and electronic equipment, such as household appliances; office information and communications equipment; entertainment and consumer electronic equipment; lighting equipment; electric and electronic tools; toys; and leisure, sports and recreational equipment that are powered by electricity. E-waste contains...

Emotion Detection

Emotion detection is the task of recognizing a person's emotional state — for example, anger, confusion or deceit across both voice and nonvoice channels. The most common technique analyzes the characteristics of the voice signal, with word use as an additional input, if available.

CPA (comprehensive production architecture)

Enables simultaneous and cost-effective production and archiving in print and Internet formats by integrating five key processes document creation and retrieval, assembly and formatting, internal archiving, prepress and printing and Internet publishing.

Encapsulation

Encapsulation describes the binding and the hiding of the underlying implementation of an object's data and operations. The data is wrapped in a particular type of protocol header. The set of operations that is accessible is the object's interface.

Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD)

Enhanced observed time difference (E-OTD) measures the time differences of arrival of a signal from three base stations, and can be implemented without changing the network.

Ensemble Interactions

Ensemble interactions describe the syncing of a user's multiple devices to support the completion of a task in an optimal manner. This was first demonstrated in video calls, in which the calls shifted automatically from a mobile handheld device to a large-screen TV as the user walked into a room and used gesture controls to...

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) is the process of monitoring performance across the enterprise with the goal of improving business performance. An EPM system integrates and analyzes data from many sources, including, but not limited to, e-commerce systems, front-office and back-office applications, data warehouses and external data sources. Advanced EPM systems can support many performance methodologies...

Enterprise Applications

Enterprise applications are designed to integrate computer systems that run all phases of an enterprise's operations to facilitate cooperation and coordination of work across the enterprise. The intent is to integrate core business processes (e.g., sales, accounting, finance, human resources, inventory and manufacturing). The ideal enterprise system could control all major business processes in real...

Enterprise Architecture (EA) Assurance

Enterprise architecture (EA) assurance is the process whose ultimate goal is to ensure that the agreed-on standards and principles created during the architecture creation process are realized and adhered to. Although EA assurance is often confused with or used synonymously with EA governance, it is, in fact, a subset, and it is conducted during the...

Ethernet Services

Ethernet services deliver network connectivity over short- and long-haul circuits, and termination on fiber and copper local infrastructures. The Metro Ethernet Forum specifies three types of connections E-Line, which is based on a point-to-point connection (more suited to WAN); E-LAN, which is based on a point-to-multipoint connection; and E-Tree, which is also based on point-to-multipoint...

Fabric-Based Computing (FBC)

Fabric-based computing (FBC) is a modular form of computing in which a system can be aggregated from separate (or disaggregated) building-block modules connected over a fabric or switched backplane. Fabric-based infrastructure (FBI) differs from FBC by enabling existing technology elements to be grouped and packaged in a fabric-enabled environment, while the technology elements of an...

ROIT (return on information technology)

Financial gain expressed as a function of an enterprise's investment in information technology.

Outsourcing Definition - IT Outsourcing

For An Outsourcing Definition, Visit Gartner for FREE Research and Webinars Related to IT Outsourcing.

Foreign/Global Trade Compliance (GTC)

Foreign/global trade compliance (GTC) refers to a category of software that addresses the rules and regulations and trade-specific costs of conducting cross-border trade.

Formula/Recipe Management

Formula/recipe management includes software for formula or recipe calculation (for example, food products and chemicals) and validation for process manufacturers. Functions include the ability to optimize formulas, create and manage the workflows to make changes to formulations and recipes, create and configure formulation variants, manage labeling content, plan inventory for scale-up, and validate formulations to...

Fraud Detection

Fraud detection protects customer and enterprise information, assets, accounts and transactions through the real-time, near-real-time or batch analysis of activities by users and other defined entities (such as kiosks). It uses background server-based processes that examine users' and other defined entities' access and behavior patterns, and typically compares this information to a profile of what's...

Customer Experience Management - CEM

Free Gartner Webinars & Research On Customer Experience Management & Keeping Customers Engaged and Interested.

Marketing Service Providers - Gartner Marketing Research

Visit Gartner for FREE Webinars and Research on Marketing Service Providers. Turn customer information into valuable insights that help you compete.

consumer voice services

Voice service revenue and connections are made up of the sum of PSTN and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) connections and their associated revenue. For clarification, IP-based voice "virtual" connections (VoIP) are those calls delivered over a broadband Internet connection or other IP network. A VoIP virtual line needs to be associated with a telephone...

integration as a service (IaaS)

Integration functionality (secure B2B communications, data and message translation, and adapters for applications, data and cloud APIs) delivered as a service.

redundancy

1. Portion of the total information contained in a message that can be eliminated without loss of essential information. 2. Provision of duplicate, backup equipment or links that immediately take over the function of equipment or transmission lines that fail.

SAN (storage area network)

A SAN consists of two tiers The first tier — the storage plumbing tier — provides connectivity between nodes in a network and transports device-oriented commands and status. At least one storage node must be connected to this network. The second tier — the software tier — uses software to provide value-added services that operate...

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

A Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) standard used to log onto a network, list directories and copy files. That is, it provides authentication of the user and lets users transfer files, list directories, delete and rename files on the foreign host, and perform wild-card transfers.

Backbone

A backbone is defined as a high-speed line or series of lines that forms the fastest (measured in bandwidth) path through a network. It often acts as a metanetwork.

Backbone Network

A backbone network is defined as a high-speed transmission facility, or an arrangement of such facilities, designed to interconnect lower-speed distribution channels or clusters of dispersed user devices.

Base Transceiver Station (BTS)

A base transceiver station (BTS) is a fixed radio transceiver in any mobile network. The BTS connects mobile devices to the network. It sends and receives radio signals to mobile devices and converts them to digital signals that it passes on the network to route to other terminals in the network or to the Internet.

Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

A business impact analysis (BIA) is a process that identifies and evaluates the potential effects (financial, life/safety, regulatory, legal/contractual, reputation and so forth) of natural and man-made events on business operations.

Hybrid Storage Gateway Appliance

A hybrid storage appliance is a physical or virtual storage caching system that destages local or on-site data storage to the cloud instead of to back-end disks. In every other way, it behaves as a storage system. The term "hybrid" describes the fact that the appliance combines local storage with cloud storage, usually public cloud...

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles

A hydrogen vehicle is an alternative fuel vehicle that uses hydrogen as its onboard fuel. Hydrogen vehicles' powertrains convert the chemical energy of hydrogen to mechanical energy by burning hydrogen in an internal combustion engine or by reacting hydrogen with oxygen in a fuel cell to run electric motors.

skill mining

A knowledge management (KM) functionality that automatically identifies the skills of knowledge workers by analyzing past behavior. This behavior may be implicit (e.g., looking for recurring concepts in documents that the worker has produced), or explicit (e.g., a worker's willingness and ability to answer a question in the past). Skill mining enables users to identify...

Labor Management System

A labor management system provides labor productivity reporting and planning capabilities. The planning capabilities provide the ability to analyze workforce requirements given a certain amount of work to be performed and a standard unit of time to perform each element of work. Labor productivity planning capabilities provide the ability to measure and report the performance...

SLM (software license management)

A mechanism for systematically ensuring compliance with system vendor and independent software vendor (ISV) software licenses — for example, maximum users, maximum nodes and maximum MIPS.

cookie

A permanent code placed in a file on a computer's hard disk by a website that the computer user has visited. The code uniquely identifies, or "registers," that user and can be accessed for number of marketing and site-tracking purposes.

spider

A piece of software (also called a Web crawler) designed to follow hyperlinks to their completion, and return information on Internet addresses passed.

RISC (reduced instruction set computer)

A processor architecture that shifts the analytical process of a computational task from the execution or runtime to the preparation or compile time. By using less hardware or logic, the system can operate at higher speeds. RISC cuts down on the number and complexity of instructions, on the theory that each one can be accessed...

Procurement Network

A procurement network is a type of business process network integration as a service tailored with applications to support one or more procurement processes, such as Purchase to pay, with e-catalog management and purchase order document exchange Supplier information management, with credential document and firmographic data storage E-sourcing, with opportunity listings for suppliers and support...

COM (communications port)

A port that allows an application to access a modem.

Portal

A portal is a high-traffic website with a wide range of content, services and vendor links. It acts as a value-added middleman by selecting the content sources and assembling them in a simple-to-navigate and customize interface for presentation to the end user. Portals typically offer such services as Web searching, news, reference tools, access to...

Product Configurators

A product configurator is stand-alone software that supports insurance product development activities, including pricing, product modeling and testing. Central components are a workbench, a calculation engine and a graphical user interface. While many policy management solutions have product management capabilities, product configurators are independent solutions that allow them to be used for companies with multiples...

continuous production

A production system in which the productive units are organized and sequenced according to the steps to produce the product. The routing of the jobs is fixed, and setups are seldom changed.

SBM (skills-based management)

A program that objectively defines what skills an enterprise possesses, what skills it will need in the future, when it will need those skills, what strategic value it will place on those skills and how the information technology (IT) employees' competency levels match the value of the strategically significant skills. It is, in effect, a...

SAX (Simple API for XML)

A public domain alternative to Document Object Model (DOM) that defines an event-oriented interface for Java applications.

SQL (Structured Query Language)

A relational data language that provides a consistent, English keyword-oriented set of facilities for query, data definition, data manipulation and data control. It is a programmed interface to relational database management systems (RDBMSs). IBM introduced SQL as the main external interface to its experimental RDBMS, System R, which it developed in the 1970s. SQL statements...

K-map (knowledge map)

A representation of concepts and their relationships (e.g., hierarchy, taxonomy and network). A K-map is a navigational aid that enables a user to hone in rapidly on the desired concept, and then follow links to relevant knowledge sources (information or people).

JavaScript

A scripting language targeted specifically to the Internet. It is the first scripting language to fully conform to ECMAScript, the Web's only standard scripting language. Despite its name, JavaScript is not a derivative of Java; its origin is Netscape's Livescript language. JavaScript is, in fact, closer to C/C++ in syntax than it is to Java.

HSM (hierarchical storage management)

A storage management technology that can be used to identify inactive data and move it to near-line storage, automate the retrieval process, and migrate the data back to the primary storage medium and provide access for the user.

framework

A style guide that defines the look, feel and interoperability of software applications.

Advanced Technology

A technology that is still immature but promises to deliver significant value, or that has some technical maturity but still has relatively few users. Among current examples artificial intelligence, agents, speech and handwriting recognition, virtual reality and 3D visualization, smart cards, real-time collaboration, enhanced user authentication, data mining, and knowledge management.

SSN (switched service network)

A telephone network consisting of terminals, transmission links, and at least one exchange, on which any user can communicate with any other user at any time.

IP seat license

A telephony seat that is in use and part of an IP-enabled PBX or IP-PBX phone system that terminates with an IP phone.

network appliance

A type of computing appliance that aids in the flow of information to other network-connected computing devices. Services that may be provided by a network appliance include firewall functions, caching, authentication, network address translation and IP address management.

roaming

Ability of a mobile user to access cellular services while away from the home network. This includes automated roaming between GSM networks, SIM-based roaming, where a user switches the SIM card into a mobile phone from a different network, or roaming across technologies (for example, between a WCDMA network and the GSM network of another...

Absorption Chillers

Absorption chillers use a different mechanism from traditional chillers, and are powered by heat rather than using electricity, potentially resulting in significant efficiency gains. The cooling mechanism is still evaporative — a liquid transforming into a vapor — but the reliquification is different. Instead of being compressed, the vapor is absorbed into another liquid. The...

SMED (single minute exchange of die)

Acronym for "single minute exchange of die" — a lean approach that minimizes changeover or setup time in a process such that it can be accomplished in less than 10 minutes (the "single" referring not to one minute but single digits; i.e., less than 10).

Ad Ops

Ad Ops is the management of investments in paid media, which includes search, display and video across online, mobile and social destinations, and the use of programmatic techniques to measure and optimize advertising.

Advanced Distribution Protection and Restoration Devices

Advanced distribution protection and restoration systems are built from distributed control and communications technologies. They are designed to communicate over peer-to-peer networks or over high-speed fiber-optic networks, operating either autonomously or in concert with substation automation systems. Advanced distribution protection must also be able to integrate with distributed generation, storage technologies and other distributed resources...

Advanced Fraud Detection and Analysis Technologies

Advanced fraud detection and analysis technologies employ sophisticated analytics and predictive modeling to identify potential fraud in real time during data entry, rather than during a later batch run after a transaction is complete. It can be applied to both claims and underwriting fraud.

Algorithmic Business

Algorithmic business is the industrialized use of complex mathematical algorithms pivotal to driving improved business decisions or process automation for competitive differentiation. Read Gartner's research on predictive and advanced data analytics.

pull

All activities being undertaken within the lean enterprise according to and at the rate of the actual demand requirements of the end consumer.

ground segment

All earth stations and network operation centers on the ground that comprise a particular satellite communications system or network. The ground segment can be connected to an end user's equipment directly or over a terrestrial network.

S-HTTP (Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol)

Also known as HTTPS, this is an extension of Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) that provides security services for transaction confidentiality, authenticity and integrity between HTTP servers and clients. For the purposes of Internet browsers, S-HTTP is a competitive alternative to the more widely used Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) standard. S-HTTP was designed for use in...

FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface)

An American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard for 100 megabits per second (Mbps) fiber-optic local-area networks (LANs). Incorporates token processing and supports circuit-switched voice and packetized data.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)

An Internet security standard from Netscape Communications, used for its browser and server software.

Advanced Shipment Notice (ASN)

An advanced shipment notice (ASN) is an electronic data interchange (EDI) message sent from the shipper to the receiver prior to the departure of the shipment from the shipper's facility. The message includes complete information about the shipment and its contents. In today's environment, this message is more often an "as shipped notice" sent after...

SLA (service-level agreement)

An agreement that sets the expectations between the service provider and the customer and describes the products or services to be delivered, the single point of contact for end-user problems and the metrics by which the effectiveness of the process is monitored and approved.

Alternative Card Networks

An alternative card network carries payment messaging (or payment instructions) across a communications network (for example, an IP-based network) for authorization, clearing and settlement processes, and has its own scheme (arrangements among participating entities, such as issuers, acquirers, processors and operators of the payment system network).

Answer Marketplace

An answer marketplace is a social environment where a participant can pose a question, and other participants can contribute and refine answers. Although answer marketplaces are possible in just about any social media environment, they are specifically designed to facilitate the activity with structures enabling an exchange of value, such as money or points. For...

DAP (Distributed Application Platform)

An application framework introduced in 1997 by Visigenic (later acquired by Borland International).

hyperlink

An area on a Web page that, when clicked on with a mouse, will transport the user to another Web page. Also called "links" or "hot links," hyperlinks are analogous to hypertext. Hyperlinks are commonly used on the Web to provide navigation, reference and depth where published text cannot. A hyperlink can be created from...

Automated Teller Machine (ATM)

An automated teller machine (ATM) is a public banking machine that is usually hooked up to a central computer through leased local lines and a multiplexed data network.

Electronic Health Record (EHR)

An electronic health record (EHR) system contains patient-centric, electronically maintained information about an individual's health status and care, focuses on tasks and events directly related to patient care, and is optimized for use by clinicians. The EHR provides support for all activities and processes involved in the delivery of clinical care. The definition of an...

Electronic Signature (e-Signature)

An electronic signature (e-signature) is a traceable e-mail or a biometric applied to a message. The biometric may be based on digitized handwriting (handwriting that is converted by cryptography into a digital signature) or a biometric (e.g., a fingerprint that can be combined with a hash or digest of the message to show the signer's...

cyber library

An electronic version of a physical library that is implemented on behalf of workers for information self-service.

HI (healthcare infomediary)

An entity that captures healthcare usage data, which then can be used to profile consumer purchasing and usage patterns. Once it creates a consumer profile, a HI can act as an agent that connects the consumer to healthcare entities that offer services aligned with the consumer's lifestyle.

satellite communications operator

An entity that leverages satellite network to provide telecommunication services.

cloud communications service provider

An entity that leverages the cloud environment to provide telecommunication and other services.

fixed-line carrier

An entity that owns/operates a fixed-line network infrastructure (including fixed wireless).

integrated carrier

An entity that owns/operates both fixed-line and mobile network infrastructure and provides aforementioned services (fixed and mobile).

hit

An individual visit to a website or Web page, expressed as a measure of its popularity (i.e., Web traffic volume). For example, a site that had 48,000 visitors during a 24-hour period might be said to have averaged 2,000 "hits" per hour during that period.

CPRI (Common Public Radio Interface)

An industry cooperation between Ericsson, Nortel, NEC, Siemens and Huawei to define an open and published interface between radio equipment control and the radio equipment. Although open and freely available, this interface is not defined by 3GPP and is targeting WCDMA.

page

An output device that prints one page at a time. This includes the following types of device • Laser — An electrophotographic technology in which laser beams are used to transfer images to a photoreceptor belt or a drum. It has the ability to buffer, in part or in whole, a page of images received...

cost to serve

Analysis that calculates the profitability of products, customers and routes to market, and provides a fact-based focus for decision making on service mix and operational changes for each customer.

signature

Any mark or symbol accepted by both parties to show intent, approval of, or responsibility for, a document. In e-business, for example, a "from" line on an e-mail, a mouse click of acceptance of terms, an e-mail closing, a biometric and electronic signatures of several types are accepted as signatures. Some laws specify a written...

firecall

Any method established to provide emergency access to a secure information system. In the event of a critical error or abnormal end, unprivileged users can gain access to key systems to correct the problem.

DevOps

DevOps represents a change in IT culture, focusing on rapid IT service delivery through the adoption of agile, lean practices.

B2B Web Services

B2B Web services refers to the IT usage scenario where a form of Web services _ SOAP, WS-* or Web-native implementation, such as representational state transfer (REST) or plain old XML (POX) — is deployed in some combination of cloud and B2B (multienterprise) integration projects. Web services are used as a multienterprise extension of internal...

Bandwidth

Bandwidth can be defined as follows The range of frequencies that can pass over a given transmission channel. The bandwidth determines the rate at which information can be transmitted through the circuit the greater the bandwidth, the more information that can be sent in a given amount of time. Bandwidth is typically measured in bits...

Best Practice

Best practice is defined by Gartner as a group of tasks that optimizes the efficiency (cost and risk) or effectiveness (service level) of the business discipline or process to which it contributes. It must be implementable, replicable, transferable and adaptable across industries.

Best-in-Class

Best-in-class is defined as the superior product within a category of hardware or software. It does not necessarily mean best product overall, however. For example, the best-in-class product in a low-priced category may be inferior to the best product on the market, which could sell for much more.

Beta Testing

Beta testing is the stage at which a new product is tested under actual usage conditions.

What is Bimodal IT? See Gartner's IT Glossary For The Answer

Bimodal IT is the practice of managing two separate, coherent modes of IT delivery, one focused on stability and the other on agility.

Binary Synchronous Communications (BSC)

Binary Synchronous Communications (BSC) is a half-duplex, character-oriented data communications protocol originated by IBM in 1964. It includes control characters and procedures for controlling the establishment of a valid connection and the transfer of data. Also called Bisync. Although still in use, it has largely been replaced by IBM's more efficient protocol, Synchronous Data Link...

Biometric ATMs

Biometric ATMs are self-service cash machines that use a biometric measure to identify customers and allow them to withdraw cash. The biometric check may be the only customer identifier used, or it may be used in conjunction with another format, such as a payment card, a mobile device or an additional security credential, such as...

Biometric Authentication

Biometric authentication methods use biometric characteristics or traits to verify users' claimed identities when users access endpoint devices, networks, networked applications or Web applications. Across a wide range of use cases, any biometric authentication method may be used in one-to-one comparison mode (when the user enters a user ID), or one-to-many search mode (when the...

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a low-power wireless networking technology operating in the 2.4 GHz unlicensed Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band. There are two classes of Bluetooth device — Class 1 devices have higher output power and a range of about 100 meters, and Class 2 devices have lower power and a range of about 10 meters....

Bluetooth Low Energy (LE)

Bluetooth low energy (LE) is a specification adopted by the Bluetooth SIG in April 2009 that enables low-power peripherals with a battery life of months to years to communicate with Bluetooth in handsets or other devices. Bluetooth LE opens up a new range of devices and applications such as on-body medical sensors and sports and...

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a digital currency that is the most prominent of the family of cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies are a subset of digital currency that is decentralized, and based on a set of algorithms and protocols that enable a peer-to-peer, cryptographically based payment mechanism, medium of exchange and store of value. The bitcoin technology stack came into...

Blade Servers

Blades are small form factor servers, housed in a chassis, that provide tightly integrated power, cooling, input/output (I/O) connectivity and management capabilities that enable the easy addition of new components and replacement of failed or outdated technology.

Blockchain

Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger in which value exchange transactions (in bitcoin or other token) are sequentially grouped into blocks. Each block is chained to the previous block and immutably recorded across a peer-to-peer network, using cryptographic trust and assurance mechanisms. Depending on the implementation, transactions can include programmable behavior.  

Build-Operate-Transfer

Build-operate-transfer (BOT) is a contractual relationship in which an organization hires a service provider to set up, optimize and run an IT or business process service delivery operation with the contractually stipulated intent of transferring the operation to the organization as a captive center.  BOT, as a hybrid model, combines elements of the "build" option (that...

Bundling

Bundling is defined as the practice of packaging multiple features and products together for a single price.

Business Activity Monitoring (BAM)

Business activity monitoring (BAM) describes the processes and technologies that enhance situation awareness and enable analysis of critical business performance indicators based on real-time data. BAM is used to improve the speed and effectiveness of business operations by keeping track of what is happening and making issues visible quickly. The BAM concept can be implemented...

Business Capability Modeling

Business capability modeling is a technique for the representation of an organization's business anchor model, independent of the organization's structure, processes, people or domains.

Business Intelligence - BI - Gartner - Save the Date

Business intelligence-BI- offerings to design, develop and deploy enterprise processes and to integrate, support and manage related technology applications.TitleBusiness Intelligence - BIOne click gets you free research on Business Intelligence from Gartner. Discover what thousands of CIOs and Senior IT Leaders already know.

Corporate Performance Management - CPM - Gartner Definition

CPM is an umbrella term that describes the methodologies, metrics, processes and systems used to monitor and manage the business performance of an enterprise. Applications that enable CPM translate strategically focused information to operational plans and send aggregated results. These applications are also integrated into many elements of the planning and control cycle, or they...

cdma2000

Cdma2000 is the commercial name for the IMT-2000 CDMA Multicarrier (MC-CDMA) standard developed through the 3GPP2 standards organization of the ITU. It is an evolving family of cellular networking specifications that offers enhanced voice and data capacity over cdmaOne. The family includes 1xRTT, EV-DO, EV-DO Rev. A, EV-DO Rev. B and EV-DO Rev. C.

Cell Splitting

Cell splitting is a means of increasing the capacity of a cellular system by subdividing or splitting cells into two or more smaller cells.

Channel Integration

Channel integration refers to strategies aimed at consolidating — either physically or logically — customer information and its use to provide an all-encompassing view of the customer.

Claims Management Solutions

Claims management solutions are applications that support end-to-end claims workflow and collaboration for life insurance products, from the entry of claims information through claims payments. Components include workflow, business process management (BPM) capabilities, a rule engine, collaboration tools, integration tools, and industry templates that contain claims process flows and best practices.

Class-Based Queuing (CBQ)

Class-based queuing (CBQ) is a mechanism that defines various levels of service for access to the Internet and can be used with or without Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP). CBQ divides traffic into queues and assigns each a specific amount of network bandwidth.

Internet of Things Defined - Tech Definitions by Gartner

Click now to access all of Gartner's research on the Internet of Things including IoT Platforms and IoT Devices.

Cognitive Radio

Cognitive radio enables devices to dynamically negotiate spectrum use and to choose appropriate frequencies, protocols and modulation to coexist with other devices. It gives flexibility of operation that goes way beyond that of software-defined radio (SDR). SDR enables wireless devices to switch dynamically between protocols and frequencies, and is also a foundation that can be...

Collaborative Commerce (C-Commerce)

Collaborative commerce (C-commerce) describes electronically enabled business interactions among an enterprise's internal personnel, business partners and customers throughout a trading community. The trading community could be an industry, industry segment, supply chain or supply chain segment.

compliance (organizational)

Companies creating their own internal compliance demands. This type of compliance is driven by needs ranging from preserving shareholder equity to embracing stakeholder identity.

Competitive Intelligence (CI)

Competitive intelligence (CI) is the analysis of an enterprise's marketplace to understand what is happening, what will happen and what it means to the enterprise. CI business goals may be offensive — positioning the company in the marketplace, plotting a course for future positioning, and allocating short- and long-term resources. Goals may also be defensive...

Computer-Brain Interface

Computer-brain interface is a type of user interface, whereby the user voluntarily generates distinct brain patterns that are interpreted by the computer as commands to control an application or device. The best results are achieved by implanting electrodes into the brain to pick up signals. Noninvasive techniques are available commercially that use a cap or...

computing platform products

Computing platform products are defined as follows Server systems —The server segment comprises all multiuser systems. Please note that Gartner no longer classifies supercomputers and mainframes as discrete segments. As the technology, use and positioning differentiation between the server segments has eroded, all multiuser systems are now classified as general-purpose servers. Workstations —...

finite loading

Conceptually, the term means putting no more work into a factory than the factory can be expected to execute. The term usually refers to a computer technique that involves automatic shop priority revision to level load operation by operation.

Concurrent Engineering (CE)

Concurrent engineering (CE) is a collaborative, team-based approach for designing products that combines multiple departments and disciplines into a project team.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is the process and practice of creating, curating and cultivating text, video, images, graphics, e-books, white papers and other content assets that are distributed through paid, owned and earned media. These assets are used to tell stories that help brands build and nurture relationships with customers, prospects and other audiences to drive awareness,...

Content Marketing Platforms

Content marketing platforms are tools and services used by marketers to create, curate, collate and cultivate branded, user-generated and third-party content across multiple channels.

Contract Life Cycle Management (CLM)

Contract life cycle management (CLM) is a solution and process for managing the life cycle of contracts created and/or administered by or impacting the company. These include third-party contracts, such as outsourcing, procurement, sales, nondisclosure, intellectual property, leasing, facilities management and other licensing, and agreements containing contractual obligations now and in the future.

Corporate Website Activity

Corporate website activity are key indicators of website effectiveness, including traffic (total traffic, sources of traffic), visitor mix (new/repeat/unique), key activity completions, conversions, average time spent, bounce rate and content downloads, etc.

SAC (subscriber acquisition cost)

Cost to operator of net subscriber addition, typically including the cost of sales and marketing, and handset subsidies, if applicable.

CTQ (critical to quality)

Critical to quality are those aspects of a product or service that a customer deems as must-have features to be satisfied.

Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing describes the processes for sourcing a task or challenge to a broad, distributed set of contributors using the Web and social collaboration techniques. Crowdsourcing applications typically include mechanisms to attract the desired participants, stimulate relevant contributions and select winning ideas or solutions.

Customer Communications Management (CCM)

Customer communications management (CCM) is defined as the strategy to improve the creation, delivery, storage and retrieval of outbound communications, including those for marketing, new product introductions, renewal notifications, claims correspondence and documentation, and bill and payment notifications. These interactions can happen through a widespread range of media and output, including documents, email, Short Message...

Customer Gateways

Customer gateways allow consumers to become part of the smart grid by enabling self-service energy provisioning on the premises, linking and integrating consumer energy management, and having smart appliances increase energy efficiency and enhance the consumer's quality of life.

Database Audit and Protection (DAP)

Database audit and protection (DAP) tools provide comprehensive security for relational database management systems (RDBMSs). DAP tools have their roots in the basic monitoring capabilities of database activity monitoring (DAM) tools. In response to expanded client requirements, vendors have added additional capabilities, such as data discovery and classification, threat and vulnerability management, application-level analysis, intrusion...

deployment

Deployment services support the implementation and rollout of new applications or infrastructure. Activities may include hardware or software procurement, configuration, tuning, staging, installation and interoperability testing.

point to point

Describes a circuit that connects two points directly, where there are generally no intermediate processing nodes, although there could be switching facilities. See multipoint.

gray market

Describes the import and sale of mobile devices outside regular commercial channels as defined by the original manufacturer or the relevant government, creating a parallel market to authorized distribution channels.

DFX (design for X)

Design for "x," where "x" can be manufacturing, service, quality, maintenance, etc.

green belt

Designation in Six Sigma of a practitioner who has achieved the basic understanding of Six Sigma techniques and is qualified to lead Six Sigma process improvement projects.

FMC (fixed-mobile convergence)

Device and infrastructure technology trend that enables the transparent use of voice and data applications across fixed and mobile access points.

Digital Strategy - Free Research from Gartner - Click Here

Digital business is the creation of new business designs by blurring the digital and physical worlds. Click Here for Gartner's FREE Research.

Distributed Generation (DG)

Distributed generation (DG) is a supply technology that can be at or near retail load, enabling smart buildings and power park/premium operating districts, providing high-quality, 99.999% reliability. Combined with on-site energy storage, DG is a disruptive technology transforming centrally managed radial delivery infrastructure into a geodesic network, providing higher resilience of the power system and...

Dye Sublimation

Dye sublimation is a process that prints one line at a time, using an electrically heated element to produce images. Instead of spraying jets of ink onto a page as inkjet printers do, dye sublimation printers apply a dye from a plastic film. This takes the form of a roll or a ribbon, similar to...

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs)

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) use an organic dye to absorb incoming sunlight to produce excited electrons and create an energy which is then transferred to an inexpensive material, such as titanium dioxide (TiO2). From there, the energy is collected on a transparent conducting surface. Currently, its conversion efficiency is between 8% and 11% (limited by...

E-Discovery Software

E-Discovery software facilitates the identification, collection, preservation, processing, review, analysis and production of electronically stored information (ESI) to meet the mandates imposed by common-law requirements for discovery. These demands may be due to civil or criminal litigation, regulatory oversight or administrative proceedings. The E-Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) maps traditional common-law discovery into a six-step, nine-process...

E-Procurement

E-procurement applications support indirect spending by giving casual users (i.e., employees who are not procurement professionals) a self-service solution for requisitioning and ordering goods and services. Although e-procurement solutions are geared toward indirect spending management by enabling individuals to initiate the requisition process and select purchases, they are occasionally configured for direct materials procurement, when...

Electro Mobility (E-Mobility)

Electro mobility (or e-Mobility) represents the concept of using electric powertrain technologies, in-vehicle information, and communication technologies and connected infrastructures to enable the electric propulsion of vehicles and fleets. Powertrain technologies include full electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, as well as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that convert hydrogen into electricity. e-Mobility efforts are motivated by...

Electronic Coupons (E-Coupons)

Electronic coupons (e-coupons) are the digital form of a paper coupon or voucher (also known as an "offer"), and can encompass several formats, including mobile and social coupons. An e-coupon can be part of a single-party process, where a retailer issues a coupon via its campaign management system for redemption in its stores, or it...

ROI (return on investment)

Financial gain expressed as a percentage of funds invested to generate that gain.

Enterprise Nervous System (ENS)

Enterprise nervous system (ENS) is Gartner's term for the intelligent network that provides unifying connectivity among people, application systems and devices in different locations and business units across a virtual enterprise. The emerging ENS is based on the traditional enterprise network, but it is an evolution of that network, providing value-added functions that elevate the...

Enterprise Portal (EP)

Enterprise portals (EPs) are internet technologies that provide windows into enterprise information, applications and processes. EPs go by many names, including corporate portals, business portals and enterprise information portals.

event, fault and log management

Event management (as well as log management and fault management) tools are used to collect, report and help with diagnosis of problems (faults) identified in the environment. This segment also includes IT operations and administration "policy" software, which creates and manages lists of users (in cooperation with security and human resource management system products) and...

Event-Driven Architecture (EDA)

Event-driven architecture (EDA) is a design paradigm in which a software component executes in response to receiving one or more event notifications. EDA is more loosely coupled than the client/server paradigm because the component that sends the notification doesn't know the identity of the receiving components at the time of compiling.

external social software

External social software is typically used to create community sites for customers, market influencers and crowd sourcing (as in collecting innovative ideas from the Web at large), as well as to measure overall market sentiments and trends.

Fibre Channel Over Ethernet (FCoE)

Fibre Channel Over Ethernet (FCoE) is an encapsulation of FC frames over enhanced Ethernet networks. The goal of enhanced Ethernet is to provide a unified network that can transport multiple types of traffic, including FC storage, Internet Protocol (IP) and high-performance computing over Ethernet with a line speed of 10 Gbps or greater, eliminating storage...

5S

Five-part checklist to help eliminate waste in the workplace In Japanese — "Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu and Shitsuke"; loosely translated as "Sort, Straighten, Sanitize, Standardize and Sustain." Using the 5S approach is frequently a "kaizen event."

FMS (flexible manufacturing system)

Flexible manufacturing system; a process that is highly adaptable and can produce different products with minimal changeover times or reconfiguration.

Magic Quadrant

Gartner Magic Quadrants offer visual snapshots, in-depth analyses and actionable advice that provide insight into a market's direction, maturity and participants. Magic Quadrants compare vendors based on Gartner's standard criteria and methodology. Each report comes with a Magic Quadrant graphic that depicts a market using a two-dimensional matrix that evaluates vendors based on their Completeness...

performance management

Gartner defines "performance management" as the combination of methodologies and metrics that enables users to define, monitor and optimize outcomes necessary to achieve organizational goals and objectives.

takt time

German for "beat" — the pace of production based on customer demand or pull.

Grid Computing Without Using Public Cloud Computers

Grid computing refers to using computers managed by more than one organization, whether internal or external, to collectively accomplish large tasks, such as derivative risk analysis, candidate drug screening or complex simulations. The management domains can be separate companies, separate divisions of one company, or different data centers and operating organizations inside one company. The...

net new connections

Gross new connections minus the number of disconnections from the network in a given period.

satellite phone (satphone)

Handheld device that uses satellite infrastructure to effect wireless voice and SMS communications without the use of a terrestrial infrastructure. Satphones can be handheld, fixed or portable and use satellites that can be stationary or orbiting. The user requires line of sight to a satellite in the coverage area of the service provider. Services typically...

High-Definition (HD) Voice

High-definition (HD) voice is also known as wideband voice. Compared to traditional telephony voice over public switched telephone networks (PSTNs) and cellular, HD voice uses double the sampling rate, reproducing a much larger sound frequency and delivering all, or most, of the frequencies of a user's voice. HD voice's major advantage is the ability to...

High-Performance Computing (HPC)

High-performance computing (HPC) clusters can be composed of large numbers of servers, where the total physical size, energy use or heat output of the computing cluster might become a serious issue. Furthermore, there are requirements for dedicated communications among the servers that are somewhat unique to clusters. Because small design differences amount to large benefits...

synchronous communications

High-speed transmission of contiguous groups of characters. The stream of monitored and read bits uses a clock rate.

Hybrid MPLS (Internet WAN)

Hybrid Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)/Internet WAN models combine the use of two major Internet Protocol (IP) WAN technologies, commonly carrier MPLS networks and IPsec virtual private networks (VPNs) over Internet infrastructure, in a consolidated enterprise WAN. While Internet-based VPNs are commonly used for smaller offices, and MPLS tends to be the basis of major corporate...

Cloud - Hybrid Cloud Computing

Hybrid cloud computing refers to policy-based and coordinated service provisioning, use & management across a mixture of internal & external cloud services

Identity-Proofing Services

Identity-proofing services, which verify people's identities before the enterprise issues them accounts and credentials, are based on "life history" or transaction information aggregated from public and proprietary data sources. These services are also used as an additional interactive user authentication method, especially for risky transactions, such as accessing sensitive confidential information or transferring funds to...

shipments

In Gartner's statistics for mobile network infrastructure, the additional equipment required to support an increase in traffic or coverage. Shipments are calculated by subtracting the current year's installations from the following year's installations.

connectionless service

In a connectionless service, no fixed path is set up between sender and recipient. Every unit of data that is exchanged is self-contained in that it contains all the necessary control and address information to ensure correct delivery, e.g., packet switching.

Block Error Rate

In data communications testing, block error rate is defined as the ratio between the total number of blocks transmitted in a given message and the number of blocks in that message received in error; a measure of the quality of a data transmission.

Burst

In data communications, a burst is a sequence of signals counted as one unit in accordance with a specific criterion or measure.TitleBusiness AnalyticsBusiness analytics is comprised of solutions to build analysis models and simulations to create scenarios, understand realities and predict future states.

Brownout

In response to heavy demand, main system voltages are sometimes lowered, leading to brownouts in which power is not lost but reduced.

knowledge content owners

Individuals who oversee the definition and delivery of knowledge content for their business processes to the knowledge management environment, and define access privileges to their knowledge resources. Human-resources executives are an example of knowledge content owners for benefits information resources; as such, they are responsible for ensuring that appropriate benefits content is available to support...

Cloud Service Elasticity

In the service provider view, cloud service elasticity is the ability to increase or decrease the amount of system capacity (for example, CPU, storage, memory and input/output bandwidth) that is available for a given cloud service on demand, in an automated fashion. This gives their customers the perception of unlimited capacity. From the consumer and...

Infonomics

Infonomics is the emerging discipline of managing and accounting for information with the same or similar rigor and formality as other traditional assets (e.g., financial, physical, intangible, human capital). Infonomics posits that information itself meets all the criteria of formal company assets, and, although not yet recognized by generally accepted accounting practices, increasingly, it is...

Information Cards

Information cards provide visual representations of one or more claims (asserted identity attributes) that can be used for registration, authentication and other purposes. Information cards were promoted predominantly by Microsoft, but with support from other vendors. Claims-based identity and information cards were being supported by Microsoft through a set of related product components, through the...

sensor and RFID-based inventory and asset management business process application software

Innovative business models and processes will be the main way that RFID begins to be justified. But enterprises don't have many applications to manage these processes today. For example, real-time management of inventory in a retail environment is almost unheard of today, and retailers will need entirely new applications to deal with it. Vendors providing...

cross-modulation

Interference caused by two or more carriers interacting in a transmission system.

Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the next version of Internet Protocol (IP), designed to overcome several key limitations of IP version 4 (IPv4), the most widely used networking protocol. The main benefits of IPv6 are vastly increased address space, integrated security and quality-of-service mechanisms, as well as support for autoconfiguration and mobility. In addition,...

Internet TV

Internet TV is the video streaming of licensed professional content (typically TV shows, live events and movies). "TV" here refers to the nature and status of the content. It drives the key requirement that access be selectively controlled, based on licensing arrangements, which place restrictions on who may see the content (that is, subscribers only),...

PDC (personal digital cellular)

Japanese, second-generation (2G/2.5G) digital cellular standard operating in the 800MHz and 1,500MHz frequency bands.

job scheduling

Job scheduling tools supervise a logical process (several jobs or programs) as they execute in a mainframe or distributed environment, providing scheduling and dependency management of the process as it runs, mainly in sequence, across disparate systems, geographies and applications. The tools in this category are used for "batch integration" of heterogeneous applications and data...

kanban

Kanban is a technique used in lean manufacturing (i.e., just-in-time) environments to reduce process cycle time by managing flow.

Kerfless Wafering

Kerfless wafering is a manufacturing process that produces very thin wafers of silicon from a crystal ingot with minimal waste material. Conventional wafering uses a wire saw to cut the ingot into wafers, and the material removed by the cutting blade, known as kerf, is lost as waste. The two main kerfless-wafering approaches being pursued...

KPOV (key process output variable)

Key process output variable — the most important output(s) of a process.

Knowledge Management (KM)

Knowledge management (KM) is a business process that formalizes the management and use of an enterprise's intellectual assets. KM promotes a collaborative and integrative approach to the creation, capture, organization, access and use of information assets, including the tacit, uncaptured knowledge of people.

lagging and leading key performance indicators

Lagging indicators are metrics that measure end-state objectives or desired outcomes. They include all financial metrics. Nonprofit and public sector enterprises have additional nonfinancial lagging indicators that measure desired outcomes, such as students who graduate, incidence of crime and lives lost to terrorism. Leading indicators are a defined set of metrics that are predictive of...

Lead Management

Lead management involves lead generation, collection, qualification, prioritization, enhancement and maturation. The automotive industry embraces lead management as a sales and marketing solution to increase the conversion rates of prospects buying a vehicle.

Life Span

Life span (lifetime) refers to the average life of a device within the defined segment.

Line Balancing

Line balancing is the optimization of the assignment of operations to workstations in an assembly line to minimize idle time and the number of workstations required.

Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications

Machine-to-machine (M2M) communications is used for automated data transmission and measurement between mechanical or electronic devices. The key components of an M2M system are Field-deployed wireless devices with embedded sensors or RFID-Wireless communication networks with complementary wireline access includes, but is not limited to cellular communication, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, WiMAX, wireless LAN (WLAN), generic DSL (xDSL)...

Marketing Content Management

Marketing content management (MCM) is a category of applications that help enterprises respond rapidly to unfolding business circumstances by applying the optimal combination of marketing content across multiple channels. MCM databases provide enterprises with an overview of all available marketing content.

Marketing Mix Modeling

Marketing mix modeling refers to analytical solutions that help marketers to understand and simulate the effect of advertising (volume decomposition), and to optimize tactics and the delivery medium. More recently, it is being used to simulate and analyze the trade-offs between trade and consumer spending. Marketing mix modeling can also help managers with P&L responsibility...

Materials Management Information System

Materials management information system (MMIS) is a software suite packaged as an integrated offering to meet materials management, human-resources and back-office needs. At a minimum, MMISs should be designed to interface readily with other mission-critical information systems in the enterprise.

latency

Measure of the responsiveness of a network, often expressed as the round-trip time (in milliseconds); that is, the time between initiating a network request and receiving a response. High latency tends to have more impact than bandwidth on the end-user experience in interactive applications, such as Web browsing. Low latency is required for many next-generation...

receiver sensitivity

Measurement of the weakest signal that a wireless receiver can receive and still translate into data. Receiver sensitivity is affected greatly by a number of factors, including location and placement within the wireless device.

Media Access Control

Media Access Control is an IEEE protocol defining the methods used to gain access to the physical layer of a LAN (i.e., Layer 1 of the OSI model).

Message Authentication Code

Message authentication code is a way of confirming that a message has not been tampered with.

Micro Fuel Cells

Micro fuel cells are an alternative to batteries as a power source for mobile devices. They may be small enough for integration inside the electronic equipment, or a little larger for use in an external power supply. The majority of portable fuel cells use hydrogen as the base fuel, but micro fuel cells usually extract...

Microblogging

Microblogging is short messages that are delivered to consumers who have chosen to follow or subscribe to a given microblogging feed. The most popular microblogging service is Twitter, but other services such as Plurk, Tumblr, Identi.ca and Weibo are popular in other areas of the world. These services focus on consumers but can be used...

Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL)

Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) is a mobile audio/video interface standard for directly connecting mobile phones and other portable consumer electronics devices to high-definition TVs (HDTVs) and displays. It is a five-pin, low-power interface capable of 1080p60 quality and supporting high-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP), Remote Control Protocol (RCP), and 8-channel digital audio. It allows for...

Mobile IP

Mobile IP is a packet-forwarding mechanism for mobile and remote hosts so that remote users can connect to their networks over the Internet. It can work with Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).

Mobile Transformers

Mobile transformers are mobile device products with an innovative and/or adaptive form factor that users can modify dynamically, based on specific context and needs. Some products are still at the conceptual model stage (for example, the Nokia Morph); others are already commercially available. Modu's Modu Mobile uses a modular, Lego-like approach, based on building blocks,...

Mood Recognition

Mood recognition technologies sense the emotional state of a user (via biometric sensors, cameras and interactions) and respond by performing specific, predefined actions, such as changing the lighting in a vehicle to more-subtle colors to address a user's high-stress level or playing dynamic music to address driver fatigue. The technology can also be used for...

Multicarrier Code Division Multiple Access

Multicarrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) is an underlying standard for the cdma2000 family developed by the 3GPP2 standards organization of the ITU.

Multichannel Campaign Management

Multichannel campaign management enables companies to define, orchestrate and communicate offers to customers across websites, mobile, social, direct mail, call centers and email. Digital marketing, which continues to be integrated with campaign management, includes addressable branding/advertising, contextual marketing and transactional marketing. Digital marketing extends the marketing process through channels such as the Web, video, mobile...

Multimedia Markup Language

Multimedia Markup Language (MML) is a microbrowser developed for the J-Phone (now Vodafone KK) mobile data service, similar to DoCoMo's proprietary cHTML browser.

Multimedia Messaging Service

Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a 3GPP mobile messaging standard that supports picture messaging, sound, graphics and voice. Unlike EMS, MMS does not draw on established messaging technology (such as SMS). Instead, it requires network operators to deploy new infrastructure, including a multimedia messaging service center. It uses a wireless data bearer to deliver messages...

Multiple Input/Multiple Output

Multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) is multi-antenna wireless technology suitable for base stations and mobile devices that can increase throughput, system capacity and spectral efficiency, reduce fading and improve resistance to interference. It is being used in pre-standard 802.11n WLAN equipment and is likely to be adopted in WiMAX and future cellular standards.

Multithreading

Multithreading is concurrent processing of more than one message (or similar service request) by an application program.

Natural-Language Processing (NLP)

Natural-language processing (NLP) technology involves the ability to turn text or audio speech into encoded, structured information, based on an appropriate ontology. The structured data may be used simply to classify a document, as in "this report describes a laparoscopic cholecystectomy," or it may be used to identify findings, procedures, medications, allergies and participants.

necessary non-value-adding

Non-value-adding activities that are necessary under the present operating system or equipment. They are likely to be difficult to remove in the short term but may be possible to eliminate in the medium term by changing equipment or processes. Often used to describe regulatory compliance activity that adds no direct customer value but is required...

Non-Value-Adding

Non-value-adding refers to activities within a company or supply chain that do not directly contribute to satisfying end consumers' requirements. It is useful to think of these as activities that consumers would not be happy to pay for.

penetration rate (mobile)

Number of (mobile) connections to a service divided by the population.

Object-Oriented Analysis and Design

Object-oriented analysis and design (OOA&D) tools support object analysis and design technologies and commonly use Unified Modeling Language (UML) notation with a variety of methodologies to assist in the creation of highly modular and reusable software. Most also support the use of Domain Specific Language concepts as a complement to UML. Applications, data, networks and...

Object-Oriented Programming

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a style of programming characterized by the identification of classes of objects closely linked with the methods (functions) with which they are associated. It also includes ideas of inheritance of attributes and methods. It is a technique based on a mathematical discipline, called "abstract data types," for storing data with the procedures...

Object-Oriented Technology

Object-oriented technology (OOT)  is a software design model in which objects contain both data and the instructions that work on the data. It is increasingly deployed in distributed computing.

secondary station

On a communications pathway, a terminal device that has been selected to operate under the control of another terminal device.

On-Device Monitoring

On-device monitoring applications collect data on a customer's use of his or her device (mobile, IPTV, tablet, PC or broadband hub) using client software installed on the device. These applications can be used for fault detection and resolution on an individual or aggregate basis; can inform customer services during an interaction with the customer; or...

HCPCS (Healthcare Procedural Classification System)

One of the standard code formats and definitions included in the Uniform Billing Codes.

OneAPI

OneAPI, as defined by the telecom industry—led by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) and the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA)—is a set of standardized and lightweight Web-friendly application programming interface (API) for communications service providers (CSPs) to use to expose their networks. Building on OneAPI version 2.0 specifications, the current OneAPI specifications, which...

Online Complex Processing

Online complex processing is an extension of online transaction processing (OLTP) that includes concurrent ad hoc query and batch processing.

fault detection and isolation

Online diagnostics that detect and isolate faults in real time, prevent contamination into other areas, and attempt to retry operations.

Open Architecture

Open architecture is a technology infrastructure with specifications that are public as opposed to proprietary. This includes officially approved standards as well as privately designed architectures, the specifications of which are made public by their designers.

Operations Services

Operations services handle the transfer of all or part of the day-to-day system management responsibility for a customer's IT infrastructure (host/data center, client/desktop or connectivity/network) and, in some cases, the transfer of ownership of the technology or personnel assets to an outside vendor. Services may include systems operation or support, administration, security, performance monitoring, technical...

Optimization Routines

Optimization routines are used to determine the optimal solution for a particular problem. These routines are included in supply chain execution and supply chain planning applications to reduce costs or time in the supply chain, and usually are tactically focused for use in current operations.

LEO (low earth orbit)

Orbital plane located from several hundred to a few thousand miles about the earth's surface. LEO systems can be regional or global and require many more satellites than GEO-based systems to provide service. Big LEO systems provide mobile satellite phone services and consist of satellite constellations of some 48 to 66 satellites. See also GEO...

GEO (geosynchronous orbit)

Orbital plane that is geosynchronous with the earth's equatorial plane (that is, zero inclination), also known as the Clarke Belt, named after Arthur C. Clarke. It is also an object orbiting the earth at the earth's rotational speed and with the same direction of rotation.

Over the Air

Over the air (OTA) refers to the ability to download applications, services and configurations over a mobile or cellular network.

satellite dish

Parabolic microwave antenna used to transmit and receive satellite signals. On the downlink, the dish collects data or video signals from orbiting satellites and focuses them to where a feed horn collects them and passes the signal on to be amplified and sent to a satellite receiver or IRD. The term is derived from the...

PCU (packet control unit)

Part of a GPRS BSS product, the PCU provides an interface between the SGSN and the radio network using frame relay technology.

Penetration Testing

Penetration testing goes beyond vulnerability scanning to use multistep and multivector attack scenarios that first find vulnerabilities and then attempt to exploit them to move deeper into the enterprise infrastructure. Since this is how advanced targeted attacks work, penetration testing provides visibility into aggregations of misconfigurations or vulnerabilities that could lead to an attack that...

community of practice

People associated and interlinked in a communication or knowledge network because of their shared interest or shared responsibility for a subject area. Examples are people who hold similar job functions (project managers, department managers, team leaders or customer service agents); all the people on a project team; and people interested in specific technologies (e-commerce or...

subscriber

Person who controls the subscription. Because subscribers may have more than one connection (multiple connections), it cannot be assumed that one connection equals one subscriber.

Polymer Memory

Polymer memory refers to memory technologies based on the use of organic polymers. Some of these technologies use changes in the resistance of conducting polymers under read/write control. Other architectures are based on ferroelectric polymers. The properties of polymer memory are low-cost and high-performance, and have the potential for 3D stacking and mechanical flexibility. Variants...

screen popping

Populating a call center agent's screen with just-in-time customer information.

core storage management

Products in the core storage management segment provide basic data organization functions, such as file system and volume management, storage virtualization software, thin provisioning, disk utilities, access and path management, and emerging technologies that do not fit into one of the other segments. Storage virtualization software, whether on a server or in the storage network...

Quality of Storage Service

Quality of storage service optimizes the use of disk storage system resources via user-defined policies and/or adaptive algorithms that manage performance and throughput, while minimizing back-end storage costs. Quality of storage service includes a variety of technologies, including cache partitioning and binding, input/output (I/O) prioritization, and the automated movement of files, logical volumes or sub-volumes,...

Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (ROADMs)

Reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMs) are the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) equivalent of the add/drop multiplexing that has been used in the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) and Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) markets for more than a decade. ROADMs enable communications service providers (CSPs) to automate the way individual wavelengths of WDM systems are routed through...

Redaction Tools

Redaction tools are software that is used to edit content and, thereby, selectively and reliably remove information from documents or websites before sharing the remaining content with someone who is not authorized to see the entire original document. The process of "redacting" documents has been used in the legal profession for decades to black out...

clock, clocking

Repetitive, regularly timed signals used to control synchronous processes.

repeatable solutions

Replicable, integrated solutions to a specific process improvement or application requirement. A repeatable solution typically exhibits the following characteristics • Fixed pricing, sometimes with a shared business-benefit upside. • Fixed delivery schedule with rapid implementation. • Specified performance. • Initial pilot solution with rapid prototype, followed by roll-out and incremental additions. • A prime contractor...

RDM (requirements definition and management)

Requirements definition and management (RDM) tools streamline development teams' analysis of requirements, capture requirements in a database-based tool to enable collaborative review for accuracy and completeness, ease use-case and/or test-case creation, provide traceability, and facilitate documentation and versioning/change control. Increasingly, RDM tools support business analysts with graphical tools for process workflow definition, application simulation and...

Retail Digital Signage

Retail digital signage refers to applications that disseminate dynamic media content to displays or monitors on the sales floor of a retail store. It is sometimes referred to as narrowcasting, interactive signage, electronic signage networks, digital communications or digital media networks.

Risk-Adjusted Value Management (RVM)

Risk-Adjusted Value Management (RVM) is a Gartner methodology that significantly reduces the time and improves the quality of strategic planning and execution.

service provider routers and switches

Routers are a class of network controller that determines the best route for data and voice transmissions between a transmitter (sender) and a receiver. They are typically controlled by software and can be programmed to provide the most inexpensive, fastest or least-busy routes available. Routers operate at Layer 3 of the International Organization for Standardization...

Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP)

Runtime application self-protection (RASP) is a security technology that is built or linked into an application or application runtime environment, and is capable of controlling application execution and detecting and preventing real-time attacks.

scope, track, rank, evaluate, evangelize and transfer (STREET)

Scope, track, rank, evaluate, evangelize and transfer (STREET) represents best practices in the technology planning and adoption process. STREET is suitable for an emerging technology group to use or adapt in defining its own internal process, or for business leaders, innovators or other individuals involved in innovation adoption to use as a checklist of key...

Self-Service Analytics

Self-Service Analytics is a form of business intelligence (BI) in which executives are enabled to perform queries and generate reports on their own.

self-service business intelligence

Self-service business intelligence is defined here as end users designing and deploying their own reports and analyses within an approved and supported architecture and tools portfolio.

Single Sign On - SSO - Gartner Tech Definitions

Single sign-on (SSO) provides the capability to authenticate once, and be subsequently and automatically authenticated when accessing various target systems. It eliminates the need to separately authenticate and sign on to individual applications and systems, essentially serving as a user surrogate between client workstations and target systems. Target applications and systems still maintain their own...

Skinput (Bioacoustic Sensing)

Skinput provides a new input technique based on bioacoustic sensing technology that allows the skin to be used as a finger input surface. When a finger taps on the skin, the impact creates acoustic signals, which can be captured by a bioacoustic sensing device. Variations in bone density, size and the different filtering effects created...

SCE (supply chain execution)

Supply chain execution (SCE) is focused on execution-oriented applications, including warehouse management systems (WMSs), transportation management systems (TMSs), global trade management (GTM) systems and other execution applications, such as real-time decision support systems (for example, dynamic routing and dynamic sourcing systems) and supply chain visibility systems within the enterprise, as well as throughout the extended...

Supply Chain - Supply Chain Management - SCM - Gartner

Supply chain management (SCM) refers to the processes of creating and fulfilling demands for goods and services. For more, click for Gartner's free research

circuit switching

Temporary direct connection of one or more channels between two or more points to provide the user with exclusive use of an open channel with which to exchange information. A discrete circuit path is set up between the incoming and outgoing lines, in contrast to message switching and packet-switching, in which no such physical path...

click-through

Term applied to the act of clicking with a mouse button on a Web page advertisement, which brings the user to the advertiser's site.

portable wireless

Term used by the WiMAX Forum for semimobile wireless. The terms "nomadic," "portable" and "mobile" often vary in definition when used by vendors. See also fixed wireless and mobile wireless.

Accredited Standards Committee (ASC)

The Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) is an organization, certified by the American National Standards Institute, that produces standard communication protocols for electronic data interchange.

Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET)

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), the forerunner of the Internet, was a pioneering long-haul network funded by the U.S. Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). It served as the test bed for many areas of internetworking technology development and testing, and acted as the central backbone during the development of the...

American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII)

The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) is a standard table of seven-bit designations for digital representation of uppercase and lowercase Roman letters, numbers and special control characters in teletype, computer and word processor systems. Some IBM systems use similar code called Extended Binary-Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC). Since most computer systems use a...

granularity

The ability to increase a system's capacity and performance through incremental processor expansion.

nagara

The Japanese term sometimes used to describe synchronized single-piece flow such that movement is like an assembly line but not necessarily with a physical linkage between elements.

subnet number

The portion of the Internet address that designates a subnet. It is used for intranet routing but is ignored for Internet-routing purposes.

interoperability

The ability for a device from one manufacturer to work with one from another.

social networking

The act of establishing online many-to-many human connections for the purposes of sharing information with the network or subsets thereof. Although one-to-one connections are possible in social network sites, the preponderance of activity engages a broader range of participants in any given network.

I/O (input/output)

The activity of sending information to or from peripheral devices, terminals, direct-access storage devices (DASDs), tape drives and printers. Physical I/O performance lags behind that of memory and logical technologies.

CM (course management)

The administrative module that is used to place a structure around computer-based training (CBT) content to 1. Create a recommended set and order of courses based on job description, skills assessment results or regulatory requirements. 2. Provide a "registrar" function, where students "sign in" to take classes they need. 3. Perform tracking and reporting, keeping...

connect time

The amount of time that a circuit, typically in a circuit switched environment, is in use. See holding time.

Application Software Services

The application software services segment includes back-office, ERP and supply chain management (SCM) software services, as well as collaborative and personal software services. It also covers engineering software and front-office CRM software services.

Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)

The basic input/output system (BIOS) is the part of an operating system that links the specific hardware devices to the software. It obtains the buffers required to send information from a program to the hardware/desktop receiving the information.

IT services strategic sourcing

The dynamic delivery of internal and external, business- or IT-oriented resources and services to ensure that business objectives are met.

PAM (pulse amplitude modulation)

The encoding of information in a signal based on the fluctuation of carrier waves. The amplitude of the pulse carrier is varied in accordance with successive samples of the modulating signal.

Enterprise Technology Architecture (ETA)

The enterprise technology architecture (ETA) viewpoint defines reusable standards, guidelines, individual parts and configurations that are technology-related (technical domains). ETA defines how these should be reused to provide infrastructure services via technical domains.

lean thinking

The process by which individuals can understand the need for, create and implement a lean enterprise.

ILTC (instructor-led training in the classroom)

The most common form of training. It uses lecture sessions and discussions to convey information. It is most commonly used for briefings and high-level education, but many commercial training courses also use this method.

CTR (click-through rate)

The number of times a Web page advertisement is clicked, compared to the number of times it is displayed. Royalties are often based on CTR. This term is also used in reference a website's ability to persuade a visitor to "click through" to another site.

COL (Component Object Library)

The object library in Microsoft's Component Object Model (COM).

AMO (application management outsourcing)

The ongoing maintenance, management, conversion, enhancement and support of an application portfolio by an external company. AMO, a subset of application outsourcing (see separate entry), includes changes that generally take less than some predefined time to implement (e.g., 10 days or 30 days). Examples of maintenance include regulatory changes, software upgrades, new release installations and...

SLM (service-level management)

The ongoing process of using service-level agreements (SLAs) to maintain high quality in the provision of services — and to ensure that service-level objectives (SLOs) and performance meet the changing needs of the recipient's business — through continuous improvement of service activities, functions and processes. See SLA and SLO.

Optical Transport

The optical transport function relates to the high-capacity system that aggregates traffic and links network nodes over relatively long distances. It provides the paths (or "pipes") along which the switching and routing functions steer information.

console

The part of a computer used for communicating between the user and the system. A cathode ray tube (CRT) terminal with mouse and keyboard is the most common type.

system integration

The process of creating a complex information system that may include designing or building a customized architecture or application, integrating it with new or existing hardware, packaged and custom software, and communications. Most enterprises rely on an external contractor for program management of most or all phases of system development. This external vendor generally also...

sink

The terminal connection that collects overflow transmissions on a communications pathway.

Agile NeoRAD

This type of project approach applies agile methods, such as extreme programming. Models are sketches, rather than first-class development artifacts. There are few concerns about standardization in terms of reusing analysis and design patterns and frameworks. There is little model-based code generation.  

continuous operations

Those characteristics of a data-processing system that reduce or eliminate the need for planned downtime, such as scheduled maintenance. One element of 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week operation.

STDM (statistical time-division multiplexing)

Time shared dynamically between active channels on a multiplexer.

softswitches

To provide services without a physical switch, a softswitch is connected to a server (a Sun Microsystems or Unix machine, for instance) that runs the application. A softswitch is also connected to a media gateway, which is the element that physically connects to the PSTN, IP network or ATM network. A softswitch is also known...TitleSoftware As A Service (Saas) from the Gartner IT GlossaryGartner defines SaaS as software that is owned, delivered and managed remotely by one or more providers. The provider delivers software based on one set of common code and data definitions that is consumed in a one-to-many model by all contracted customers at anytime.

customized network management

Tools to allow assignment of levels of network management functions and capabilities to selected nodes throughout the network. With this, the degree of centralization vs. decentralization of network management can be varied depending on the environment.

language-oriented development environments (mainframe, mini and midrange)

Typically, these are development environments for code targeted for deployment on mainframe or midrange platforms built on a compiler and a language, such as COBOL, C/C++, FORTRAN, Ada and PASCAL, among others. Language-oriented development environments generally include GUI builders, debuggers, editors and other utilities that are integrated into the environment. This market also includes proprietary...

IMEI (international mobile equipment identifier)

Unique identity number assigned to a GSM device that can be recognized and blocked by the network to which it is connected. It is useful for fraud prevention and to bar access using a stolen phone. See also IMSI.

IMSI (international mobile subscriber identity)

Unique number of up to 15 digits assigned to each GSM connection, containing country code, network operator code and mobile device number. See also HLR and IMEI.

IT Operations Management - ITOM - Gartner IT

Visit Gartner for FREE Research Covering All Issues Related to IT Operations Management (ITOM).TitleITSM - To ITSSM - IT Service Support Management ToolsGartner expands ITSM to ITSSM Tools which offer tightly integrated processes and functions that correlate with the activities of the IT support organization

first generation (1G or analog)

Wireless networks based on analog frequency division multiple access technologies. Many systems were individually tailored, country-specific solutions, including technologies such as AMPS, Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) and total access communications system (TACS). Although these were the first generation of mobile telephony, they are never referred to as "1G."

Elastic Multitenancy

With elastic multitenancy, application instances (tenants) are isolated logically, but integrated physically. The degree of logical isolation must be complete, but the degree of physical integration varies. The tenants can be organizations using one multitenant application or multiple applications competing for shared underlying resources. Multitenancy may also be nested when tenants are independent software vendors...

In-Row Cooling

With the advent of high-density servers, infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders are challenged to provide adequate cooling for computer rooms. In-row solutions provide highly focused cooling by placing multiple cooling units directly in a row of server racks or above the cold aisles (by having more than one per row, you gain redundancy and better...

ZigBee

ZigBee is a global wireless mesh networking technology based on the IEEE 802.15.4-2003 standard. Consumer applications include electronics, smart meter infrastructure, home automation and machine-to-machine automation. The technology can be used in several topologies, such as point-to-point or simple mesh. Battery life and low cost — a chip costs $1 to $2; $2 to $4...

3G (third generation)

3G wireless networks support peak data rates of 144 Kbps at mobile user speeds, 384 Kbps at pedestrian user speeds and 2 Mbps in fixed locations (peak speeds), although some initial deployments were configured to support only 64 Kbps. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) coordinates 3G standards through its International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) project and...

digitize

To convert or express an analog form in a digital format.

consumer broadband services

A broadband line is a connection between a consumer's home and a carrier's network that provides data access services of at least 256 Kbps. In most cases this is a physical connection using copper-based DSL, cable modem or FTTH/FTTP with Ethernet in the last mile in a building. However, Gartner also includes other emerging...

consumer Internet services

Consumer Internet services are data services provided by ISPs that connect subscribers to the Internet using either a dial-up connection over a PSTN line or over a broadband connection. Typically, these are flat rate or metered services based on time or data usage. Consumer Internet accounts represent the number of active fee-paying individual...

social BPM

"Social BPM" is a concept that describes collaboratively designed and iterated processes. These processes mirror the way work is performed from a "doer" perspective and experienced from a "receiver" perspective to harness the power of continuous learning from "the collective."

compliance (commercial)

Compliance that a business must adhere to in the course of doing business with trading partners and customers.

Encryption

Encryption is the process of systematically encoding a bit stream before transmission so that an unauthorized party cannot decipher it.

CIMA (customer information management and application)

A six-step process starting with a business plan followed by a technology plan. The six steps are 1. planning 2. information acquisition 3. information compilation, storage and maintenance 4. information analysis 5. information application 6. information distribution

spamdexing

A slang term for the practice of hiding a slew of words or phrases in a Web page to increase the number of hits the page will register in Internet searches.

DBMS (database management system)

A DBMS is a product used for the storage and organization of data that typically has defined formats and structures. DBMSs are categorized by their basic structures and, to some extent, by their use or deployment.

DDBMS (distributed database management system)

A DBMS that enables end users or application programmers to view a collection of physically separate databases as one logical single-system image. The concept that is most fundamental to the DDBMS is location transparency, meaning the user should not be conscious of the actual location of data.

Digital Marketing Hub

A Digital Marketing Hub is software that spans multiple digital marketing domains (mobile, social and multichannel) to provide integrated access to applications and workflows, adding capabilities such as collaboration, data integration and common analytics.

What is SMB? - Gartner Defines Small and Midsize Businesses

A small and midsize business (SMB) is a business which has different IT requirements—and often faces different IT challenges—than do large enterprises.

compliance (regulatory)

Regulatory compliance is concerned with laws that a business must obey, or risk legal sanctions, up to and including prison for its officers.

superserver

Multiprocessor machines designed as network servers, combining input/output (I/O) capabilities of minicomputers with the capability to run industry-standard network operating systems.

CRM publishing

The concept of using CRM techniques to micro segment prospective, current and former customers and to deliver targeted marketing and sales information based on the recipients' requirements and preferred delivery method(s).

CRC (cyclic redundancy check)

An error detection technique using a polynomial to generate a series of two 8-bit block check characters that represent the entire block of data. These block check characters are incorporated into the transmission frame and then checked at the receiving end.

Smart Card

A smart card is a plastic card that contains a microprocessor and a memory chip or just a memory chip. The microprocessor card has the ability to add, delete and manipulate information on the card. A memory-chip card, such as a phone card, can only add information. By maintaining all necessary functions and information on...

Caching Server

A caching server is a device that efficiently stores frequently requested data from protocols such as Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and has the ability to "prefetch" additional data at preset intervals. A network caching server has the ability to listen on the network and intercept protocol requests on its associated...

Call Center

A call center is a group or department in which employees receive and make high volumes of telephone calls. Call centers can have internal customers (e.g., help desks) or external customers (e.g., customer service and support centers). The call center uses a variety of technologies to improve the management and servicing of the call. A...

single-pass device

A color page device that passes the paper once through a print engine containing four or more imaging stations. A full-color image is built up as the paper passes each color station sequentially.

PAL (Phase Alternate Line)

A color television broadcasting system developed in West Germany and the United Kingdom that uses 650 picture lines and a 50-hertz (Hz) field frequency. See NTSC (National Television System Committee) and SECAM (Sequential Couleur a Memoire).

domain name

A domain name is a unique identifier for an Internet site or Internet Protocol (IP) network address, consisting of at least two segments separated by periods. Enterprises must register top-level domains with the Web Internet Registry and pay a yearly fee to maintain the registry.

2D Bar Code Marketing

2D bar code marketing is an identification method that can be created and printed on marketing materials, such as ads, brochures and product packages, through specific service providers or freely available websites. More commonly known as quick response (QR) codes, people scan these bar codes with a camera-equipped phone to access information such as websites...

SAE (system architecture evolution)

3GPP architectural framework for the evolution of the core network to LTE. The SAE provides a lower-latency, packet-optimized system that supports multiple radio access technologies, including UTRAN, Wi-Fi and WiMAX, as well as wired technologies.

450-mm Wafers

A 450-millimeter (mm)-diameter silicon wafer is the next wafer-size transition for semiconductor manufacturing. 450-mm wafers provide 2.25 times the area of a 300-mm wafer and thus increase the number of devices that can be processed at one time. Depending on the device die size, up to 2.5 times more devices can be placed on a...

SKU (stock-keeping unit)

A unique identification number that defines an item at the identifiable inventory level; for example, in retail applications, the SKU may designate style, size and color. A more detailed level would be at the serial number or unique identifier level.

Mainstream Notebook

A mainstream notebook is a computer system that meets all the criteria for a notebook PC but is designed to be the best compromise between all-inclusive functionality and light weight. Mainstream notebooks weigh between 4.5 and 6 pounds with the weight-saver and battery modules. Mainstream notebooks often have a single bay for the inclusion of...

DEVA (document-enabled vertical application)

A Gartner concept that applies integrated document and output management (IDOM) technologies in specific industries for support of vertical (or sometimes horizontal) processes. Examples of industries and related processes include insurance (claims processing), engineering (technical document management), pharmaceuticals (new drug application), financial services (retirement processing) and cross-industry applications (call-center support).

IEFM (integrated e-form management)

A Gartner concept that describes a system designed for creating and administering e-form applications using installed databases, messaging, document management and workflow infrastructures.

Backplane

A backplane is the physical connection between the interface cards and the data and power distribution buses in a network device such as a router, hub or switch.

Backup Server

A backup server is a software or hardware system that copies or "shadows" the contents of a server, providing redundancy.

Carrier System

A carrier system is defined as the means of obtaining a number of channels over a single path by modulating each channel on a different carrier frequency and demodulating at the receiving point to restore the signals to their original frequency.

simplex circuit

A circuit permitting the transmission of signals in one specified direction only. Also known as single duplex.

Health Information Exchange (HIE)

A health information exchange (HIE) is a regional collaboration among independent healthcare organizations for sharing clinical information. Often, administrative information is shared as well. HIEs may be categorized in terms of their approach to governance. In some countries, they may be run by a governmental agency. Other HIEs may be run by nonprofit corporations with...

CMP (Cellular Multi-Processing)

A heterogeneous server technology from Unisys that can run any combination of operating systems. that are part of more comprehensive facilities management or network planning applications.

Learning Stack

A learning stack as an architectural construct is a collection of elements, such as applications, personal productively tools, Web 2.0 applications, content repositories and data sources, that can be accessed through, for example, a social learning platform. The learning stack is dynamic. Elements can be added, updated, removed and replaced in the open structure of...

intranet

A network internal to an enterprise that uses the same methodology and techniques as the Internet. It is not necessarily connected to the Internet and is commonly secured from it using firewalls. Intranets often use an organization's local-area networks (LANs) or wide-area networks (WANs). Services include websites, collaboration, workflow and messaging services, and application development.

Network Management Center

A network management center controls the network. It may provide traffic analysis, call detail recording, configuration control, fault detection and diagnosis and maintenance.

sniffer

A network management tool that monitors data packets on a network to help administrators ensure message integrity and service quality.

Network Operating System

A network operating system is a set of software utilities that, working in conjunction with an operating system, provides the local-area network (LAN) user interface and controls network operation. A network operating system communicates with the LAN hardware and enables users to communicate with one another and to share files and peripherals. Typically, a NOS...

connection

A unique, active service access point to a network. This includes machine-to-machine network access as well as human access. In mobile networks, this may be taken to refer to an active subscriber identity module (SIM). A single subscriber may operate several different cellular connections and multiple connections may be associated with one customer or one...

ISO (International Organization for Standardization)

A voluntary, nontreaty organization established in 1949, as a technical agency of the United Nations, to promote international standardization in a broad range of industries. ISO's Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model establishes guidelines for network architectures.

Advocacy Marketing

Advocacy marketing is a discipline for activating a brand's advocates with unprecedented scale over the social Web. When advocacy marketing is enabled with digital techniques and advocate stories, then endorsements and recommendations are amplified to potentially millions of people, given the exponential nature of social networks. Advocacy marketing has been used effectively to acquire new...

Aerial and Digital Imagery

Aerial and digital imagery is the use of digital images, including those in 3D, by home/property insurers to view properties, as well as the software that analyzes the images to estimate size, proximity to risks, and location for physical locations or properties. It is usually offered via an Internet service of data as a service...

system management

Any of a number of "housekeeping" activities intended to preserve, maintain or correct the operation of a computer system. Included are such routine but critical processes as hardware diagnostics, software distribution, backup and recovery, file and disk integrity checking, and virus scanning.

iPhone

Apple's mobile device that combines an iPod music and video player, mobile phone and Internet browser capability in a handheld unit with a touchscreen interface. An iPhone designed for EDGE cellular networks was launched in North America in June 2007 and in Europe in late 2007. A 3G-capable version was launched in July 2008.

Application Modernization Services

Application modernization services address the migration of legacy to new applications or platforms, including the integration of new functionality to provide the latest functions to the business.Modernization options include re-platforming, re-hosting, recoding, rearchitecting, re-engineering, interoperability, replacement and retirement, as well as changes to the application architecture to clarify which option should be selected.

CMMS (computerized maintenance management system)

Application software used to provide for work and materials management of maintenance activities in a manufacturing organization. See EAM.

Mobile Application Stores

Application stores offer downloadable applications to mobile users via a storefront that is either embedded in the device or found on the Web. Application categories in public application stores include games, travel, productivity, entertainment, books, utilities, education, travel and search, and can be free or charged-for. Private application stores can be created by enterprises for...

Architecture

Architecture is defined as   In reference to computers, software or networks, the overall design of a computing system and the logical and physical interrelationships between its components. The architecture specifies the hardware, software, access methods and protocols used throughout the system.    A framework and set of guidelines to build new systems. IT architecture...

Assemble to Order

Assemble-to-order strategy allows a product or service to be made to specific order, where a large number of products can be assembled in various forms from common components. This requires sophisticated planning processes to anticipate changing demand for internal components or accessories while focusing on mass customization of the final products to individual customers.

Asynchronous Transmission

Asynchronous transmission is a process in which each information character, and sometimes each word or small block, is individually synchronized, usually by the use of start and stop elements.

Business Process Modeling (BPM)

Business process modeling (BPM) links business strategy to IT systems development to ensure business value. It combines process/workflow, functional, organizational and data/resource views with underlying metrics such as costs, cycle times and responsibilities to provide a foundation for analyzing value chains, activity-based costs, bottlenecks, critical paths and inefficiencies.

Business Process Utilities (BPUs)

Business process utilities (BPUs) are externally provisioned business process services based on highly standardized processes and unified, one-to-many technology platforms.

C++

C++ is an extension to the C language defined by Bjarne Stroustrop at Bell Laboratories in 1986. As a superset of C, it provides additional features for data abstraction and object-oriented programming. C++ can be used to develop programs for almost all computers. Together, C and C++ are the among the most common programming languages...

peak traffic (in Erlangs)

Calculated amount of channel use at peak time in Erlangs. See also Erlang.

gesture recognition

Camera-based application that identifies and interprets user motions.

Carrier Frequency

Carrier frequency is defined as the frequency of a carrier wave, measured in cycles per second, or Hertz, that is modulated to transmit signals.

Cascading Faults

Cascading faults are defined as network faults (outages) that generate other faults.

fixed wireless

Client devices are located at a stationary location and usually require a fixed (main) power supply and an antenna external to the client work platform. The terms "nomadic," "portable" and "mobile" often vary in definition when used by vendors. See also mobile wireless and semi-mobile wireless.

Context-Aware Security

Context-aware security is the use of supplemental information to improve security decisions at the time they are made, resulting in more accurate security decisions capable of supporting dynamic business and IT environments. The most commonly cited context information types are environmental (such as location and time). However, context information valuable to information security exists throughout...

Context-Enriched Content

Context-enriched content is the content, information and data ranging from articles to advertising based on the user's context that is served to whatever medium the recipient is using to interact with that content. The media may be a Web browser, a mobile phone, a media tablet or printed materials. Context-enriched content is differentiated from traditional...

shojinka

Continuous optimization of workers in a work center, which relies on multiskilled workers and optimized work center design.

Digital Agencies

Digital agencies are strategic and creative marketing agencies focused on user experience, mobile, social, data gathering and analytics apart from providing creative services and promotional offerings (supported by analytics and optimization of the promotional mix). Once dominated by communications and promotional activities, digital agencies today help explore new sources of growth, including market diversification and...

Electronic Customer Relationship Management (E-CRM)

Electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM) involves the integration of Web channels into the overall enterprise CRM strategy with the goal of driving consistency within all channels relative to sales, customer service and support (CSS) and marketing initiatives. It can support a seamless customer experience and maximize customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and revenue.

Electronic Data Capture (EDC)

Electronic data capture (EDC) is the electronic acquisition of clinical study data using data collection systems, such as Web-based applications, interactive voice response systems and clinical laboratory interfaces. Information is stored in EDC applications and used for analysis, or it is transferred to a clinical trial database containing the data from many clinical studies.

Enterprise Application Software

Enterprise application software includes content, communication, and collaboration software; CRM software; digital and content creation software, ERP software; office suites; project and portfolio management; and SCM software.

Enterprise Social Software

Enterprise social software is typically used to enhance social networks, both within the enterprise and across key members of the enterprise's supply and distribution chains. Implementers view social networks as an important method for enhancing communication, coordination and collaboration for business purposes. Read reviews of Enterprise Social Software... Gartner Peer Insights has over 4000 reviews...

Enterprise Solutions

Enterprise solutions are designed to integrate multiple facets of a company's business through the interchange of information from various business process areas and related databases. These solutions enable companies to retrieve and disseminate mission-critical data throughout the organization, providing managers with real-time operating information.

Enterprise-Class

Enterprise-class refers to the ability of a given tool or product to handle complex processes or services.

FMEA (failure modes effects analysis)

FMEA (failure modes effects analysis) is a technique used in product life cycle management activities to predict how a product or process might fail and what the effects of that failure might be.

fabric computing

Fabric computing is a set of computing, storage, memory and I/O components joined through a fabric interconnect, and the software to configure and manage them.

Fabric-Based Infrastructure (FBI)

Fabric-based infrastructure (FBI) is an emerging area of vertical integration of hardware and software infrastructure with automation on top, promised to assist IT organizations in realizing their visions of a dynamically optimized data center, which we term "real-time infrastructure." It is being driven more from a vendor perspective today (versus a customer pull model) as...

Factory Scheduling

Factory or production scheduling, often termed finite scheduling or finite capacity scheduling (FCS), is a supply chain planning (SCP) technology designed to translate an operating plan into a granular set of daily manufacturing activities to fulfill planned orders. Supporting technology dissects the operating plan into specific work processes, optimizing the allocation of production resources against...

Footfall Analysis

Footfall analysis is the use of analytic techniques to monitor waiting times in bank branch teller lines or lengths of waiting time to use automated teller machines (ATMs). Newer systems use fixed video cameras to track the movements of each visitor to the branch, with algorithms that compute individual and average waiting times. This entry...

Head-Up Displays (HUDs)

Head-up displays (HUDs) use light-emitting diode (LED) or liquid crystal display (LCD) projection technology to display customizable information and images within a driver's line of vision (e.g., speed data, navigation and fuel efficiency). The technology has been used extensively in military applications for many decades.

hierarchical storage management and archive software

Hierarchical storage management products operate on defined storage policies that provide for the automatic migration of files to secondary storage. Archiving products provide for the storing of a point-in-time version of a file for historical reference. Active archiving products provide special technology for searching and viewing archived data. Included are e-mail, database, file, IM, BlackBerry...

High-Concentration Photovoltaics (PV)

High-concentration photovoltaic (PV) systems use optical devices consisting of dish reflectors or Fresnel lenses to help concentrate a large area of sunlight onto a small area of PV cells in order to generate electricity. The concentration factor ranges from 100x to 1,000x.

Connection Admission Control (CAC)

In asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks, connection admission control (CAC) is a function that checks whether network resources are available to support the quality of service and traffic parameters of an incoming connection. Also known as "call admission control."

content

In commercial publishing, content refers to individual documents that can be graphic, textual or illustrative in nature, or amalgamations of documents that can be combined into individual articles or complete publications. On the Internet, the term refers to the content of websites.

continuity check

In common-channel signaling, a test performed to check that a path exists for speech or data transmission.

Lithium Battery Backup

Lead-acid batteries are a mainstay of power backup systems in data centers, as well as many other applications where high capacity and rechargeability are required. Although they have been incrementally improved over time, these batteries have several drawbacks They're highly corrosive, they have limited economic life, they're heavy and they require substantial space. Given that...

Lights-Out Recovery Operations Management

Lights-out operations refers to the management of a remote (and largely unmanned) recovery data center through the use of remote management software. Active management of the recovery data center may be to support recovery plan exercising, or to orchestrate a postdisaster event operations recovery. A key requirement for lights-out operations is that remote management support...

Location-Aware Applications

Location-aware applications use the geographical position of a mobile worker or an asset to execute a task. Position is detected mainly through satellite technologies, such as a GPS, or through mobile location technologies in cellular networks and mobile devices. Examples include fleet management applications with mapping, navigation and routing functionalities, government inspections and integration with...

Moves, Adds and Changes

Moves, adds and changes (MAC) is the general term for the routine work performed on computer equipment in an enterprise, including installations, relocations and upgrades.

Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)

Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) is a digital video standard for compression of full-motion images. The compression ratios achieved with MPEG encoding make it an ideal standard for the delivery of digital video data. MPEG-1 deals with mono and stereo sound coding, at sampling frequencies commonly used for high-quality audio. MPEG-2 contains an extension to...

Multichannel Feedback Management

Multichannel feedback management solutions provide surveying and feedback analysis tools suitable for use across a retailer's channels and brands, including mobile and social. Their use ranges from one-off, tactical surveys (for example, customers taking a brief survey about their shopping experience delivered on their point-of-sale receipt, or texting feedback via a keyword or code that...

Multipurpose Internet Messaging Extensions

Multipurpose Internet Messaging Extensions (MIME) enable the transport of attachments and non-ASCII text via the Simple Message Transport Protocol (SMTP). They cover most (but not all) of the features of X.400, and interface with X.400 via the MIME-X.400 Enhanced Relay (MIXER) specification.

Nanography

Nanography is a digital printing process developed by Landa Digital Printing that employs a combination of offset, inkjet and nanotechnologies to print on virtually any paper or film. The name is derived from Landa's colorants (inks), which have pigment particles measured in the tens of nanometers.

Node B

Node B is a WCDMA/UMTS term for a radio base station receiver, as defined by the 3GPP. It provides radio coverage and converts data between the radio network and the RNCs.

Object Request Broker

Object request brokers (ORBs) are an enriched middleware platform — compared with their predecessors, RPC middleware — including program activation, which most RPCs did not offer. Full-featured CORBA ORBs are transactional platforms, with a special affinity for the object-oriented programming model, including the activation and communications services that are particularly geared to the object-oriented software...

Online Transaction Processing

Online transaction processing (OLTP) is a mode of processing that is characterized by short transactions recording business events and that normally requires high availability and consistent, short response times. This category of applications requires that a request for service be answered within a predictable period that approaches "real time." Unlike traditional mainframe data processing, in which...

Open Data

Open data is information or content made freely available to use and redistribute, subject only to the requirement to attribute it to the source.  The term also may be used more casually to describe any data that is shared outside the organization and beyond its original intended use, for example, with business partners, customers or...

Onboarding

Onboarding is the business process that organizations execute from the point at which a job applicant has accepted an offer of employment to the point at which the new employee is productive at work. The onboarding software includes administrative activities (enrolling in benefits), provisioning activities (assigning office space, user identification and employer property) and orientation...

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knowledge access

One of the five activities of the knowledge management (KM) process framework. Knowledge access is the retrieval or dissemination of knowledge to users.

FM (frequency modulation)

One of three ways of modifying a sine wave signal to make it carry information. The sine wave or "carrier" has its frequency modified in accordance with the information to be transmitted. The frequency function of the modulated wave can be continuous or discontinuous.

CLV (constant linear velocity)

One of two standards for rotating storage media, in which the disk spins at a higher speed on the outside tracks than on the inside tracks (where the circumference is smaller), so that all data moves past the head at the same rate. The other standard is constant angular velocity (CAV), in which the disk...

Order Management

Order management is a business process, not a specific market. Much of the functionality attributed to order management is embedded within and touches components within the CRM, ERP and SCM markets as it guides products and services through order entry, processing and tracking.

Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED)

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are a type of LED with an emissive electroluminescent layer made from organic compounds. The layer is usually made of polymers that emit a red, green or blue light when a voltage is applied. A matrix of lines and columns creates an array of pixels that can be deposited onto a...

portals and user interaction tools

Organizations use both portal and other user interface products to provide access to, and interaction with, relevant information, applications, business processes and human resources for select targeted audiences. Especially where these are provided by portals, these can be delivered in a highly personalized manner. Horizontal portal products can be used to create portals facing a...

SGSN (serving GPRS support node)

Part of the GPRS infrastructure, the SGSN provides switching functionality, security and authentication via the HLR for GPRS users. The SGSN's primary interfaces are with the GGSN, HLR and PCU.

knowledge users

Participants in knowledge management programs. They fill the dual roles of applying knowledge in their work tasks and contributing their own knowledge and insight to the enterprise's knowledge content.

Partner Relationship Management (PRM)

Partner relationship management (PRM) enables organizations with indirect sales channels (such as agents, brokers, dealers, distributors and value-added resellers [VARs]) to more effectively and efficiently manage activities related to sales, lead management, deal registration and opportunity management.

PSK (phase-shift keying)

Phase modulation that uses discrete, present changes of phase.

photonic crystal displays

Photonic crystal displays are reflective displays made of photonic crystalline materials that can be constructed and designed to manipulate the propagation of light (photons).

DRP (disaster recovery planning)

Planning to ensure the timely recovery of information technology assets and services following a catastrophe, such as fire, flood or hardware failure.

RNC (radio network controller)

Plays a role similar to the BSC in a GSM network, but supports B nodes used in UMTS networks.

Portable Storage Device Control

Portable storage device control tools are software-based tools that prevent unwanted data leakage through peripheral storage devices. They are designed to support more-secure use of portable storage devices (such as USB flash drives, portable media players, mobile phones and flash cards) by enabling granular control of these devices. Logging and reporting capabilities, through a management...

IT Operations

Processes associated with IT service management to deliver the right set of services at the right quality and at competitive costs for customers.

Product Cost Management

Product cost management is a technology that predicts and captures estimates of the costs of products, systems or solutions over their life cycles. Software functionality predicts costs and enables users to capture estimated costs and track actual costs versus predicted costs. It includes analytical tools to identify the major sources of costs and to leverage...

DGT (Directorate General of Telecommunications, Taiwan)

Regulator for telecommunications, broadcast radio and TV in Taiwan, an agency of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

Remote Diagnostics

Remote diagnostic technologies provide the ability to deliver onboard vehicle-related performance and quality data to a central monitoring application for the purpose of improving parts performance and reliability insights for engineering and product development. Remote diagnostics can also improve customer relationship management by automating repair and service scheduling.

Satellite Navigation Solutions

Satellite navigation systems are based on the Global Positioning System (GPS) and other national and multinational satellite initiatives (for example, Glonass and Galileo) with applications in consumer and commercial markets. Satellite navigation systems are embedded in vehicles, available as portable units (personal navigation devices [PNDs]) or offered as applications in mobile phones, with an internal...

Brand Service Company

Similar to the in-sourcing model, a brand service company is built to provide services to a large organization or a group of business-oriented companies. Services provided (which may include non-IT services and business processes) are carefully compared against the market, and the services company leverages external services providers (ESPs), selectively outsourcing part of their services.

Skinless Servers

Skinless servers are designed with a reduced amount of rack, chassis and, in some cases, even motherboard components to maximize server density potential and reduce material use and power consumption. Typical designs involve a lack of outside sheet metal coverings (hence the term "skinless") over individual servers, as well as shared power and cooling resources...

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a communication protocol specified by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It's the first real-time communication protocol to enable multiuser sessions, regardless of media content. SIP enables a new generation of communication services across the Internet, as well as over fixed and mobile IP networks. SIP enables communications to be...

FHMA (frequency-hopping multiple access)

Spread-spectrum transmission technology that enables simultaneous data or voice communications to share the same communication medium by causing transmitting and receiving stations to change the frequency rapidly in a pseudorandom sequence among many discrete radio channels. Transceivers are synchronized using a hopping sequence calculated from a predefined algorithm. This sequence can be adjusted dynamically to...

IDA (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore)

Statutory board of the Singapore government, operating under the Ministry of Information, Communications and The Arts (MICA). The IDA is a single agency for the integrated planning, policy formulation, regulation and industry development of the IT and telecommunications sectors in Singapore. See also MICA.

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Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)

The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a process that uses hierarchical decomposition to deal with complex information in multicriterion decision making, such as information technology vendor and product evaluation. It consists of three steps Developing the hierarchy of attributes germane to the selection of the IT vendor. Identifying the relative importance of the attributes. Scoring...

IT decision support

The creation and management of information sources, reporting processes and automated tools that enable IT executives to implement profitable IT strategies.

digital divide

The gap in opportunities experienced by those with limited accessibility to technology, especially the Internet. This includes, but is not limited to, accessibility challenges in the following areas • Cultural (e.g., membership of a community that prohibits or restricts access to technology) • Physical (e.g., having a disability that make it difficult or impossible to...

Information Capabilities Framework

The information capabilities framework is the people-, process- and technology-agnostic set of capabilities needed to describe, organize, integrate, share and govern an organization's information assets in an application-independent manner in support of its enterprise information management (EIM) goals.

Message Queuing

The message-queuing or store-and-forward model is basically the message-passing model with one additional feature. Message queuing is asynchronous in a manner similar to a traditional postal system — i.e., the recipient need not be available when the message is sent. Message queuing stores messages at an intermediate node on the network in a queue and...

public key

The public half of the asymmetric key pair used in public-key cryptography (see separate entry).

IT risk

The potential for an unplanned, negative business outcome involving the failure or misuse of IT. Read reviews of IT Risk Software... Gartner Peer Insights has over 130 reviews on 12+ vendors in the IT Risk software market. Learn about these companies and these products from IT professionals who have first-hand experience with them.  

paper size

This describes the maximum paper size/dimension a device can print on. It includes the following • A3/A2 paper size — This category includes printers with the capability of printing paper between A3 (U.S. B) size and A2 (U.S. C) size. • A3F paper size — This category includes printers with the capability of printing 297...

DSL/cable-sharing residential/small-office gateway/router

This device can be wired or wireless. Similar to a residential gateway/router, this device does not have an integrated DSL modem. It is distinguished by its ability to work with different types of broadband distribution network, such as cable or DSL, and, therefore, has a port allowing for a connection with the output of an...

database design

This includes logical (entity relationship) and physical (table, column and key) design tools for data. Physical data modeling is becoming almost mandatory for applications using relational database management systems (RDBMSs). Strong support for physical modeling is paired with facilities to manage multiple models, to submodel or extract from larger models, and to reverse-engineer a database...

CPE business DSL router with embedded DSL modem

This is a business-class router similar to an external xDSL modem, but including additional routing functions. It can be a wired device or include a wireless access point.

communications as a service (CaaS)

This is communications functionality that may include telephony, messaging, conferencing, presence and notification, based on assets owned, managed and colocated by third parties.

Entity Resolution and Analysis (ER&A)

This is the capability to resolve multiple labels for individuals, products or other noun classes of data into a single resolved entity, and analyze relationships among such resolved entities. Multiple references may result from data entry errors, inconsistency due to multiple systems for entering data, intentional falsification of information, or the creation of false identities....

CPE external stand-alone modem

This modem does not go inside a PC, but has its own external casing and power supply, and is connected to a PC using a cable.

CPE internal modem

This modem is placed inside a PC. It is not a PC Card.

knowledge workplace

This represents the intersection of three key trends the leverage of intellectual capital, the virtualization of the workplace and the shift from hierarchical to organic models of management. The focus is on knowledge as the primary source of competitive advantage.

infrastructure software

This segment includes AD and application integration and middleware (AIM) software, information management software, storage management software, IT operations management and security software, and other infrastructure software. Application development and AIM software services — The AD software market comprises tools that represent each phase of the software development life cycle (application life cycle management...

Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)

Time division multiplexing (TDM) is a data, voice and video communications technique that interleaves several low-speed signals into one high-speed transmission channel.

NCCJ (native code compiler for Java)

Translates byte code into a file format and binary-code representation that can be linked (using a static linker) with precompiled libraries and resources to form the executable program. An NCCJ provides the opportunity to optimize the structure of the program code to eliminate redundant code as well as to fine tune code sequences (e.g., loops,...

IP (Internet Protocol)

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) tracks the address of nodes, routes outgoing messages, and recognizes incoming messages. Current networks consist of several protocols, including IP, Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX), DECnet, AppleTalk, Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) and LLC2. This wide diversity of protocols results from application suites that assume their own particular protocols. Collapse from this...

AMPS (advanced mobile phone service)

U.S.-originated analog cellular standard, now largely obsolete.

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100 Gbps PON

100 Gbps PON is the name we have designated for generations of passive optical network (PON) technologies beyond XG-PON1 and XG-PON2 (10 Gps PON). There is no standardization as yet. The technology will deliver typical access bandwidths of up to 100 Gbps and may use elements of current PON technologies.

3D Photovoltaic Devices

3D photovoltaic (PV) devices employ a 3D structure to improve photoelectric efficiency by increasing the amount of light captured by the light-absorbing material in the PV cell or panel. By comparison, conventional solar cells consist of a 2D planar diode structure. By utilizing a 3D design, the surface area available for light absorption is increased,...

1xRTT (cdma2000 1x RTT)

A 2.5G transmission technology; an evolution of cdma2000 that adds voice capacity and supports peak downlink data rates of up to 144 Kbps in a single 1.25MHz channel, typically delivering 80 Kbps to 100 Kbps in the field.

3.5G

A broad term referring to enhancements that provide high-speed data extensions to 3G (wideband code division multiple access [WCDMA]) that go beyond the 384 Kbps downlink and 64 Kbps uplink provided by basic WCDMA. The term 3.5G covers technologies such as High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) and HSPA+.

7 wastes

A framework of seven types of activity that do not add value; originally defined by Toyota overproducing — producing product before there's a valid order; unnecessary waiting — lengthened cycle time, which reduces agility; unnecessary transportation — unnecessary transportation of material between sites; overprocessing — processes longer or more complex than necessary; unnecessary inventory —...

AIM (AOL Instant Messenger)

A free, public instant-message service and one of the earliest. A variety of free client software is available, supporting Windows and Macintosh PCs, Palm operating system (OS), Microsoft's Pocket PC and Symbian handheld devices. See also instant messaging (IM).

Accountable Care Organization (ACO)

Accountable care organization (ACO) is an umbrella term for a major switch in contracting between providers and public or private payers. In an ACO model, a group of providers, operating as a legal entity, contracts to assume some portion of the risk for cost and quality for a panel of beneficiaries through a variety of...

Active Directory

Active Directory is the "directory service" portion of the Windows 2000 operating system. Active Directory manages the identities and relationships of the distributed resources that make up a network environment. It stores information about network-based entities (e.g., applications, files, printers and people) and provides a consistent way to name, describe, locate, access, manage and secure...

Agent Portal Solutions

Agent portal solutions deliver agent portal capabilities, such as workflow and transaction capabilities including quote, binding and service. Solutions support upload and download capabilities as well, including advanced features such as collaboration and case management to support distributor needs in complex product lines, such as specialty and commercial property and casualty (P&C) insurance.

Application Release Automation (ARA)

Application release automation (ARA) tools focus on the modeling and deployment of custom application software releases and their associated configurations, often for Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) and .NET applications. These tools offer versioning to enable best practices in moving related artifacts, applications, configurations and data together across the application life cycle. ARA tools...

AMR (adaptive multirate)

GSM codec that lowers the codec rate in response to interference, affording a greater level of error correction and potentially enabling operators to reduce capital expenditures by reducing the number of cell sites needed to support the user base.

All-in-One (AIO) PCs

Gartner defines all-in-one (AIO) PCs as desk-based PCs that have the monitor housed within the system casing. The monitor is a flat screen, which can be a touchscreen. Examples include Apple's iMac, HP's TouchSmart, Lenovo's ThinkCentre Edge, Dell's Inspiron One, Acer's Z5801, Asus' E-Top and Sony's VAIO VPC.

64-Bit Windows Server

The Windows Server operating system running in full 64-bit mode on Intel or AMD x86 processors is known as 64-bit Windows Server. Most instances of Windows Server ran in 32-bit mode, even if hosted on a machine whose hardware supported 64-bit mode, up until Windows Server 2008 R2 began shipping. From that point forward, Windows...

Database Appliances

A database appliance is a prepackaged or pre-configured, balanced set of hardware (servers, memory, storage and input/output channels), software (operating system, database management system [DBMS] and management software), service and support. It is sold as a unit with built-in redundancy for high availability and positioned as a platform for DBMS use in online transaction processing...

contact database

A database containing names, addresses and other information on sales contacts, used for contact tracking and management purposes.

discussion database

A database designed specifically for the capture, exchange and storage of ideas (e.g., Lotus Notes).

QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation)

A combination of amplitude and phase modulation (and shift-keying) techniques used to transmit 9,600 bits per second (bps) over a 2,400-baud line.

space segment

In-orbit satellite portion of a particular satellite communications system or network. See also ground segment.

poke-yoke

A mistake-proofing device or procedure to prevent a defect during order intake or manufacturing.

financial analytical applications

A subset of business intelligence with a specific emphasis on financial process, including, but not limited to, budgeting, forecasting, expense allocation and cost/revenue analysis.

DR (distributed request)

A single read-only request to multiple data sources.

CRUD (create, retrieve, update, delete)

Guidelines for defining how different people or communities within an organization deal with data elements owned by the organization.

10G-PON

10 Gbps passive optical network (10G-PON) is a next-generation solution following the current-generation gigabit passive optical network (GPON) (ITU-T G.984) and Ethernet passive optical network (EPON) (IEEE 802.3ah) solutions, basically offering higher bandwidth and additional features. Like its predecessors, 10G-PON will allow multiple users to share the capacity over a passive fiber-optic "tree" infrastructure, where...

Machine Learning

Advanced machine learning algorithms are composed of many technologies (i.e. deep learning, neural networks & natural-language processing). Click for more.

information architecture

All the sources of information — including paper, graphics, video, speech and thought — that define the enterprise are represented by this layer of applications architecture. It also defines the sources and destinations of information, its flow through the enterprise, as well as the rules for persistence, security and ownership.

RFID reader

An RFID reader is a radio frequency device that emits a signal through an antenna. This signal is received by RFID tags that respond to interrogation by the reader. Responses are read by the reader, and through a variety of protocols the reader can communicate with all the RFID tags in its field. Readers generally...

Component-Based Development (CBD)

Component-based development (CBD) is defined as a set of reuse-enabling technologies, tools and techniques that allow application development (AD) organizations to go through the entire AD process (i.e., analysis design, construction and assembly) or through any particular stage via the use of predefined component-enabling technologies (such as AD patterns, frameworks, design templates) tools and application...

PDE (partial document encryption)

Encryption and delivery of only those pages requested or those that the requester is allowed to see. A certificate server only releases the required certificate when an authorized user makes a request. Using PDE, each page of the document is encrypted and associated with a unique security certificate, allowing for selective retrieval.

context

Generally refers to the combination of user identity, environmental, process and community-based information about the customer, leading to real-time offers, delivered at the right time via the right touchpoint, and valuable to the customer. Refers to meanings that are clear to the sender or receiver (e.g., application or person), either because they are stated elsewhere...

Introspection

Introspection is the use of hypervisor- and virtual machine monitor (VMM)-level APIs to expose low-level system information from all virtual machines (VMs) hosted by the VMM. The APIs can enable security and management capabilities that span multiple VMs without requiring the installation of an agent on each, without requiring virtual network reconfiguration and with potentially...

Managed File Transfer (MFT)

Managed file transfer (MFT) is a technology that provides the secure transfer of data in an efficient and a reliable manner. Unlike traditional file transfer tools, such as FTP and scripting, MFT core functionalities include the ability to secure files in transit and at rest, and reporting and auditing of file activity. What also differentiates...

Predictive Modeling

Predictive modeling is a commonly used statistical technique to predict future behavior. Predictive modeling solutions are a form of data-mining technology that works by analyzing historical and current data and generating a model to help predict future outcomes. In predictive modeling, data is collected, a statistical model is formulated, predictions are made, and the model...

Solid-State Appliances

Solid-state appliances are based exclusively on semiconductor memory technology (typically NAND flash or DRAM), rather than hard-disk drives (HDDs) and include fully integrated, higher-level optimization software. The storage software management layer should enable one or more of the following benefits high availability (HA), enhanced capacity efficiency, automated data management and guaranteed levels of performance (even...

3D TV Services

Three-dimensional television (3D TV) services deliver 3D images to TV sets using stereoscopic imaging where two slightly different images are superposed and transmitted to each eye. There are several technologies currently used to deliver 3D images on TV sets. They fall into two broad groups those that require glasses, and those that don't.

network inventory

Tracks and manages network assets and manages network resources. It embodies the automated processes that allocate resources, determine configuration changes and automatically invoke activation.

Net Present Value

Net present value (NPV) is an accounting tool that captures the net value of an investment at the current instant in time by taking the sum of the discounted cash flow less the current investment.

Cloud Computing - Personal Cloud

Personal cloud is the realization of four different types of experience in which users store, synchronize, stream and share content on a contextual basis.

kernel

The heart of an operating system, a kernel is the part of the operating system that interconnects with the hardware. With Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) software intended for use in Unix environments, the kernel's functional units are often included as a function library.

cross-docking

The planning of warehouse "put away" assignments so that inventory can be moved from one shipment to another on a dock without movement to a rack or warehouse location. Although this type of inventory movement may violate lot and code date movement parameters, cross-dock planning is used frequently to minimize labor costs and handling in...

DRP (distribution requirements planning)

The process of assessing from which location products and services should be deployed, and determining the stock-keeping unit (SKU) and location-level replenishment plan.

download

The process of bringing a file down to a computer through a network and typically from a server, or some other computing device. Download times can be greatly affected by the method of connection to the network.

protocol conversion

The process of translating the protocol native to an end-user device (e.g., a terminal) into a different protocol (e.g., ASCII to BSC), allowing that end-user device to communicate with another device (e.g., a computer) with which it would otherwise be incompatible. Protocol conversion can be performed by a dedicated device (a protocol converter); by a...

processing, line

The processing of transactions as they occur, with no preliminary editing or sorting before they enter the system.

Smart Grid

The smart grid is a vision of the future electricity delivery infrastructure that improves network efficiency and resilience, while empowering consumers and addressing energy sustainability concerns. To make the grid "smarter," and capable of addressing the need to decarbonize generation sources and enable end-user energy efficiency, utilities will have to improve observability and controllability of...

social Web

The universe of opportunities available for people (the general public) to actively participate in open group activities on the Web. The social Web is generally considered the human social aspect of Web 2.0.

simulation

The use of a mathematical or computer representation of a physical system for the purpose of studying constraint effects.

SDMA (spatial division multiple access)

Advanced multiple antenna technique that increases the spectral efficiency, range and bandwidth available to moving wireless devices. Traditional cellular base stations radiate power in all directions, because they have no information about where the mobile device is located. This wastes power and causes interference to adjacent cells, as well as making it harder to distinguish...

dark fiber

Fiber-optic cable deployments that are not yet being used to carry network traffic. (The word "dark" refers to the fact that no light is passing through the optical fibers.)

Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP)

The Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP) is an emerging standard for message-oriented middleware (MOM). MOM supports high quality-of-service, asynchronous program-to-program communication between two or more components of an application, or between two or more applications. AMQP specifies the wire protocol, so messages can be exchanged among software components supplied by different vendors without the need...

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) coordinates the development and use of voluntary consensus standards in the U.S. and represents the needs and views of U.S. stakeholders in standardization global forums. ANSI is actively engaged in accrediting programs that assess conformance to standards.

switching

The establishment of a transmission path from a particular inlet to a particular outlet, within a group of such inlets and outlets.

lean enterprise

The extended supply chain responsible for effectively satisfying consumer requirements using a minimum of resources.

Human Augmentation

The field of human augmentation (sometimes referred to as "Human 2.0") focuses on creating cognitive and physical improvements as an integral part of the human body. An example is using active control systems to create limb prosthetics with characteristics that can exceed the highest natural human performance.

Chip Design Starts

A chip design start is a new design that is completed and "taped out" where unique prototypes are shipped to the customer.

CSU (channel service unit)

A device found on digital links that transfers data faster than a modem (in a range from 56 kilobits per second to 1.5 megabits per second) but does not permit dial-up functions. It also performs certain line-conditioning and equalization functions, and responds to loop-back commands sent from a central office. A CSU is the link...

file server

A file server is a computer containing files available to all users connected to a local-area network (LAN). In some LANs, a microcomputer is designated as the file server, while in others it is a computer with a large disk drive and specialized software. Some file servers also offer other resources such as gateways and...

hyperprotocol

A file transfer protocol that sends data in a steady stream, rather than in packets, with built-in error correction and data compression.

circuit board

A flat card with connections for electronic components; part of an electronic system.

self-relocating program

A group of instructions capable of assigning blocks of memory as they are needed.

Line

A line is 1. A communications path between two or more points, including a satellite or microwave channel. 2. In data communications, a circuit connecting two or more devices. 3. A transmission path from a nonswitching subscriber terminal to a switching system.

Symbian

A mobile OS originally derived from Psion's EPOC. Up until 2009 Symbian was developed by an independent company jointly owned by Nokia, Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, Panasonic, Siemens and Samsung, which licensed the platform to mobile handset manufacturers. In 2009 Nokia bought out the other owners and converted Symbian into an open source foundation. From 2010,...

IDN (Integrated Digital Network)

A network employing both digital switches and digital transmission.

COSE (Common Open Software Environment)

A now-defunct vendor consortium, which was formed to promote interoperability and portability across Unix platforms. The group's first project was the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) specification

SFC (shop floor control)

A system of computers and/or controllers tools used to schedule, dispatch and track the progress of work orders through manufacturing based on defined routings. SFCs typically calculate work in process based on a percentage of completion for each order and operation that are useful in inventory valuations and materials planning.

CPR (computer-based patient record)

A system that contains electronically maintained information about an individual's health status and care. It focuses on tasks directly related to patient care, unlike other healthcare information systems that support providers' and payers' operational processes (which may, however, serve as source or feeder systems for the CPR). The CPR completely replaces the paper medical chart...

directed speech recognition

A system that uses a script-like dialogue instead of complete, free-form natural language. For each question asked, there are a limited number of valid responses. With this approach, accuracy rates may go up dramatically on less-expensive hardware.

POS (point of service)

A type of health maintenance organization (HMO) plan that offers limited coverage for care received outside the HMO's network.TitlePostmodern ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning - GartnerPostmodern ERP is a technology strategy that automates and links administrative and operational business capabilities.

IDM (integrated document management)

A vital class of middleware services that integrates library services, document-manufacturing and document-interchange technologies with critical business-process applications. The term "integrated" describes the transformation of document management from an end-user application to a network-based service integrated with a full complement of end-user personal-productivity and custom-developed applications.

IVR (interactive voice response)

A voice/call-processing option for improving call center functionality and integration. It enables callers to have more flexibility to access information or leave messages. Use of this option can "offload" call volume from agents to the IVR or improve load balancing by having agents handle recorded messages during slow periods. A slowly growing number of IVR...

AMD (architected, model-driven development)

AMD is the most sophisticated end of the SOA modeling spectrum. It focuses on quality, performance and reuse. It comes in two "flavors" AMD composition and AMD development. AMD composition presumes that the needed services exist and can be "assembled" into an application (business service), possibly with a new user interface (generally portal-based, using Web...

Adaptive Learning

Adaptive learning in its fundamental form is a learning methodology that changes the pedagogical approach toward a student based on the student's input and a predefined response. Adaptive learning more recently is being associated with a large-scale collection of learning data and statistically based pedagogical responses and can be seen as a subset of personalized...

Affective Computing

Affective computing technologies sense the emotional state of a user (via sensors, microphone, cameras and/or software logic) and respond by performing specific, predefined product/service features, such as changing a quiz or recommending a set of videos to fit the mood of the learner. Affective computing tries to address one of the major drawbacks of online...

PIMS (production information management system)

Also known as a "process information management system," a PIMS is a client/server application for the acquisition, display, archiving and reporting of information from a wide variety of control, plant and business systems. A critical component in a manufacturing enterprise's application architecture for creating a common repository of plant information that can be effectively leveraged...

Active Data Dictionary

An active data dictionary facility for storing dynamically accessible and modifiable information relating to midrange-system data definitions and descriptions.

Deine ASP - Application Service Provider

An application service provider (ASP) is defined as an enterprise that delivers application functionality and associated services across a network.

CMS (campaign management system)

An application used by marketers to design multichannel marketing campaigns and track the effect of those campaigns, by customer segment, over time.

Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)

An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is a chip on which the pattern of connections has been set up exclusively for a specific function.

competency center

An organizational structure used to coordinate IT skills with an enterprise. Competency centers provide expertise for project or program support, acting both as repositories of knowledge and resource pools for multiple business areas. Skills-based competency centers, the most common type in an information services organization, are used for application development, software language skills, data management,...

network

Any number of computers (e.g., PCs and servers) and devices (e.g., printers and modems) joined together by a physical communications link. In the enterprise context, networks allow information to be passed between computers, irrespective of where those computers are located. Networks provide the roads for information traffic (e.g., sending files and e-mail) within a corporate...

Application Management

Application management provides a wide variety of application services, processes and methodologies for maintaining, enhancing and managing custom applications, packaged software applications or network-delivered applications.

Behavior Learning Engines (BLE)

Behavior learning engines (BLEs) are platforms intended to enable the discovery, visualization and analysis of recurring, complex, multiperiod patterns in large operational performance data sets. If such engines are to realize their intent, they must support four layers of cumulative functionality Variable designation—this supports the selection of the system properties that are to be tracked...

Behavioral/Gestural Analytics

Behavioral/gestural analytics reflects the automated analysis of real-world human activity captured by video systems to track human movement and gestures to assess intentions and to identify specific behaviors.

Broadband Wireless Access (BWA)

Broadband wireless access (BWA) is a generic term for services based on a wireless broadband MAN; sometimes referred to as wireless broadband access.

Contactless Payments

Contactless payment technology enables payment transactions via a contactless chip embedded in payment cards, tags, key fobs and mobile phones. The chip communicates with a reader device that uses radio frequency or Near Field Communication (NFC) standards. It includes radio frequency identification (RFID) as part of a machine-to-machine communications trend. Contactless payments are more popularly...

product catalog

Contains all commercial product information that enables product marketing managers to define and map new product offerings. This encompasses certain sets of tools that allow configuration of new products and service bundles, pricing and discounts.

Cost Optimization

Cost optimization is a business-focused, continuous discipline to drive spending and cost reduction, while maximizing business value.

CPM (critical path method or critical path management)

Critical path method is a project planning and management methodology that focuses on activities that control the total duration of a project.

Data Center Storage Encryption

Data center storage encryption tools offer configuration, management and reporting for disparate encryption solutions that are available for encrypting data in enterprise data centers. The console manages the encryption infrastructure (key management, policy definition, enforcement and access control), and deploys policies and configurations to the component that performs the actual encryption. Key management is handled...TitleData CenterGartner defines the data center as the department in an enterprise that houses and maintains back-end information technology (IT) systems and data stores.

Data Dependency Mapping

Data dependency mapping products are software products that determine and report on the likelihood of achieving specified recovery targets, based on analyzing and correlating data from applications, databases, clusters, OSs, virtual systems, networking and storage replication mechanisms. These products operate on direct-attached storage (DAS), storage-area-network (SAN)-connected storage and network-attached storage (NAS) at the primary production...

Data Loss Protection

Data loss protection (DLP) describes a set of technologies and inspection techniques used to classify information content contained within an object — such as a file, email, packet, application or data store — while at rest (in storage), in use (during an operation) or in transit (across a network). DLP tools are also have the...

CSD (circuit-switched data)

Data transmission over a wireless network using circuit switching rather than packet switching. Once a connection is established, the user is charged for the use of a dedicated circuit.

structural change

Deep-reaching change that alters the way authority, capital, information and responsibility flow within and between organizations. Structural change affects all parties directly or indirectly in one or more particular industries.

Digital Connectivism

Digital connectivism describes how people and things exist and interact in the global ecosystem of digital connections, and how this shapes a digital society.

Dynamic Routing

Dynamic routing is a method of wide-area network transmission that uses a router to select the most appropriate path for each section of data packet transmission along a network.

Electronic Paper

Electronic paper refers to several reflective display technologies that do not require a backlight and can be viewed in conditions of good ambient illumination. Bistable pixels — that remain in a particular state after the power is removed — are used. For static images, this results in ultralow energy consumption. Most electronic paper technologies involve...

Embedded Software and Electronics Design

Embedded software and electronics hardware design includes the development of all software and electronics-related hardware, such as sensors, processors and operating systems, built into a vehicle, as well as its various components and parts, such as entertainment and engine management systems. Automotive-specific software and hardware are typically produced by multiple suppliers, and then integrated by...

Enterprise-Grade

Enterprise-grade describes products that integrate into an infrastructure with a minimum of complexity and offer transparent proxy support.

Entitlement Management

Entitlement management is technology that grants, resolves, enforces, revokes and administers fine-grained access entitlements (also referred to as "authorizations," "privileges," "access rights," "permissions" and/or "rules"). Its purpose is to execute IT access policies to structured/unstructured data, devices and services. Entitlement management can be delivered by different technologies, and is often different across platforms, applications, network...

I/O channel

Equipment forming part of the input/output system of a computer. Under the control of input/output (I/O) commands, the channel transfers blocks of data between main storage and peripherals.

flexible media and conferencing switching

Flexible media and conferencing switching can be used by employees with intensive collaboration requirements. Flexible media and conferencing integrates with contextual presence lists, and communication between various teams and customers can be achieved via IM, audio conferencing, Web conferencing or e-mail.

FP (function point)

Function points measure the size of an application system based on the functional view of the system. The size is determined by counting the number of inputs, outputs, queries, internal files and external files in the system and adjusting that total for the functional complexity of the system. Function point analysis, originally developed at IBM,...

fuzzy logic

Fuzzy logic is a reasoning paradigm that deals with approximate or imprecise information by enabling variables to be described (often linguistically) and acted upon in terms of their degree of membership in predetermined sets. Control systems in electronic equipment and consumer products and other embedded control systems are among the most popular applications.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

GPS is a global positioning technology that was introduced in the U.S. in 1996, and was originally developed for military purposes. To determine the position of a mobile device, the GPS system uses from two to six of its 24 satellites to a high level of accuracy—of within just a few meters.

Gallium Nitride (GaN)

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a semiconductor material that has high-frequency and high-power characteristics, and is capable of operating at high temperatures. GaN is already used for specialist discrete devices, such as blue light-emitting diodes and blue laser diodes for Blu-ray disc players.

global delivery model

Gartner defines a global delivery model as "the optimum combination of processes, end-to-end methodologies and quality procedures, with high-quality skills and resources available internally or externally, in requisite quantities, on a global basis, that enables organizations to maximize the quality of their solutions while minimizing the overall cost and delivery time of their IT services."

Customer Analytics

Gartner defines customer analytics as the use of data to understand the composition, needs and satisfaction of the customer. Click for research from Gartner

IT Infrastructure Utility (IU)

Gartner first defined an IT infrastructure utility (IU) as a shared IT infrastructure architecture provided through on-demand services. More broadly, we define infrastructure utility services (IUS) as the provision of outsourced, industrialized, asset-based IT infrastructure managed services (below the business application functional layer). IUS are defined by service outcomes, technical options and interfaces, and are...TitleIT infrastructureThe system of hardware, software, facilities and service components that support the delivery of business systems and IT-enabled processes.

Search-Based Data Discovery Tools

Gartner says search-based data discovery tools enable users to develop and refine views and analyses of structured and unstructured data using search terms.

IT Asset Management (ITAM)

IT asset management (ITAM) provides an accurate account of technology asset lifecycle costs and risks to maximize the business value of technology strategy, architecture, funding, contractual and sourcing decisions.  

IT consulting

IT consulting services are advisory services that help clients assess different technology strategies and, in doing so, align their technology strategies with their business or process strategies. These services support customers' IT initiatives by providing strategic, architectural, operational and implementation planning. Strategic planning includes advisory services that help clients assess their IT needs and formulate...

IT Governance (ITG)

IT governance (ITG) is defined as the processes that ensure the effective and efficient use of IT in enabling an organization to achieve its goals. IT demand governance (ITDG—what IT should work on) is the process by which organizations ensure the effective evaluation, selection, prioritization, and funding of competing IT investments; oversee their implementation; and...

In-Rack Cooling

In-rack cooling systems provide highly focused cooling solutions by placing the cooling unit directly in or on an equipment rack. It may be a closed-loop system built in a special enclosure that doesn't depend on room cooling at all, or it may be a heat exchanger attached to the side or back of a rack...

CSP (communications service provider)

Includes all service providers offering telecommunication services or some combination of information and media services, content, entertainment and applications services over networks, leveraging the network infrastructure as a rich, functional platform. CSPs include the following categories Telecommunications carrier, content and applications service provider (CASP), cable service provider, satellite broadcasting operator, and cloud communications service provider.

semi-mobile wireless

Includes client device support for roaming among base station coverage areas at pedestrian speeds. At a minimum, the client mobile device is transportable to secondary fixed locations with no connection while in transit. The terms "nomadic" and "portable," in use by the WiMAX Forum, fit into this category. The terms "nomadic," "portable" and "mobile" often...

kaizen

Incremental, continuous improvement.

knowledge content specialists

Individuals who refine knowledge content from the originating owner into the specific product that the knowledge users require. These specialists have strong skills in the business process and its knowledge resources, as well as skill in organizing and filtering knowledge into a highly accessible and usable form. An extension to this definition is the external...

Information Dispersal Algorithms

Information dispersal algorithms provide a methodology for storing information in pieces (dispersed) across multiple locations, so that redundancy protects the information in the event of a location outage, but unauthorized access at any single location does not provide usable information. Only the originator or a user with a list of the latest pointers with the...

integration

Integration services are detailed design and implementation services that link application functionality (custom software or package software) and/or data with each other or with the established or planned IT infrastructure. Specific activities might include project planning, project management, detailed design or implementation of application programming interfaces, Web services, or middleware systems.

Intercompany Multimodal Unified Communications (UC)

Intercompany multimodal unified communications (UC) is the capability for users inside one organization to share presence information, and to enable instant messaging sessions to be established and modified into voice and video conference sessions with desktop sharing independent of the technology platform selected by their IT department.

Interoperable Storage Encryption

Interoperable storage encryption improves OS/application independent standardized cryptography and key management by embedding these technologies in the controllers of self-encrypting drives (SEDs). SEDs simplify secure large-scale drive imaging, migration and end-of-life sanitation. Seagate introduced proprietary SEDs in the mid-2000s using DriveTrust Technology. In 2009, the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) released open specifications for drives, arrays...

senpai

Japanese for mentor, used in lean enterprises to describe an accomplished lean practitioner who takes on a kohai.

Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE)

Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) is a Java Community Process (JCP)-managed architecture and programming model for multiplatform Java business applications. Java EE is implemented as Java EE application servers by many commercial and some open-source, community-style vendors.

Link Redundancy Level

Link redundancy level is the ratio of the actual number of paths to the minimum number of paths required to connect all nodes of a network.

Limited Disclosure Technology

Limited disclosure technology is designed to protect individuals' privacy by allowing them to share only enough personal information with service providers to complete an interaction or transaction. The technology is also designed to limit tracking and correlation of users' interactions with these third parties. Limited disclosure uses cryptographic techniques and allows users to retrieve data...

Line Load Control

Line load control refers to equipment in a telephone system that provides a means by which essential paths ensure continued service under overloaded conditions. This is generally accomplished by temporarily denying originating service to some or all of the nonessential lines.

Line Loading

Line loading is the process of installing loading coils in series with each conductor on a transmission line, usually 88 millihenry coils installed at 6,000-foot intervals.

Linux

Linux is a Unix-based computer OS and was originally designed as free software for open-source development. Its source code can be freely modified, used and redistributed by anyone under the GNU Public License. Several GUIs run on top of Linux, including K Desktop Environment and GNU Network Object Model Environment. Of the many distributions of...

Liquid Submersion Cooling

Liquid submersion cooling technology places servers and other IT equipment inside nonconductive coolant-filled tanks. The coolant dissipates the heat as it circulates through the system. Liquids have superior thermal efficiency, compared with air, and they provide quiet, uniform, secure and effective cooling. Liquid submersion cooling technologies are an option in data centers where high-density computing...

Location-Based Marketing (LBM)

Location-based marketing (LBM) addresses the user directly. Usually, the consumer receives a message on their mobile device containing a call to action (such as enter a competition, visit a website or order a product) and an incentive, such as a coupon.

Mobility Managed Services (MMS)

Mobility managed services (MMS) encompass the IT and process management services required by a company to acquire, provision and support smartphones, tablets and ruggedized field force devices with integrated cellular and/or wireless connectivity. Although the current market for such services is largely focused on corporate liable devices, MMS engagements also provide a level of control...

Magnetic-Ink Character Recognition

Magnetic-ink character recognition (MICR) is the machine recognition and digitization of magnetically charged characters printed on paper (typically bank drafts and deposit slips).

irDA (Infrared Data Association)

Maintains a standard for infrared data transmission (up to 4 Mbps). Because this technology's cost is extremely low, it is now embedded in many consumer electronic devices (for example, laptop computers and handheld devices, such as PDAs and cellular phones).

hardware and software maintenance services

Maintenance services include both hardware maintenance and support services, and network software maintenance and support services. Hardware maintenance and support services are preventive and remedial services that physically repair or optimize hardware, including contract maintenance and per-incident repair. Hardware support also includes online and telephone technical troubleshooting and assistance for setup, and all fee-based hardware...

conversational media

Makes it possible for social media participants to share information through Web-based applications designed to help them create, post and share text, pictures, audio and video. Examples are blogging software, software for sharing photos and presentations and audio/video sites.

process manufacturing

Manufacturing that adds value by performing chemical reactions or physical actions to transform materials, or by extracting, mixing, separating or forming materials in batch or continuous production modes.

RTT (round-trip time)

Measure (in milliseconds) of the latency of a network — that is, the time between initiating a network request and receiving a response. High latency tends to have a greater impact than bandwidth on the end-user experience in interactive applications, such as Web browsing. See also latency.

signal-to noise ratio

Measurement of the quality of the wireless signal that is expressed as the ratio between the power of the transmitting signal and the noise that is present trying to corrupt that signal.

Medical Management

Medical management is an umbrella term that encompasses the use of IT for health, disease, care and case management functions. Medical management strategies are designed to modify consumer and provider behavior to improve the quality and outcome of healthcare delivery.

Microfilm

Microfilm is a high-resolution film used to record images reduced in size from the original.

Mobile Network

Mobile networks are cellular telecommunication system comprising MSCs, antenna cell sites and radio base stations.

Model-Driven Architecture (MDA)

Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) is a registered trademark of the OMG. It describes an approach to separating business-level functionality from the technical nuances of its implementation. The premise behind MDA and other model-driven approaches is to enable business-level functionality to be modeled using standards, like Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Business Process Modeling Notation, to enable...

porting

Modifying code that runs on one hardware platform or operating system so that it will properly execute on another hardware platform or operating system.

Modulation

Modulation refers to the application of information onto a carrier signal by varying one or more of the signal's basic characteristics (frequency, amplitude or phase); the conversion of a signal from its original (e.g., digital) format to analog format. Specific types include • Amplitude modulation (AM) • Adaptive differential pulse code modulation (ADPCM) • Frequency...

Network Performance Tuning/Configuring Facilities

Network performance tuning/configuring facilities refer to the ability to configure combinations of local-area networks (LANs) and wide-area networks (WANs) centrally and dynamically based on anticipation and prioritization of data traffic volumes. Physical data paths could be configured based on data traffic content (i.e., transaction type). This is particularly important for online transaction processing (OLTP) applications.

Network Security Silicon

Network security silicon refers to the use of specific network security processors to perform very high-speed security processing, such as deep packet inspection and stream processing. This is different from application-specific integrated circuits and field-programmable gate arrays that are already in use, and different from cryptographic accelerators. However, combinations of all of these devices are...

Nomadic Wireless

Nomadic wireless is a term used by the WiMAX Forum for semimobile wireless. The terms "nomadic," "portable" and "mobile" often vary in definition when used by vendors.

Portable Flash Media for Content Distribution

Portable flash media for content distribution is the distribution of media on removable flash memory devices, such as flash cards and USB drives. The media can be promotional or full-length and often refer to music, movies, TV episodes, video game software, maps, electronic books (e-books) and other consumer content. The memory employed is based on...

Connected Portable Navigation Devices (PNDs)

Portable navigation devices (PNDs) are handheld products that receive GPS signals to determine location. Connected PNDs embed a WAN digital cellular or Wi-Fi connection to connect to services designed to enhance the navigation experience, including traffic information, local search and other location-based services. PNDs with a WAN digital cellular connection can also use assisted GPS...

L-band

Portion of the electromagnetic spectrum allotted for satellite transmission in the 1GHz to 2GHz frequency range. A number of MSS providers operate part of their satellite networks in the L-band. See also Ka-band, Ku-band and S-band.

Power Adaptive Algorithms

Power adaptive algorithms select their method, changing the intensity of the computing resources (and thus energy use) to accomplish different objectives for power savings or service levels. This requires that the designer of the adaptive software think of multiple ways to accomplish the function, code each method and provide a mechanism to switch between them,...

Product Analytics

Product analytics is a specialized application of business intelligence (BI) and analytical software. For an in-depth look, click here now.

streaming

Technique that supports the continuous, one-way transmission of audio and/or video data via the Internet and, more recently, via a mobile network. In contrast to audio (for example, MP3) and movie (for example, MPEG) files that must first be downloaded, streaming media begins playing within a few seconds of the request. Streaming requires a streaming...

discrete manufacturing

The production of a discrete category of goods (e.g., automobiles, aircraft, computers or component assemblies).

CIM (customer information management)

The systematic support of business strategy through customer knowledge.

cycle time

The time it takes to complete a process or service operation, including all value-adding and non-value-adding time.

social media tools

Tools that help to facilitate social media. Examples include RSS, blogs, video logs, widgets, tags, forums, location based services, Web chats, instant messaging, podcasts and microblogging services.

gross new connections

Total number of new connections to a network in a given year.

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CRL (certificate revocation list)

A "hot lists" that identifies certificates that have been withdrawn, canceled or compromised or that should not be trusted because of other identified reasons. CRLs should be replicated to all subscribing servers to a specific root certification authority.

Mobile/Wireless Portal

A mobile/wireless portal is website with a wide range of content, services and links designed for mobile devices. It acts as a value-added middleman by selecting the content sources and assembling them in a simple-to-navigate (and customizable) interface for presentation to the end-user's mobile device.

switched network

A multipoint communications pathway with circuit-switching capabilities, e.g., the telephone network.

SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition)

A system used in manufacturing for acquiring measurements of process variables and machine states, and for performing regulatory or machine control across a process area or work cell.

CIRT (cyber incident response team)

Also known as a "computer incident response team," this group is responsible for responding to security breaches, viruses and other potentially catastrophic incidents in enterprises that face significant security risks. In addition to technical specialists capable of dealing with specific threats, it should include experts who can guide enterprise executives on appropriate communication in the...

smart antenna

Also known as adaptive antennas, these use an array of antennas in combination with smart signal processing algorithms that track the location of a mobile client device using techniques such as the direction of arrival of a signal. The location or angular direction is then used to calculate beam-forming vectors to focus more of the...

N-Channel Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (NMOS)

An N-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (NMOS) is a microelectronic circuit used for logic and memory chips and in complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) design. NMOS transistors are faster than the P-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (PMOS) counterpart, and more of them can be put on a single chip.

reuse

An application development methodology that catalogs and makes available application components so that they may be incorporated into other applications.

Application Server

An application server is a modern form of platform middleware. It is system software that resides between the operating system (OS) on one side, the external resources (such as a database management system [DBMS], communications and Internet services) on another side and the users' applications on the third side. The function of the application server...

Application-Specific Standard Product (ASSP)

An application-specific standard product (ASSP) is an integrated circuit (IC) dedicated to a specific application market and sold to more than one user. A type of embedded programmable logic, ASSPs combine digital, mixed-signal and analog products. When sold to a single user, Gartner defines such ICs as "application-specific integrated circuits"

collective competency

An approach where the responsibility for a specific activity or outcome is vested with an informal affiliation of individuals or organizations whose participation is secured only because each member has a vested interest in doing so.

Autonomous Vehicles

An autonomous vehicle is one that can drive itself from a starting point to a predetermined destination in "autopilot" mode using various in-vehicle technologies and sensors, including adaptive cruise control, active steering (steer by wire), anti-lock braking systems (brake by wire), GPS navigation technology, lasers and radar.

SME (small-to-midsize enterprise)

Another name for an SMB — see SMBs (small and midsize businesses).

CPE (customer premises equipment)

Any telephone apparatus — including telephone handsets, private branch exchange (PBX) switching equipment, key and hybrid telephone systems, and add-on devices — that is physically located on a customer's property, as opposed to being housed in the telephone company's central office or elsewhere in the network.

SCIV (supply chain inventory visibility)

Applications that allow enterprises to monitor and manage events across the supply chain to plan their activities more effectively and pre-empt problems. SCIV systems enable enterprises not only to track and trace inventory globally on a line-item level, but also submit plans and receive alerts when events deviate from expectations. This visibility into orders and...

Backup/Recovery Software

Backup/recovery software products are designed to provide backup of storage to tape, disk or optical devices and to recover that data when needed. This segment also includes products focused specifically on supporting the recovery process, such as virtual tape libraries. Also included are media management, deduplication and backup reporting products, as well as archiving products...

Emergent Structures

Emergent structures describes structures that are unknown or unplanned prior to social interactions, but that emerge and evolve as activity unfolds. Emergent structures may be processes, content categorization, organizational networks and hidden virtual teams. These structures are used to gain a better understanding of the true nature of things to more effectively organize, manage or...

service inventory

Encompasses a centralized repository of network and IT data for individual services. Every service represents a bundle of attributes and features, such as quality, speed, customization and price. The repository of service levels, links the service information to individual customers.

Gamification

Gamification is the use of game mechanics to drive engagement in non-game business scenarios and to change behaviors in a target audience to achieve business outcomes. Many types of games include game mechanics such as points, challenges, leaderboards, rules and incentives that make game-play enjoyable. Gamification applies these to motivate the audience to higher and...

Business Process - BPaas - Free Gartner Research

Gartner defines (BPaaS) as the delivery of business process outsourcing (BPO) services that are sourced from the cloud and constructed for multitenancy.

sockets

The Berkeley interprocess communications model. A socket specifies the end points of a two-way communications channel which connects two processes together so they can exchange information.

CSD (consolidated service desk)

The hub where the needs of support groups, distributors, suppliers and customers are consolidated, and where network and system management (NSM) tools are integrated. The CSD has become the integration point for multiple management disciplines, the single point of contact for providing multiple IS services to the end users, and the source of automation for...

rack density

The rack density describes the height of a unit. The standard height of one unit is 1.75 inches, so rack density is described in terms of the number of units, such as one unit (1U), 2U and so on. Blade servers are noted as "number of blades per blade chassis/height" (in standard U height), so...

telecom equipment support services

This segment includes enterprise equipment services and infrastructure equipment services. • Enterprise equipment services — Enterprise equipment consists of telecom equipment and systems that are based in business locations, and that connect either with the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or to private data voice networks. • Carrier infrastructure equipment services — Infrastructure equipment includes...

storage support services

This segment includes tape libraries, optical libraries, hard-disk drive upgrades/replacements, and RAID-based storage system services.

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Advanced Server Energy Monitoring Tools

Energy consumption in individual data centers is increasing rapidly, by 8% to 12% per year. The energy is used for powering IT systems (for example, servers, storage and networking equipment) and the facility's components (for example, air-conditioning systems, power distribution units and uninterruptible power supply systems). The increase in energy consumption is driven by users...

2.5G

Enhancements that provide packet data capabilities over 2G networks. 2.5G improves the available data rates supported by the air interface, thereby permitting the introduction of new, data-oriented services and applications. The increased data rates rise to a theoretical maximum of 384 Kbps, although in the field available data rates may often be as low as...

Application Development (AD)

The Application Development (AD) software market comprises tools that represent each phase of the software development life cycle Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), design, construction, automated software quality and other Application Development software.

3D LCDs

Three-dimensional liquid crystal display (3D LCD) technology enables users to view 3D images either with 3D glasses (stereoscopic LCDs) or without 3D glasses (autostereoscopic LCDs). For smaller screen sizes (typically up to 10 inches), directional backlight 3D is a cost-effective technology that uses the LCD's backlight to change the viewing fields for the left and...

DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control)

"Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control"; a problem-solving methodology associated with Six Sigma process improvement.

High Tj Systems

"High Tj systems" refers to the silicon temperature at a transistor junction of the processor used in a server. Typically, the maximum operating temperature is specified as 85 degrees Celsius. This temperature is the balance between the power consumed by the processor and the rate at which the processor is cooled. Increasing the maximum temperature...

Process Templates

"Process templates" is an overarching term that describes prebuilt business process design, execution and management artifacts that accelerate time to solution. They are also known by various names, such as "solution frameworks," "solution templates," "solution kits," "starter kits," "process accelerators" and "process pods." Process templates are available from application and middleware vendors ? as well...

E-Business

  E-Business (electronic business) is any process that a business organization conducts over a computer-mediated network. Business organizations include any for-profit, governmental, or nonprofit entity. Their processes include production-, customer-, and internal- or management-focused business processes.

Core Banking System

  Gartner defines a core banking system as a back-end system that processes daily banking transactions and posts updates to accounts and other financial records. Core banking systems typically include deposit, loan and credit processing capabilities, with interfaces to general ledger systems and reporting tools.

Business Process Management (BPM) Standards

 Business Process Management (BPM) Standards is a collective term for the subset of open computing standards and specifications used to model and execute business processes. The goal of BPM standards has been typical of other standards efforts—to ensure skill reuse, definitional clarity, interoperability and portability—and has been focused specifically on process management efforts.

gateway

1. A computer that sits between different networks or applications. The gateway converts information, data or other communications from one protocol or format to another. A router may perform some of the functions of a gateway. An Internet gateway can transfer communications between an enterprise network and the Internet. Because enterprises often use protocols on...

circuit

1. A continuous electrical connection between any two points. 2. The means of two-way communication between two or more points. 3. A group of electrical/electronic components connected to perform a specific function. See channel.

table driven

1. A logical computer process, widespread in the operation of communications devices and networks, where a user-entered variable is matched against an array of predefined values. 2. A frequently used logical process in network routing, access security and modem operation.

spoofing

1. A process whereby a router responds to keep alive messages from a host rather than passing them on the remote client, thus saving call charges. Used mainly in Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). 2. Of a packet, falsely claiming to be from an address different from that from which it actually originated.

FM (facilities management)

1. Entering into an agreement with a service supplier to manage internal company facilities such as telecommunications or data-processing services. Facilities management does not involve the transfer of ownership of facilities to the service provider. 2. For government enterprises, FM is the most prevalent type of contractual relationship where the vendor assumes responsibility for one...

POP (point of presence)

1. Since divestiture, the physical access location within a local access and transportation area (LATA) of a long-distance and/or interLATA common carrier. 2. The point to which the local telephone company terminates subscribers' circuits for long-distance, dial-up, or leased-line communications. 3. An Internet provider's node that allows subscribers to dial in using modems and voice...

shrink-wrapped

1.   A term used to refer to packaged software applications (from the shrink-wrapped packaging typical of such products). 2.   Term initially used to describe an unsigned software license agreement that is deemed accepted when the user breaks a shrink-wrapped seal or opens an enclosed sealed envelope in the package containing the software media, such as...

serving area

1.   The region surrounding a broadcasting station where signal strength is at or above a stated minimum. 2.   The geographic area handled by a telephone exchange, generally equivalent to a local access and transport area (LATA).

6LoWPAN

6LoWPAN is the name of an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard that defines an approach for routing Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) over low-power wireless networks. 6LoWPAN is intended to bring the benefits of standard IP networking to low-power mesh and sensor networks, which, in the past, often used proprietary technologies. 6LoWPAN uses a...

Mobile Satellite Service (MSS)

A Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) is a network of communication satellites intended for use with mobile and portable wireless telephones. There are three major types aeronautical MSS, land MSS and maritime MSS.

cluster controller

A device that handles the remote communications processing for multiple (usually dumb) terminals or workstations.

SSEM (System and Server Evaluation Model)

A Gartner model that focuses on the six major categories of differentiation that exist between server platforms performance and scalability, high availability, software vendor enthusiasm, platform architectural longevity, systems and network management software, and maintenance.

concentrator

A device that merges many low-speed asynchronous channels into one or more high-speed synchronous channels to achieve economies of data transmission.

scanner

A device that resolves a two-dimensional object, such as a business document, into a stream of bits by raster scanning and quantization.

spaghetti chart

A graphical representation of movement of materials, people or process steps to identify motion or transport wastes for elimination.

digital dial tone

A Gartner term describing the combination of XML and Internet transport protocols — such as HTTP, SMTP and FTP — to create a ubiquitous capability to exchange structured information. The metaphor relies on the contrast between previous business to business (B2B) message exchanges — such as electronic data exchange (EDI) using X12, EDI for Administration,...

Line of Business

A line of business is a corporate subdivision focused on a single product or family of products.

IP extension line

A line that terminates with an IP phone or voice endpoint that was shipped, installed, and in use and attached to an IP-enabled PBX or IP-PBX phone system.

Java servlet

A Java program that operates in conjunction with a Web server, and can output Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) to a browser or even communicate with Java applets. Servlets offer an alternative to using Common Gateway Interface (CGI) and server application programming interfaces (SAPIs) to communicate with Web server processes.

IP-PBX

A LAN-based IP switching communications system that provides telephony functions employing voice IP endpoint connectivity. At least 95% of lines on pure IP PBX systems must terminate with IP voice endpoints.

Business Application Programming Interface (BAPI)

A Business Application Programming Interface (BAPI) is a set of documented, server-side interfaces to one or more R/3 processes, from SAP. BAPI packages multiple internal functions to enable programmatic access to such higher-order tasks as checking customer numbers, providing product descriptions, selecting products, creating quotations or creating orders.

SPF (Shortest Path First)

A link-state protocol that uses a set of user-defined parameters to find the optimum route between two points.

Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO)

A Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) is a company that does not own a mobile spectrum license but sells mobile services under its brand name using the network of a licensed mobile operator. The term is applied to a variety of arrangements with a mobile network operator. At one end are companies offering mobile services...

Mobile Wireless Local Loop (WLL)

A Mobile Wireless Local Loop (WLL) is an access solution deployed using standardized cellular or low-mobility infrastructure and mobile devices. This primarily includes technologies such as cdmaOne (IS-95A and B), cdma2000 1x RTT, Personal HandyPhone System (PHS) and personal access communication services (PACS). For commercial or regulatory reasons, mobile WLLs are not operated as full...

PC Virtual Software Appliance

A PC virtual software appliance runs in a dedicated PC partition or on a virtual machine that loads before any user OS, and provides one application or function without the complexity of a full PC OS. By adopting an appliance approach, enterprises can deliver individual functions (such as firewalls, asset management, TV recorders and media...

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)

A Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)-derived protocol governing network management and the monitoring of network devices. Strictly speaking, SNMP is the Management Information Base (MIB) described in the SNMP standard; extensions to this MIB proposed by the Electronic Messaging Association permit the monitoring and reporting of all conforming messaging components through standard SNMP management tools...

Backbone Router

A backbone router is a router designed to be used to construct backbone networks using leased lines. Backbone routers typically do not have any built-in digital dial-up wide-area network interfaces.

Backhaul

A backhaul is the terrestrial link between an earth station and a switching or data center.

Balanced Scorecard (BSC)

A balanced scorecard (BSC) is a performance measurement and management approach that recognizes that financial measures by themselves are not sufficient and that an enterprise needs a more holistic, balanced set of measures which reflects the different drivers that contribute to superior performance and the achievement of the enterprise's strategic goals. The balanced scorecard is...

Ethernet

A baseband local-area network (LAN) originally developed by Xerox and supported by Intel, Digital Equipment (now Compaq Computer) and Hewlett-Packard. It has a bus topology with carrier sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) access control. Ethernet is not identical to Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3. Related terms include • Ethernet address...

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Bid

A bid is defined as follows An attempt to gain control over a line in order to transmit data, usually associated with the contention style of sharing a single line among several terminals. A vendor's proposal to win a contract.

Bill of Lading

A bill of lading is a contract of carriage between a shipper and carrier to consign a load for delivery to another party.

Bill-of-Materials (BOM)

A bill-of-materials (BOM) is a structured list of the raw materials, parts and assemblies that constitute a product to be manufactured, typically used as part of a manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) system.

Binary Digit (Bit)

A binary digit (bit) is the minimum unit of binary information stored in a computer system. A bit can have only two states, on or off, which are commonly represented as ones and zeros. The combination of ones and zeros determines which information is entered into and processed by the computer.

Biometric Characteristic

A biometric characteristic is a measurable physiological or behavioral trait of a living person, especially one that can be used to determine or verify the identity of a person in access control or criminal forensics. Most real adoption of biometric technologies during the next five years will come from government applications (for example, immigration, social...

Bottleneck

A bottleneck is defined as the operation with the least capacity in a total system with no alternative routings; the total system can be effectively scheduled by simply scheduling the limiting operation.

Business Continuity Manager (BCM)

A business continuity manager (BCM) is the person responsible for business recovery planning (BRP) and business continuity planning (BCP).

Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC)

A business intelligence competency center (BICC) develops the overall strategic plan and priorities for BI. It also defines requirements, such as data quality and governance and fulfills the role of promoting the use of BI.

Business Rule Engines (BRE)

A business rule engine (BRE) is a specific collection of design-time and runtime software that enables an enterprise to explicitly define, analyze, execute, audit and maintain a wide variety of business logic, collectively referred to as "rules." A BRE can be purchased independently or comes embedded in a business process management suite (BPMS). A BRE...

switch

A device that makes, breaks, or changes the connections in an electrical circuit; to shift to another electrical circuit by means of a switch. In the telecommunications industry, the term is often used as a synonym for private branch exchange (PBX) or central office (CO) switch.

SIO (strategic information office)

A business-unit-neutral information office whose role is to propagate the importance of enterprise information management to all business units, generate excitement for these initiatives, negotiate organizational and technological issues across the enterprise, and enforce implementation of and compliance with standards at all levels of the enterprise. Members of the SIO should have in-depth knowledge of,...

Cache

A cache is defined as a temporary storage area for instructions and data near a computer's central processing unit (CPU), usually implemented in high-speed memory. It replicates information from main memory or storage in a way that facilitates quicker access, using fewer resources than the original source. Because data is closer to the CPU, it...

Nanomaterial Supercapacitors

A capacitor is a passive electronic component that stores electrical energy in an electrostatic field. This is unlike a battery, which stores energy in a chemical form. Capacitors are formed from two conducting plates separated by an insulator. The amount of capacitance is proportional to the surface areas of the plates, and inversely proportional to...

NAS (network-attached storage)

A category of storage products in which the requisite hardware and software comes bundled into an integrated product, which is optimized for use as a dedicated file or storage management server attached to the enterprise's network. Ideally, NAS is platform- and OS-independent, appears to any application as another server, can be brought online without shutting...

scattering

A cause of light wave signal loss in optical fiber transmission. Diffusion of a light beam caused by microscopic variations in the material density of the transmission medium.

Cell

A cell is defined as the area covered by one fixed BTS in a cellular radio network. It may vary in size from less than a 0.5-km radius to more than a 120-km radius, depending on technology, capacity, atmospheric conditions and power.

Cell Site

A cell site is defined as the entire set of equipment needed to receive and transmit radio signals for cellular voice and data transmission; typically includes transmitters, receivers, power amplifiers, combiners, filters, a digital signal processor, a power supply and network interface modules.

hub

A central device, usually in a star topology local-area network (LAN), to which each station's wiring is attached. Also called wiring concentrator. See intelligent hub.

Channel

A channel is defined by a combination of three factors A target device, for example, a mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA) or a PC; an interaction paradigm, for example, a graphical user interface (GUI), e-mail, voice response or video; and business practices, that is, channel-specific elements of business that may include payment services, shipment...

sub-voice-grade channel

A channel with a bandwidth narrower than that of voice-grade channels. Such channels are usually subchannels of a voice-grade line.

control character

A character inserted into a data stream to signal the receiving station to perform a function or to identify the structure of the message. Newer protocols are moving away from character-oriented control procedures toward bit-oriented control procedures.

Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)

A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a semiconductor device capable of both photo-detection and memory, which converts light to electronic impulses. One-and two-dimensional CCD arrays are used in scanners to perform the first stage in converting an image into digital data. They are particularly attractive because they can step the signals from each detector across the...

Check Digit

A check digit is a number added to each character in a coded system which allows for the detection of errors; through the use of a mathematical formula, recording errors such as number reversals can be noted. See parity bit.

speech circuit

A circuit designed for the transmission of speech, either analog or encoded, but which can also be used for data transmission or telegraphy.

Citizen Developer

A citizen developer is a user who creates new business applications for consumption by others using development and runtime environments sanctioned by corporate IT. In the past, end-user application development has typically been limited to single-user or workgroup solutions built with tools like Microsoft Excel and Access. However, today, end users can build departmental, enterprise...

network computing

A client/server application architecture with dynamic application deployment, execution and management. Network computing is characterized by four properties dynamic cached propagation; write once, run anywhere; automatic platform adjustment; and network context storage.

Clinical Data Repository (CDR)

A clinical data repository (CDR) is an aggregation of granular patient-centric health data usually collected from multiple-source IT systems and intended to support multiple uses. Because a CDR is intended to support multiple uses, we do not categorize the database within any single application as a CDR. When a CDR holds data specifically organized for...

NCOP (network code of practice)

A code of standard practices for network design, intended to maintain technical standards.

scrambler

A coding device applied to a digital channel that produces an apparently random bit sequence. A corresponding device is used to decode the channel, i.e., the coding is reversible.

extranet

A collaborative, Internet-based network that facilitates intercompany relationships by linking an enterprise with its suppliers, customers or other external business partners. Extranets use Internet-derived applications and technology to provide secured extensions of internal business processes to external business partners.

Column-Store Database Management System (DBMS)

A column-store database management system (DBMS) is a DBMS that indexes each column of a table, storing the indexes in lieu of row data — unlike traditional relational DBMSs using a row-store, where data is stored in rows, with indexes optional. In addition, most column-store DBMSs include additional optimization techniques (such as compression and tokenization)...

Common Access Card (CAC)

A common access card (CAC) is a single corporate card or token that can be used for PC, network and application login (user authentication) and building access. A CAC also may be used as, for example, a photo ID card and a stored-value card (electronic wallet) for vending machines and catering.

publish and subscribe

A communication pattern in which information sources "publish" (i.e., send) information to a somewhat intelligent middleware infrastructure, and information consumers "subscribe" by specifying what kind of information they want to receive from the infrastructure. The middleware must be able to physically transport messages from one or more publishers to one or more subscribers. It also...

ODM (own design manufacturer)

A company that designs, develops and manufactures mobile devices under contract. These devices are sold to end users under the brand of the mobile-device vendor, wireless service provider or contract partner. Examples of ODMs include Taiwan-based BenQ, GVC and HTC.

service bureau

A company that processes various types of data for a client for a fee. Station message detail reporting (SMDR) and call-costing reports are typically provided.

ISP (Internet service provider)

A company that provides Internet access to its customers. The majority of ISPs are too small to purchase access directly from the network access point (NAP), and instead buy pieces of bandwidth that are available from larger ISPs. Access to the Internet can be provided either via modem or by direct connection, which offers far...

SSP (storage service provider)

A company that provides computer storage capacity and management services. In addition to the storage itself, SSPs typically offer periodic backup and archiving, and some offer to consolidate data from multiple enterprise locations so that all locations can share the data effectively.

finished branded product

A completed equipment or device, labeled by a manufacturer that is available for sale to customers. The product can either be new or remanufactured.

COM (Component Object Model)

A component architecture in Microsoft's desktop operating system. A distributed version of COM (i.e., DCOM — the Distributed Component Object Model) enables the development of applications in which components are distributed over several computers (e.g., a client and one or more servers).

SFM (store-and-forward manager)

A component that handles interapplication, asynchronous messaging for data consistency and multistep process coordination.

Composite Application

A composite application orchestrates independently developed programs, data and devices to deliver a new solution that none of the previously available applications could deliver on its own. Each resource accessed by a composite application uses a different data model. In most cases, the composite application supports user interactions beyond those provided by the leveraged applications....

CISC (complex instruction set computer)

A computer in which individual instructions may perform many operations and take many cycles to execute, in contrast with reduced instruction set computer (RISC).

computing appliance

A computing device that provides predefined services, and that has its underlying operating (OS) software hidden beneath an application-specific interface. Computing appliances offer reduced complexity (e.g., installation, administration and maintenance) and faster deployment by hiding the operating software and embedding the application within the device. A computing appliance may be based on a general-purpose OS...

PHR (personal health record)

A concept for capturing, managing and sharing a consumer's healthcare profile. PHRs contain the following components a consumer profile, a healthcare providers' section, a healthcare encounter section, a family history section, an emergency profile and public-key infrastructure (PKI) security.

Connected Home

A connected home is networked to enable the interconnection and interoperability of multiple devices, services and apps, ranging from communications and entertainment to healthcare, security and home automation. These services and apps are delivered over multiple interlinked and integrated devices, sensors, tools and platforms. Connected, real-time, smart and contextual experiences are provided for the household...

IDARS (integrated document archive and retrieval system)

A consolidated system for storage, access, management and viewing of data that is often print-stream-originated. Leading uses of IDARS include mission-critical customer service support, electronic bill presentment, management and distribution of report data (e.g., mainframe output, transaction logs and financial reports) and long-term archiving of historical data.

community

A constantly changing group of people collaborating and sharing their ideas over an electronic network (e.g., the Internet). Communities optimize their collective power by affiliation around a common interest, by the compression of the time between member interactions (i.e., communicating in real time), and by asynchronous "postings" that potentially reach more participants and permit more...

drum, buffer, rope

A constraint-aware workflow control process in which the "drum" beat sets the pace of production based on the constraint's capacity, the "buffer" provides a contingency, and the "rope" controls the flow of work.

Contact Center

A contact center supports customer interactions across a range of channels, including phone calls, email, Web chat, Web collaboration, and the emerging adoption of social media interactions, and is distinct from telephony-only call centers. Although contact centers support more than one channel, they do not necessarily involve the use of universal queuing. Instead, they may...

Contact Center System

A contact center system is a computer-based system that provides call and contact routing for high-volume telephony transactions, with specialist answering "agent" stations and a sophisticated real-time contact management system. The definition includes all contact center systems that provide inbound contact handling capabilities and automatic contact distribution, combined with a high degree of sophistication in...

Contact Center Workforce Optimization

A contact center workforce optimization solution integrates disparate contact center technologies—including contact center performance management, e-learning, interaction analytics, quality management and workforce management—which execute against a high-level framework encompassing strategic contact center planning; agent recruitment, deployment, monitoring, evaluation, improvement and motivation; and corporate accountability and contribution.

Content Aggregator

A content aggregator is an organization that aggregates and contracts content from multiple providers, then redistributes licensed content to others for a fee.

spectrum

A continuous range of frequencies, usually wide in extent, within which waves have some specific common characteristics.

postpaid connection

A contract that includes airtime and is paid for at scheduled intervals (generally monthly).

CTX (clear to send)

A control circuit that indicates to the data terminal equipment that data can or cannot be transmitted.

framing

A control procedure used with multiplexed digital channels, whereby bits are inserted so the receiver can identify the time slots allocated to each channel. Framing bits can also carry alarm signals indicating specific alarm conditions.

IDS (integrated delivery system)

A coordinated system for healthcare delivery that includes hospitals, clinics and physician practices.

FPD (flat panel display)

A core component for notebooks, liquid crystal display (LCD) flat panel displays are broadening their applications on the commercial desktops. There are five key FPD technologies available LCD, gas plasma, electroluminescent (EL) display, field emission display and digital micromirror devices. The most mature is LCD, which includes active-matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) and passive-matrix liquid...

context management engine

A core enabling technology for effective portals, this application collects, analyzes and distributes personalization and customization information.

Customer Information File (CIF)

A customer information file (CIF) is a system that consolidates customer account information and combines it with basic demographic information to create a current snapshot of a customer relationship. CIFs are often a central component of integrated banking application packages and are primarily used to support operational activities with current, as opposed to historical, data.

IP-enabled PBX

A customer-premises telephone switching system that has native IP switching and a TDM switching matrix, each delivering call-processing features and functions transparently between internal extensions (stations), whether the endpoint is an IP or traditional device. Typically, an IP-enabled product starts life as a traditional PBX, but is further developed to include IP capabilities. The traditional...

lean

A customer-value focused approach to the provision of effective solutions involving the consumption of a minimum of resources.

LRC (longitudinal redundancy check)

A data communications error-trapping technique in which a character is accumulated at both the sending and receiving stations during the transmission and is compared for an equal condition, which indicates a good transmission of the previous block.

Data Lake

A data lake is a collection of storage instances of various data assets additional to the originating data sources. These assets are stored in a near-exact, or even exact, copy of the source format. The purpose of a data lake is to present an unrefined view of data to only the most highly skilled analysts, to...

network database

A database organized according to ownership of records, allowing records to have multiple owners and thus providing multiple access paths to the data. Database management systems (DBMSs) providing such capabilities are also known as CODASYL (Conference on Data Systems Languages) DBMSs.

KM strategy

A declaration of how the enterprise will use knowledge to compete, and how knowledge management (KM) will support the enterprise's business strategies. A KM strategy may be knowledge-focused if the enterprise's market value is predominantly composed of intellectual capital, or knowledge-enabled if the enterprise has other valuable assets in addition to intellectual capital.

protocol stack

A defined protocol with options applicable for specific functions that can be implemented as a product. Also called a functional standard or functional profile.

social profile

A description of individuals' salient characteristics that meaningfully identify them for a given social site, or for a collaboration application.

SIMD (single instruction, multiple data)

A design for parallel computers characterized by instructions that can directly trigger a large number (in parallel) of data operations on different data. Vector processors fall into this category.

laser

A device that emits a highly coherent beam of light. The term stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation." A typical laser has an active medium, which emits light, and a cavity structure, which selects certain wavelengths and directions for the emitted light. Lasers convert electrical energy into radiant energy in the visible...

codec (coder/decoder)

A device used to convert analog signals, such as speech, music, or television, to digital form for transmission over a digital medium, and back again to the original analog form. One is required at each end of the channel.

Magnetometer

A digital compass, or magnetometer, is a sensor that measures the earth's magnetic field to determine the direction to the magnetic poles. The implementation of three-axis compasses or magnetometer sensors, combined with accelerometer sensors, is critical for mobile devices in order to provide tilt compensation when they are not held horizontally.

Digital Disruptor

A digital disruptor is any entity that effects the shift of fundamental expectations and behaviors in a culture, market, industry, technology or process that is caused by, or expressed through, digital capabilities, channels or assets.

Digital Marketer

A digital marketer  uses marketing principles, technologies and techniques to drive awareness, retention and sales through digital channels.

Digital Signature

A digital signature is a specific type of electronic signature (e-signature) that relies on public-key cryptography to support identity authentication and provide data and transaction integrity. It is used as a means to reach a goal of providing irrefutable evidence that a specific digital object originated from a specific individual and has not been altered....

Digital Thick Wallet Solutions

A digital thick wallet stores the secure information necessary to authenticate a user and initiate an authorization process for one or more payment instruments via a PC, tablet, mobile device or gaming device. It also enables users to set preferences for security, loyalty and financial management purposes.

Digital Thin Wallet Solutions

A digital thin wallet is simply a storage capability for secure financial information to initiate a payment transaction via a PC, tablet, mobile device or gaming device. It does not enable users to set preferences for security and financial management purposes, nor does it contain a loyalty management application.

Digital Wallet

A digital wallet is a storage place of secure information necessary to authenticate a user and initiate an authorization process to make a transaction to purchase goods and services.

IT chargeback

A discipline and accounting activity to recover the costs of IT to aid in the management of IT resources, and segment shared costs into profit centers.

knowledge work management

A discipline that promotes an integrated approach to identifying, managing and sharing all of an enterprise's information assets. Knowledge work management focuses on extending knowledge management to business processes (i.e., policies and procedures as well as unwritten rules).

Dish/Stirling Engine

A dish/Stirling engine is a type of concentrated solar power (CSP) system. A large mirrored dish collects and concentrates the sun's heat on to a receiver, which absorbs the heat and transfers it to fluid within a Stirling engine. The heat causes the fluid in the engine to expand against a piston or turbine. The...

critical ratio

A dispatching rule that calculates a priority index number by dividing the time to due date remaining by the expected elapsed time to finish the job. Typically ratios of less than 1.0 are behind, ratios greater than 1.0 are ahead, and a ratio of 1.0 is on schedule.

smart terminal

A display terminal that can operate in either conversational or block mode and can support a full range of local editing capabilities.

CPS (certification practice statement)

A document defining all the operational practices that will be used to maintain the required level of public-key infrastructure (PKI) security. To prove that issued certificates are valid, an enterprise must demonstrate (usually through an audit) adherence to its CPS. The Internet Engineering Task Force's (IETF's) request for comment (RFC) 2527 contains draft guidelines for...

standard

A document that recommends a protocol, interface, type of wiring, or some other aspect of a system. It may even recommend something as general as a conceptual framework or model (e.g., a communications architecture). De jure standards are developed by internationally or nationally recognized standards bodies or vendors. De facto standards are widely used vendor-developed...

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

A document-formatting language derived from the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), predominately used to create Web pages. The user's browser interprets HTML commands and formats the page layout, fonts and graphics on the screen. One of the more powerful features of HTML is its ability to create hyperlinks that enable the user to navigate between...

Dual-Band

A dual-band mobile device supports voice and data communications conforming to one bearer technology, such as GSM, but on two different sets of frequencies. For example, to support additional mobile network operators or to provide additional capacity and coverage, many European and Asia/Pacific countries/markets have licensed deployment of GSM networks on both 900MHz and 1,800MHz...

Dual-Band Network

A dual-band network is a cellular radio system that operates in two different frequency bands in which network elements conform to identical network architectures and radio interfaces.

Dumb Terminal

A dumb terminal is a terminal that does not performing local processing of entered information, but serves only as an input/output device for an attached or network-linked processor.

repository

A facility for storing descriptions and behaviors of objects in an enterprise, including requirements, policies, processes, data, software libraries, projects, platforms and personnel, with the potential of supporting both software development and operations management. As a single point of definition for all system resources, it should stimulate both program and installation management productivity. A system...

Feature Smartphone

A feature smartphone is a mobile communications device that is optimized in its specification and features to support one or more primary functions like music, video, gaming, pictures, browsing, mobile TV, navigation and messaging. Compared to entry-level smartphones, these devices usually have larger displays, more powerful processors, more embedded memory and better battery capacity. These...

Femtocells

A femtocell is a small, A5-size base station box aimed at improving indoor coverage, especially for higher-frequency services such as third generation (3G) services. Similar to picocells, femtocells are even smaller cellular base stations that are designed for use in residential or corporate environments that connect to the customer's own broadband connection using an Internet...

single-mode fiber

A fiber with a small core diameter allowing the propagation of a single light path.

DIF (Data Interchange Format)

A file format developed for VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet. Still used today as a means for transferring files to and from spreadsheets.

Firewall

A firewall is an application or an entire computer (e.g., an Internet gateway server) that controls access to the network and monitors the flow of network traffic. A firewall can screen and keep out unwanted network traffic and ward off outside intrusion into a private network. This is particularly important when a local network connects...

SAM tools (systems administration management tools)

A flexible set of application maintenance utilities and application administration tools. The key value of such tools is derived from how well they manage changes. A well-designed tool permits an administrator to describe either a database or a form field change, ensures the integrity of all of the application components tied to the change and...

clickstream analysis

A form of Web analytics (see separate entry), clickstream analysis is the tracking and analysis of visits to websites. Although there are other ways to collect this data, clickstream analysis typically uses the Web server log files to monitor and measure website activity. This analysis can be used to report user behavior on a specific...

distributed computing

A form of computing in which data and applications are distributed among disparate computers or systems, but are connected and integrated by means of network services and interoperability standards such that they function as a single environment. See DCE (distributed computing environment).

data synchronization

A form of embedded middleware that allows applications to update data on two systems so that the data sets are identical. These services can run via a variety of different transports but typically require some application-specific knowledge of the context and notion of the data being synchronized.

servlet

A form of server-based Java that operates in conjunction with a Web server and offers an alternative to using Common Gateway Interface (CGI) and server application programming interfaces (SAPIs) to communicate with Web server processes. In addition, servlets are independent of a given type of Web server, as the most prominent Web servers support servlets.

knowledge audit

A formal determination and evaluation of how and where knowledge is used in business processes. The knowledge audit identifies implicit user needs, as well as explicit information stores. With the audit, enterprises can identify and evaluate all information resources and workflows, and determine enterprise user access requirements. Access requirements will vary widely, from wide access...

presence

A foundational technology that provides indications of the status and availability of contacts. Presence shows whether a participant is online, and may provide a description of that person's status.

SSPC (structure, scripting, populating and channel outputs)

A framework for creating documents that requires four core mechanisms for defining the structure, scripting, populating (filling) and output channels of documents. 1. Structure definition consists of tools to define components (e.g., title, author, introduction, conclusion) and their sequence (e.g., "introductions" precede "conclusions"). The defined sequence cannot be modified or removed through editing. 2. Scripting...

seven wastes

A framework of seven types of activity that do not add value; originally defined by Toyota overproducing — producing product before there's a valid order; unnecessary waiting — lengthened cycle time, which reduces agility; unnecessary transportation — unnecessary transportation of material between sites; overprocessing — processes longer or more complex than necessary; unnecessary inventory —...

rack

A framework or structure that holds computer servers or networking equipment, usually by means of shelves or mounting plates. The height of computer equipment is expressed in rack units (U), which equal the distance between shelf increments in a standard rack (see rack unit).

sideband

A frequency band on either the upper or lower side of the carrier frequency within which fall the frequencies produced by the process of modulation.

fast-packet switching

A generic term for improved packet-switching technologies such as frame relay and cell relay. Fast-packet techniques feature less functionality than traditional X.25 packet-switching for higher packet-switching speeds and lower processing costs.

LAN (local-area network)

A geographically limited communication network that connects users within a defined area. A LAN is generally contained within a building or small group of buildings and is managed and owned by a single enterprise. The shorter distances within a building or campus enable faster communications at a lower cost than wide-area networks (WANs). Although an...

spectrum harmonization

A global effort under the auspices of the ITU to encourage governments and regulators to allocate RF spectrum consistently across borders, thereby enabling global roaming, interoperability and global markets for telecom equipment. Every four years, the ITU holds the World Radiocommunication Conference, where global/regional spectrum assignments are negotiated and agreed. A recent example is the...

GUI (graphical user interface)

A graphics-based operating system interface that uses icons, menus and a mouse (to click on the icon or pull down the menus) to manage interaction with the system. Developed by Xerox, the GUI was popularized by the Apple Macintosh in the 1980s. At the time, Microsoft's operating system, MS-DOS, required the user to type specific...

knowledge community

A group of people within an enterprise who engage in knowledge-sharing activities in support of a common work interest (shared responsibility for a business process, a product or service, or a project). The KC may include people from multiple disciplines within the enterprise, as well as extended-enterprise participants (service providers, supply-chain partners or customers).

SOC (software oversight committee)

A healthcare committee charged with ensuring that patients are not placed at risk by implemented software solutions. SOCs contain representative from all aspects of the healthcare enterprise. It has been suggested that SOCs be formed along the lines of The Joint Commission's institutional review boards (IRBs). IRBs typically are composed of risk management lawyers, medical...

Heterogeneous Architecture

A heterogeneous architecture is a computing system architecture in which processors use more than one instruction set, all of which share a single memory. This requires programs to be written differently for each of the dissimilar instruction sets. The goal is to offer substantially better performance or cost by devoting the appropriate parts of the...

Hosted Virtual Desktops (HVD)

A hosted virtual desktop (HVD) is a full, thick-client user environment, which is run as a virtual machine (VM) on a server and accessed remotely. HVD implementations comprise server virtualization software to host desktop software (as a server workload), brokering/session management software to connect users to their desktop environment, and tools for managing the provisioning...

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

A key performance indicator (KPI) is a high-level measure of system output, traffic or other usage, simplified for gathering and review on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. Typical examples are bandwidth availability, transactions per second and calls per user. KPIs are often combined with cost measures (e.g., cost per transaction or cost per user)...

Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)

A laboratory information management system (LIMS) is a solution to manage sample scientific test data and processes, from sample login to the reporting of results.

DDL (data definition language)

A language used to describe the data model for a database, i.e., the names and access paths for the data and how they are interrelated. In some software products, the DDL describes the logical, not the physical, data. Other products use it to describe both.

search engine

A large, searchable index of Web pages that is automatically updated by spiders or Web crawlers and housed on a central server connected to the Internet. Examples include Yahoo and AltaVista.

PHO (physician hospital organization)

A legal entity representing joint contractual service arrangements between hospitals or integrated delivery systems and physicians.

PCO (physician contracting organization)

A legal entity representing multiple physicians, practices and clinics that contracts with other entities to provide healthcare services.

Level

A level refers to 1. The degree of subordination in a hierarchy in data management structures or communication protocols. 2. Measurement of signal power at a specific point in a circuit.

Library

A library is a data management system for documents frequently, though not necessarily, organized in a hierarchy of "folders" and "drawers." Also called a "file cabinet."

License

A license is a dedicated voice endpoint as a user or seat that is activated and in use with a unique logical address on an enterprise telephony voice system.

CLA (Corporate License Agreement)

A licensing agreement option under Novell's "Customer Connections" program. It offers an alternative for midsize organizations that cannot qualify for Novell's Master License Agreement (MLA).

Light-Emitting Polymer

A light-emitting polymer (LEP) is technology patented by Cambridge Display Technology of the U.K., and based on the ability of certain plastics to glow when charged with an electric current.

IP-enabled PBX/KTS IP extension line

A line attached to an IP-enabled PBX phone system that terminates with an IP phone or voice endpoint.

Line Dot Matrix

A line dot matrix is an output device that forms text and graphics in one or more rows of dots at a time, using an array of print elements that exert mechanical force through a ribbon onto the page.

Line Driver

A line driver is a communications transmitter/receiver used to extend the transmission distance between terminals and computers that are directly connected. It acts as an interface between logic circuits and a two-wire transmission line.

Line Hit

A line hit is an electrical interference causing the introduction of undesirable signals on a circuit.

Line Impact Dot Matrix

A line impact dot matrix (LIDM) is printing technology that uses a ribbon and an array of impact elements; suitable for making carbon copies.

Line Inkjet

A line inkjet is an output device that creates the desired image by emitting ink from an array of orifices or nozzles arranged across the full width of the paper. Line inkjet printers follow the same segmentation as page products because they compete directly with the laser output devices.

Local Multipoint Distribution Service

A local multipoint distribution service is a microwave-based wireless technology that operates at around 28GHz. It can be used for fixed high-speed data, Internet access and advanced telephone and entertainment services in metropolitan areas.

Local Positioning System

A local positioning system (LPS) is technology used to pinpoint indoor position, similar to the global positioning system (GPS) used to locate outdoor position. LPS triangulates signals from cell controllers to proprietary long-range, long-life, low-cost radio frequency electronic tags. By calculating the distance between cell controllers, electronic tags and several different antennae, equipment or personnel inside...

switching center

A location that terminates multiple circuits and is capable of interconnecting circuits or transferring traffic between circuits.

CU (compliance unit)

A logical partition of applications and data to be upgraded together.

Internet

A loose confederation of independent yet interconnected networks that use the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) protocols for communications. The Internet evolved from research done during the 1960s on a network called the ARPANet. It provides universal connectivity and three levels of network services connectionless packet delivery, full-duplex stream delivery, and application-level services.

secondary channel

A low-speed channel established on a four-wire circuit over which diagnostic or control information is passed. User data is passed on the primary, high-speed channels of the circuit.

Mainframe

A mainframe is a large-capacity computer system with processing power that is significantly superior to PCs or midrange computers. Traditionally, mainframes have been associated with centralized, rather than distributed, computing environments. Skilled technicians are required to program and maintain mainframes, although client/server technology has made mainframes easier to operate from the user's and programmer's perspectives....

COPICS (Communications Oriented Production Information and Control System)

A mainframe material requirements planning product from IBM.

Managed Object

A managed object is a data processing or data communications resource that may be managed through the use of an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) management protocol. The resource itself need not be an OSI resource. A managed object may be a piece of equipment, a software component, an abstract collection of information or a combination...

Managed Service Provider (MSP)

A managed service provider (MSP) delivers network, application, system and e-management services across a network to multiple enterprises, using a "pay as you go" pricing model. A "pure play" MSP focuses on management services as its core offering. In addition, the MSP market includes offerings from other providers — including application service providers (ASPs), Web...

Management Information Base

A management information base (MIB) is a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) flat-file, nonrelational database that describes devices being monitored. Network management platforms monitor nodes by reading the value of the managed resources in the MIB. Management platforms can affect changes in managed resources by altering MIB values (e.g., by establishing thresholds beyond which alerts are...

Manufacturer

A manufacturer is a producer of branded or unbranded finished products. A manufacturer could be a contract manufacturer, OEM or both.

continuous improvement

A manufacturing methodology used to improve overall quality by continuously increasing precision in parts specification.

SOHO (small office/home office)

A market segment for office equipment or computing peripherals (e.g., printers or copiers). Products targeted to the SOHO market tend to be lower in price and functionality than those designed to support large, corporate office environments.

Marketing Encyclopedia System

A marketing encyclopedia system (MES) is a system that electronically distributes and consolidates up-to-date marketing information into a highly cross-referenced, single-source repository. An MES enables users to quickly locate and display information, thus shortening sales cycles and decreasing printing and distribution costs. An MES contains a database capable of storing all types of information that...

sensei (also lean sensei)

A master teacher of lean techniques. Similar in experience to a Black Belt or Master Black Belt in the Six Sigma methodology but more focused on facilitation and teaching than on actual practice.

FPY (First Pass Yield)

A measure of quality in a process that reflects the percentage of product made correctly without any rework or corrective activity.

DPU (defects per unit)

A measure of quality that measures how many defects are associated with a single product or service unit.

Media Gateways

A media gateway is an infrastructure network element that converts one or more input protocols or media to one or more output media or protocols, such as TDM circuit-switched networks, ATM or IP. It acts as a translation unit between disparate telecom networks, such as PSTNs, NGNs, second-generation (2G), generation two-and-a-half (2.5G) and 3G RANs,...

Media Tablet

A media tablet is a device based on a touchscreen display, typically multitouch, that facilitates content entry via an on-screen keyboard. The device has a screen with a diagonal dimension that is a minimum of five inches. Media tablets feature connectivity via Wi-Fi or via 3G/4G cellular networks. Tablets typically offer day-long battery life, and...

Megaportal

A megaportal is a portal that attempts to serve the entire Internet community (in contrast to a vertical Internet portal, which targets a niche audience).

Memristor

A memristor is a two-terminal passive memory device in which the stored logic state is represented by the resistance value. The resistance is controlled by the direction of current flow and the operation is nonvolatile. Memristors require less switching energy, and are faster to write than flash memory.

Mesh Network

A mesh network has no centralized access points but uses wireless nodes to create a virtual wireless backbone. Mesh network nodes typically establish network links with neighboring nodes, enabling user traffic to be sent through the network by hopping between nodes on many different paths. At least some nodes must be connected to a core...

Message Broker

A message broker is a logical hub that copies and resends messages to one or more destinations. As a value-adding third party between information sources and information consumers, it can complement a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Like an SOA, a broker is a design abstraction that may be implemented using component software for some or all...

self-describing messages

A message that contains data as well as the metadata that describes the format and the meaning (i.e., the syntax and the semantics) of that data. For example, Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a self-describing message format that consists of tag/value pairs.

Message Warehouse

A message warehouse is a message broker service that temporarily stores messages to be analyzed or retransmitted at a later time.

Messaging Device

A messaging device is a data-centric device designed primarily to process electronic messages. A basic messaging device weighs less than 1 pound and is designed for one-way outbound messaging. Limited responses, such acknowledgments, are also possible but are not common. A two-way messaging device weighs less than 1 pound and is designed to send and...

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

A messaging protocol governing electronic-mail transmission in Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) networks. It is used to transfer e-mail between computers. It is a server-to-server protocol. SMTP supports only text and cannot handle attachments. It supports negative delivery notifications, not the positive notifications required by electronic data interchange (EDI).

Metadirectory

A metadirectory is a directory that acts as a superset of all other directories. Metadirectories have evolved from stand-alone products to services that enable a given directory to synchronize and exchange information with other data repositories.

PWM (pulse width modulation)

A method of encoding information based on variations of the duration of carrier pulses. Also called pulse duration modulation (PDM).

contention

A method of line control in which the terminals request to transmit. If the channel in question is free, transmission proceeds; if it is not free, the terminal must wait until it becomes free.

RAID (redundant array of independent disks)

A method of mirroring or striping data on clusters of low-end disk drives; data is copied onto multiple drives for faster throughput, error correction, fault tolerance and improved mean time between failures. With the exception of RAID 0, all RAID levels provide automated recovery of data in the event of a disk failure. The RAID...

semantic data model

A method of organizing data that reflects the basic meaning of data items and the relationships among them. This organization makes it easier to develop application programs and to maintain the consistency of data when it is updated.

IM (information management)

A method of using technology to collect, process and condense information with a goal of efficient management. Most large enterprises have a central IM function to facilitate this coordination. The primary technologies needed are contained in a set of modeling tools that either have or interface to a production-worthy repository where the information is stored...

serial transmission

A method whereby the bits of a character are sent sequentially on a single transmission channel. See parallel transmission.

IE (information engineering)

A methodology for developing an integrated information system based on the sharing of common data, with emphasis on decision support needs as well as transaction-processing (TP) requirements. It assumes logical data representations are relatively stable, as opposed to the frequently changing processes that use the data. Therefore, the logical data model, which reflects an organization's...

CPI (continuous process improvement)

A methodology for improving production, driven by formal metrics and measurement programs, including methodology upgrades.

CQI (continuous quality improvement)

A methodology for to continuous improvement of the quality of an enterprise's products, services or internal processes.

Kano Model

A methodology of classifying customer needs according to whether they are "delighters," "satisfiers" or "dissatisfiers."

CSF (critical success factor)

A methodology, management tool or design technique that enables the effective development and deployment of a project or process.

Micro-marketplace

A micro-marketplace is a narrowly focused market that aggregates multiple vendor offerings, content and value-added services (such as comparison of features) to enable buyers within a particular industry, geographic region or affinity group to make informed purchasing decisions.

Microbrowser

A microbrowser is a small-footprint Web browser suitable for low-powered mobile devices, which supports slimmed-down versions of HTML such as XHTML/Basic.

Microprocessor

A microprocessor is a central processing unit (CPU) on a single chip, also known as a microprocessing unit (MPU). Desktop and portable computers typically contain one microprocessor, while more-powerful computers often make use of multiple microprocessors.

Minimum Cell Rate

A minimum cell rate (MCR) is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) parameter used to determine the minimum number of cells permitted in a specific time period.

SP (service pack)

A minor revision to a software product that contains feature updates or bug fixes, but not enough new code to warrant a new version number.

Mobile Earth Station

A mobile earth station refers to a radio transmitter or receiver situated on a ship, aircraft or other vehicle, used for satellite communications.

Mobile Portal

A mobile portal is an Internet gateway that enables mobile devices to connect remotely with an enterprise intranet or extranet, typically via a Web browser interface. Consumer-oriented mobile portals provide access to mobile services and content using channels such as SMS, a microbrowser such as WAP, i-mode and voice. Consumer mobile portals aggregate content from...

Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE)

A mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE) is a company that provides network infrastructure and related services, such as provisioning, administration and OSS/BSS, to enable mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) to offer services to their own customers. The MVNE does not have a relationship with customers.

Mobile-Network Operator

A mobile-network operator (MNO) is a company that owns and operates one or more mobile networks.

single-image mode

A mode of operation in which multiple physical central processing units (CPUs) within a complex logically appear as one system running under control of a single copy of the operating system.

CIM (Common Information Model)

A modeling schema that describes managed system, hardware, and software objects. CIM is a component of the Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) initiative, an emerging Web-oriented system management standard controlled by the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF).

SC-FDMA (single-carrier frequency division multiple access)

A multiplexing technique similar to OFDMA but where the subcarriers assigned to each user must be contiguous, which reduces the processing power and battery requirements for mobile devices. See also OFDMA.

SMP (symmetric multiprocessing)

A multiprocessor architecture in which all processors are identical, share memory and execute both user code and operating-system code.

Net-Liberated Organization

A net-liberated organization (NLO) is a Gartner concept describing an organizational philosophy enabled by the advent of the Internet and related Web technologies. Rather than "bolting on" Web initiatives to mainstream operations (i.e., integrating the Internet into business processes, but leaving the structure of these processes intact), an NLO uses these technologies to liberate itself...

Network Access Control (NAC)

A network access control (NAC) process adds policies to the network for controlling access by devices and users. Policies may be based on device and/or user authentication and the status of endpoint configuration. Gartner Tech Conference & Webinar The premier gathering of security leaders, Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit delivers the insight you need...

Network Interface Card

A network interface card (NIC) is the bus-specific adapter that connects an end station or server to a local-area network (LAN). It plugs into an expansion slot on a workstation or server that is to be networked and has a connector for the network cabling.

proxy agent

A network management agent that comes between an unmanaged device and a management system, allowing management by proxy, i.e., on behalf of the device.

Network Virtual Terminal

A network virtual terminal is a communications concept describing a variety of data terminal equipment (DTE), with different data rates, protocols, codes and formats, accommodated in the same network. This is done as a result of network processing where each device's data is converted into a network standard format, then converted into the format of...

Neural Net or Neural Network

A neural net or neural network is an artificial-intelligence processing method within a computer that allows self-learning from experience. Neural nets can develop conclusions from a complex and seemingly unrelated set of information.

ROC (return on competitiveness)

A nomenclature and philosophy that goes beyond the traditional return on investment (ROI) concept by focusing the metric or calculation on how competitiveness is affected by investment. A good way to visualize and quantify the overall return on IT competitiveness is to build a spider diagram that identifies and maps all the relevant dimensions of...

Nonwireline Cellular Carrier

A nonwireline cellular carrier is a U.S. term referring to Block A carriers. Nonwireline or Block A systems operate on radio frequencies from 824 to 848 megahertz (MHz).

AMIA (American Medical Informatics Association)

A not-for-profit organization dedicated to the development and application of medical informatics in the support of patient care, teaching, research and healthcare administration. The AMIA serves as an authoritative body in the field of medical informatics and represents the United States in the informational arena of medical systems and informatics in international forums.

Notebook

A notebook is a computer system designed for portability. It comes with a battery and typically measures 8.5 inches by 11 inches and weighs less than 8 pounds with the battery and weight-saver modules. Notebooks use flat-panel color screens of Super Video Graphics Array (SVGA) resolution or higher. They offer expansion through PC-Card technologies and...

Parabolic Trough

A parabolic trough is a type of concentrated solar power (CSP) system. Long, curved mirrors arranged in a line concentrate sunlight on pipes located at the mirrors' focal center. These pipes run down the length of the trough and contain an oil that is heated by the concentrated sunlight. This oil flows through the pipes...

Galileo

A planned Global Positioning Satellite System (GPSS) of 30 low-earth orbit satellites backed by the European Union and the European Space Agency and originally due for commercial operation in 2008. Galileo was delayed by funding problems, because private enterprise had showed little interest. The European Parliament agreed with the Council of Europe in November 2007...

CLI (Common Language Infrastructure)

A platform-independent development system from Microsoft that enables programs written in different programming languages to run on different types of hardware. CLI is part of Microsoft's .NET platform and is expected to become an ECMA standard. The CLI includes the Common Type System (CTS) and Common Language Specification (CLS). No matter which programming language they...

subnet

A portion of network that may be physically independent of another network portion, but both portions of the network share the same network address, and the portion is distinguished by a subnet number.

cross-certification

A process by which two enterprises are able to recognize and trust each other's digital certificates.

SAM (software asset management)

A process for making software acquisition and disposal decisions. It includes strategies that identify and eliminate unused or infrequently used software, consolidating software licenses or moving toward new licensing models.

SOAP (subjective, objective, assessment and plan)

A process used by clinicians to identify and assess a patient's health status, and the subsequent treatments or course of therapy to improve this status.

cross-compiler

A program that translates instructions from a high-level language on one computer to the machine language of another computer — the one on which the program is to be run.

Project Management Office (PMO)

A project management office (PMO) is usually created to solve a specific problem generally, the IT organization's inability to deliver IT projects on time, on budget and in scope. Project managers may "live" in the PMO, or in different IT units, such as in application development or in the business. Almost all PMOs start at...

critical-path scheduling

A project-planning and monitoring system used to check progress toward the completion of a project by scheduling events, activities, milestones, etc.

SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)

A protocol introduced by Microsoft in conjunction with some small vendors. Designed to be simple, it creates transparent mapping of the Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) interface definition language (IDL) and the Extensible Markup Language (XML) definitions. It provides the key technology for transport in the next-generation Internet as a set of e-services.

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)

A protocol used to access e-mail or bulletin board messages from a (possibly shared) mail server. IMAP allows a client e-mail program to access remote message stores as if they were local. E-mail stored on an IMAP server can be manipulated from a workstation at the office, a desktop computer at home or a notebook...

Quantum Computer

A quantum computer uses atomic quantum states to effect computation. Data is held in qubits (quantum bits), which have the ability to hold all possible states simultaneously. This property, known as "superposition," gives quantum computers the ability to operate exponentially faster than conventional computers as word length is increased. Data held in qubits is affected...

gray scale

A range of gray tones used to create a monochrome image.

RAS (reliability, availability and serviceability)

A reference to a product's quality, availability of optional features, and ease of diagnosis and repair.

SMFP (smart MFP)

A regular MFP can print, fax, copy and scan paper documents. An SMFP can also be programmed by a third party, the user or the technology provider to perform custom functions; easily integrates with office and enterprise applications; is management-friendly, with consistent architecture and user interface; works well on the network; and is based largely...

ROLAP (relational online analytical processing)

A relational approach to multidimensionality, offering multidimensional operations (initially read only) on top of relational data (heavily denormalized).

CIFS (Common Internet File System)

A remote file system access protocol that allows groups of users to work together and share documents via the Internet or their corporate intranets. CIFS is an open, cross-platform technology based on the native file-sharing protocols built into Microsoft Windows and other operating systems, and is supported on numerous platforms, including Unix. Microsoft submitted a...

CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)

A semiconductor technology that uses less power and generates less heat (enabling higher circuit density), but is typically slower than bipolar technologies.

gateway server

A server designed to transform data streams to better match device capabilities. For example, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) gateway servers convert HTML to Wireless Markup Language (WML) for wireless devices, and a number of products can reformat HTML for devices such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Today, HTML-based servers predominate. While HTML...

LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)

A server-to-server interface for directory information exchange among directories, devised as a low-cost, simpler implementation of the X.500 Directory Access Protocol. It facilitates the implementation of replication and chaining among dissimilar directories. Proposed by the University of Michigan, it was adopted by Netscape in 1996 for directory lookup, and has become the preferred access path...

Service Catalog

A service catalog contains templates with specifications that define parameters and features of a service (such as bandwidth and speed). Compared to the product catalog, the service catalog describes product features in technical terms.

connection-oriented service

A service in which a connection (real or virtual) is set up and maintained for the duration of the communication. See circuit switching.

MSO (management services organization)

A service organization of an integrated delivery system or hospital that provides management services for multiple affiliated physician practices and clinics.

CMC (common messaging calls)

A set of calls developed by the X.400 API Association (XAPIA) for use on top of any existing messaging system. Programmers developing applications using these calls may request services of whatever messaging system is accepting the call. The number of calls is limited to the most popular messaging and directory lookup functions. CMC is similar...

SDK (software development kit)

A set of development utilities for writing software applications, usually associated with specific environments (e.g., the Windows SDK).

PHMT

A set of functions that assist a consumer in managing his or her health status or healthcare.

protocol

A set of procedures in telecommunications connections that the terminals or nodes use to send signals back and forth. Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is the standard protocol for the Internet and related networks such as intranets and extranets. Local-area networks (LANs) often rely on a different protocol. Networks and systems cannot communicate unless they...

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)

A set of protocols covering (approximately) the network and transport layers of the seven-layer Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) network model. TCP/IP was developed during a 15-year period under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Defense. It has achieved de facto standard status, particularly as higher-level layers over Ethernet.

HEDIS (Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set)

A set of standardized performance measures designed to provide purchasers and consumers with the information they need to reliably compare healthcare organizations' performance. HEDIS 99 contains measures that cover prevention, acute and chronic care — including mental health and chemical dependency — across a full range of care settings (physician office, clinics and hospital outpatient...

CUG (closed user group)

A set-up that restricts access to and from one or more terminals to other members of the user group (found on packet switched systems, e-mail, etc.).

idea engine

A social environment where participants can enter an idea for social validation and contribution. Other participants can support and augment the idea, ignore it or refute it.

NDF (network dynamic functionality)

A software development and execution technology that allows applications to be written to a model designed from the outset to achieve platform independence. It affords dynamic movement and invocation of code resources over a network at runtime.

shim

A software modification inserted into an operating system or application, to intercept the normal data flow and provide additional functionality. Often used by third-party vendors to provide enhanced networking features.

ISV (independent software vendor)

A software producer that is not owned or controlled by a hardware manufacturer; a company whose primary function is to distribute software. Hardware manufacturers that distribute software (such as IBM and Unisys) are not ISVs, nor are users (such as banks) that may also sell software products. ISVs typically offer products that the primary vendor...

expert system

A software system that can learn new procedures by analyzing the outcome of past events, or that contains a knowledge base of rules that can be applied to new data or circumstances not explicitly anticipated by the developer. Applications include network management, database management and data mining, computer vision and image processing, speech recognition, biometrics...

Solution Portfolio

A solution portfolio describes the relationships among implemented solutions of a particular type (such as applications or shared infrastructure), in order to coordinate change across those solutions. Applying a portfolio approach to managing solutions as a group, while also managing the relationships across portfolios, improves the consistency, interoperability and portability of the collective solutions.

composition

A solution that is assembled and orchestrated from independent parts. Compositions are orchestrated assemblies of data, processes and services. Composition is not synonymous with composite application.

class

A specification that defines the operations and the data attributes for a set of objects.

RM (relationship manager)

A staff member who acts as an organizational liaison, typically between an information services (IS) department and business-unit or function. The relationship manager may fulfill a combination of roles that correspond to the degree of trust and authority granted to the person in that role by his/her customer. The job content of the position (in...

rack unit (RU)

A standard increment used to express the height of a piece of rack-mounted computer or networking equipment, abbreviated as "U" and equal to 1.75 inches. For example, a server with a height of 4U takes up seven inches of vertical rack space. The most common dimensions for an industry-standard rack are 42U (73.5 inches) high...

consultative selling

A style of selling based on uncovering, understanding and responding to the customer's underlying business need through meaningful dialogue.

CRM printing

A subset of CRM publishing, CRM printing is enabled by the combination of digital, low-to-high-volume printing devices and technology-enabled marketing techniques. The latter provide the data necessary for the former to produce personalized materials.

Channel Analytics

A superset of Web analytics, channel analytics are not restricted to Web channels, but include direct mail, the customer contact center, mass media, store or branch locations, and all other distribution or customer-contact channels. The different elements of business — for example, payment and shipment processes, and customer support and authentication — need to be...

CPR system

A system containing patient-centric, electronically maintained information about an individual's health status and care, focused on tasks and events directly related to patient care, and specifically designed for use by clinicians. CPR systems provide support for all activities and processes involved in delivering clinical care. The Gartner definition of a CPR system limits its scope...

COM (computer output to microfilm or microfiche)

A system in which digital data is converted into an image on dry processed microfilm.

hoshin

A system of planning that focuses resources on attainment of both strategic and tactical objectives. Also known as "policy development" or hoshin kanri.

client

A system or a program that requests the activity of one or more other systems or programs, called servers, to accomplish specific tasks. In a client/server environment, the workstation is usually the client.

CPEMH (computer-aided patient-entered medical history)

A system that presents a series of questions, thereby collecting data that traditionally would require a receptionist, a "traditional clipboard," a nurse and a doctor. These systems use knowledge management and branching logic to tailor each session to the individual patient. Once the data is collected, it can be parsed, translated and highlighted. The clinician...

concurrent backup

A system-level facility to allow a database or disk file to be backed up to another disk or to magnetic tape while it is still open for application access.

concurrent database restore

A system-level facility to allow a database or portion thereof to be restored while the database is still open for application access.

shadow/mirror databases

A system-level facility to enable shadowing or mirroring (i.e., duplication) of selected databases to a separate disk or disk set. The purpose is to minimize the space required for backup data while providing for the continuation of critical processing in the event of the loss of a disk containing related databases.

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)

A technical standard and design philosophy for digital networks. ISDN provides high-speed, high-bandwidth channels to every subscribers on the public switched telephone network, achieving end-to-end digital functions with standard equipment interface devices. ISDN networks enable a variety of mixed digital transmission services to be accommodated at a single interface.

STM (synchronous transfer mode)

A technique for multiplexing several circuits over transmission links and switches whereby time is divided into slots or buckets, and circuits are given time units whether or not they have any data to transmit. See asynchronous transfer mode.

digital loopback

A technique for testing the digital processing circuitry of a communications device. It can be initiated locally or remotely via a telecommunications circuit; the device being tested will echo back a received test message (after first decoding and then re-encoding it) the results of which are compared with the original message.

packet switching

A technique in which a message is broken into smaller units called packets, which may be individually addressed and routed through the network, possibly using several different routes. The receiving-end node ascertains that all packets are received and in the proper sequence before forwarding the complete message to the addressee.

source routing

A technique used in local-area networks (LANs) in which the source of the frame specifies the route that the frame has to follow; the source furnishes a routing information field that designates the entire route to the destination.

TDR (time domain reflectometry)

A technique used to track faults in networks, such as cable breaks or loose connections. A pulse of a known shape is transmitted over the network and an echo is created when the pulse hits an obstacle or cable end. The time elapsed between the sending of the pulse and receiving the echo can be...

DSL (digital subscriber line)

A technology for high-speed network or Internet access over voice lines. There are various types, including asymmetric DSL (ADSL), high-bit-rate DSL (HDSL), symmetric DSL (SDSL) and very-high-bit-rate DSL (VDSL). The whole group is sometimes referred to as "xDSL."

DSM (distributed system management)

A technology for managing the interconnected parts of a system. As managed items — i.e., components of applications, nodes, links or subsystems — become active, they must notify their manager of their status. DSM tools are capable of dealing with a limited number of distinct elements and require a strong directory.

PBX (private branch exchange)

A telephone switching system on a customer's premises that allows telephones to interface with one or more public switched telephone network, or a private voice network when the user dials an access code.

ISO (Internet sales outlet)

A third-party website that attracts visitors looking to buy goods or services. ISOs make money by selling links or ads that lead directly to Web merchant sites or by selling products or services on behalf of Web merchants.

3D Scanners

A three-dimensional scanner is a device that captures data about the shape and appearance of real-world objects to create 3D models of them. 3D scanners for consumer use are low-cost, easy-to-operate devices that provide basic scan, capture and export of 3D images.

control charts

A time series chart showing performance against upper and lower control limits (also known as tramline charts) that is generally associated with the practice of statistical quality control (SQC) or statistical process control (SPC).

ILPT (instructor-led practical training)

A training method that has some lectures and discussions, but concentrates on giving trainees many chances to practice what they are learning in a risk-free situation.

SCPC (single channel per carrier)

A transmission system in which a physical channel is allocated solely to one carrier for the duration of the transmission.

current loop

A transmission technique that recognizes current flows rather than voltage levels. It was traditionally used in teletypewriter networks incorporating batteries as the transmission power source.

highlight color

A two-color printing scheme found in some transactional documents, such as bills and statements. Black is the first color. The second color is used for emphasis or to highlight important information, such as the due date. The second color can also be used to match the corporate color scheme, in which the company name, logo...

storage appliance

A type of computing appliance that provides data to, or manages data for, other network-connected computing devices. Unlike server appliances, storage appliances provide or manage data without an application context. This category of computing devices includes network-attached storage (NAS) and storage area network (SAN) devices. See computing appliance, server appliance, NAS and SAN.

IP address (Internet Protocol address)

A unique number assigned by an Internet authority that identifies a computer on the Internet. The number consists of four groups of numbers between 0 and 255, separated by periods (dots). For example, 195.112.56.75 is an IP address.

concurrent use

A way to measure the usage of software licenses. Software can be licensed in one of the following ways individual (it cannot be shared with other users); site (a limited number of people can use the software); concurrent use (usage is limited to a maximum number of users at a particular time). The software vendor...

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)

A wide-area network (WAN) technology, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is a transfer mode for switching and transmission that efficiently and flexibly organizes information into cells; it is asynchronous in the sense that the recurrence of cells depends on the required or instantaneous bit rate. Thus, empty cells do not go by when data is waiting....

CPT (Current Procedural Terminology)

A widely used controlled medical vocabulary authored by the American Medical Association, this system describes medical and surgical procedures in a hierarchical format with six major sections and more than 7,300 codes. A series of two-digit modifiers are used to increase specificity, allowing the reporting of a procedure under specific circumstances.

SMR (specialized mobile radio)

A wireless communications technology in competition with analog cellular services. In an SMR system, the base station equipment supplier is the licensee of the transmitters. Users have access to the multiple channels of the network rather than the limited number of channels of a private mobile radio network. Many users share all of the available...

Application, Channel, Technology and Industry (ACT I)

ACT I is a Gartner acronym representing the "survival locations" for integrated document management (IDM) vendors. A survival location is a market segment where a vendor can develop sustainable competitive advantage. A critical mass of sustainable competitive advantage is necessary for a vendor to thrive in the long term in any market.

Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (AMOLED)

Active matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AMOLEDs) consist of pixels of electroluminescent organic compounds "printed" in a matrix onto a base layer. This base layer is currently glass and will be further developed to use flexible polymers in the future. Unlike liquid crystal displays, OLED displays do not require a backlight and consume very little power,...

Activity-Based Costing (ABC)

Activity-Based Costing (ABC) is an improved approach to understanding where and why costs are incurred within an enterprise. It provides the information for activity-based management, which focuses on the decisions and actions needed to reduce costs and increase revenue. ABC differs from traditional cost accounting in explicitly recognizing that not all cost objects place an...

Adapters

Adapters are small, focused programs that expose functionality and/or data in a legacy application. Our use of this term includes not only the programs, but also the framework for designing and developing adapter programs. Adapters can be deceptively complex, with "thick" adapters performing a variety of functions that include recognizing events, collecting and transforming data,...

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are primarily focused on collision avoidance technologies (for example, lane departure warning and blind-spot applications) and driver aids, such as night vision, driver alertness and adaptive cruise control. ADAS offerings are primarily built into the vehicle, but vendors are beginning to offer aftermarket solutions. Next-generation ADASs will increasingly leverage wireless...

Agent Collaboration Tools

Agent collaboration tools provide an electronic virtual workspace where agents and consumers can collaborate using secure email, secure document sharing and communication tools, and secure instant messaging. These tools help agents interact with specialists in the home office, consumers or third parties (such as accountants and attorneys) on complex life insurance cases or planning scenarios....

pull printing

Also called "follow-me printing," pull printing allows for a print job to be sent to a pull-printing server, which delivers the print job to the printer. This frees up the user's computer for other tasks and reduces network traffic. Word-processing documents and even Web pages (referred to as Web pull printing) can be pull-printed without...

Certification Authority (CA)

Also known as a "certificate authority," a certification authority (CA) is an internal or third-party entity that creates, signs and revokes digital certificates that bind public keys to user identities. A repository or directory stores digital certificates and certificate revocation lists (CRLs) to allow users to obtain the public keys of other users and determine...

CIRP (cyber incident response plan)

Also known as a "computer incident response plan," this is formulated by an enterprise to respond to potentially catastrophic, computer-related incidents, such as viruses or hacker attacks. The CIRP should include steps to determine whether the incident originated from a malicious source — and, if so, to contain the threat and isolate the enterprise from...

CTX (corporate trade exchange)

An electronic-commerce standard format that allows for inclusion of 9,999 "addenda" records in addition to the primary financial records (i.e., amount being moved, bank routing number and checking-account number).

CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture)

An Object Management Group (OMG) interoperability standard for object-oriented applications communicating over heterogeneous networks.

AMG (access media gateways)

An access media gateway (AMG) serves as the bridge between a circuit-based voice switch and a packet-based IP or ATM access network. An AMG takes care of the PSTN-to-packet-network transition at the local-loop level and is connected to the local exchange or an access node. It has Class 5 switch interfaces and supports VoIP and/or...

Access Method

An access method is The portion of a computer's operating system responsible for formatting data sets and their direction to specific storage devices. Examples from the mainframe world include Virtual Storage Access Method (VSAM) and Indexed Sequential Access Method (ISAM). In local-area networks, the technique or program code used to arbitrate the use of the...

Activity Stream

An activity stream is a publish-and-subscribe notification mechanism and conversation space typically found in social networking. It lists activities or events relevant to a person, group, topic or everything in the environment. A participant subscribes to, or "follows" entities (e.g., other participants or business application objects) to track their related activities. For example, a project...

Advanced Clinical Research Information Systems (ACRIS)

An advanced clinical research information system (ACRIS) is a complex constellation of capabilities that can assist in the management of patients during clinical trials and rapidly assemble data assets for research questions. It also provides data mining and research process support to meet the needs of clinical and translational research, and related biostatistics and biocomputation....

Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS)

An advanced distribution management system (ADMS) is the software platform that supports the full suite of distribution management and optimization. An ADMS includes functions that automate outage restoration and optimize the performance of the distribution grid. ADMS functions being developed for electric utilities include fault location, isolation and restoration; volt/volt-ampere reactive optimization; conservation through voltage...

Applet

An applet is a small program that runs within an application. Applets are commonly used to make otherwise static Web pages more interactive. Examples include animated graphics, games, configurable bar charts and scrolling messages. Applets also play an important role in network computers (NCs). They increase an NC's independence from the server because they do...

CMV (controlled medical vocabulary)

An approved list of terms coded in a fashion that facilitates the use of the computer. Controlled vocabularies are essential if clinical applications are to function as intended. Widely used systems include the American College of Radiology (ACR) Code, Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) and the International Classification...

clustered system

An architecture that ties together uniprocessor, symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) and/or massively parallel processing (MPP) systems with all nodes sharing access to disks. Also called a shared-disk system.

Authentication Service

An authentication service is a mechanism, analogous to the use of passwords on time-sharing systems, for the secure authentication of the identity of network clients by servers and vice versa, without presuming the operating system integrity of either (e.g., Kerberos).

jukebox

An automatic media handler for an optical disk drive, also called a library. An optical jukebox is designed to move optical platters in and out of optical drives. The intent is to provide a large amount of easily accessed storage in a "near-line" fashion. Jukeboxes use robotics. Similar in concept to music jukeboxes, the robot...

Autonomous System (AS)

An autonomous system (AS) is an administrative domain. All members of an AS that share route information can handle traffic to and from any destination.

Autonomous System Number (ASN)

An autonomous system number (ASN) is a number assigned to a local network, registered into the carrier's routing community and placed under the umbrella of an administrative domain called an autonomous system.

Avatar

An avatar is a computer representation of users in a computer-generated 3D world, used primarily in chat and entertainment web sites. Potential business applications include customer support, training or sales, where avatars in an enterprise's website may assist potential customers through text or audio links.

CPC (collaborative product commerce)

An e-business strategy for exploiting new Web-based commerce opportunities across product development and product life cycle processes. CPC opportunities include both inbound (business-to-business) and outbound (business-to-consumer) commerce such as collaborative product development, customer driven design, collaborative product and component sourcing, manufacturing/supply-chain collaboration, and product maintenance self-service portals.

public-key cryptography

An encryption technique developed to overcome the limitations of secret-key cryptography (see separate entry). Public key (also called "asymmetric key") cryptography uses two mathematically related keys A public key to encrypt messages, and a private key to decrypt them. In a public-key system, you communicate privately by encrypting your message using the public key of...

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)

An endpoint protection platform (EPP) is a solution deployed on endpoint devices to prevent file-based malware attacks, detect malicious activity, and provide the investigation and remediation capabilities needed to respond to dynamic security incidents and alerts. Detection capabilities will vary, but advanced solutions will use multiple detection techniques, ranging from static IOCs to behavioral analysis....

AMIS (Audio Messaging Interchange Specification)

An enhanced key system feature for voice/call processing that enables enterprise locations to transfer and forward voice messages between systems. It is a voice processing standard that specifies the procedures to network voice processing systems, regardless of who manufactures the system.

Enterprise Mobile Communications Gateway (EMCG)

An enterprise mobile communications gateway (EMCG) is a server that is integrated into the corporate telephony system to support mobile phones. It can support both single-mode (cellular) and dual-mode (cellular/Wi-Fi) network capabilities.

SI (system integrator)

An enterprise that specializes in implementing, planning, coordinating, scheduling, testing, improving and sometimes maintaining a computing operation. SIs try to bring order to disparate suppliers.

satellite broadcasting operator

An entity that leverages satellite infrastructure to transmit TV channels to viewers as a main business.

Entry-Level Smartphone

An entry-level smartphone is a mobile communications device that is closer to an enhanced phone in specification and usage, but because it runs on an open OS it is classified as a smartphone. The device's primary focus is on voice communication.

discussion forum

An environment where participants can pose issues for discussion and respond to any contribution, thus creating threaded discussions that can spawn a discussion tree where the discussion branches out in many directions or subthreads.

IAE (integrated applications environment)

An environment with a strong integrated development environment (IDE), application server, middleware, and the "glue" (or framework) to provide for integrating all application development (AD) facilities.

Erasable Paper Printing Systems

An erasable paper printing system prints information on either treated or plain paper with the capacity to erase the information from the paper, or for the information to disappear from the paper after a certain period, allowing the paper to be reused quickly, simply and often.

DRM (distributed resource management)

An evolving discipline consisting of a set of software, hardware, network tools, procedures and policies for enabling distributed enterprise systems to operate effectively in production. DRM embraces solutions for the daily monitoring, resource planning, system administration, change management, operations, performance and other initiatives that are needed to maintain effective productivity in a distributed networked computing...

External Services Provider (ESP)

An external services provider (ESP) is an enterprise that is a separate legal entity from the contracting company that provides services such as consulting, software development — including system integration and application service providers (ASPs) — and outsourcing. ESPs supplement the skills and resources of an in-house IS department.

Identity-Aware Networks (IAN)

An identity-aware network (IAN) monitors a user's behavior on the network. Policy enforcement points within the network may be used to control a user's traffic based on the identity and access management (IAM) policies assigned to that user.

SVG interface (Scalable Vector Graphics interface)

An imaging application and language written in XML, supported by key electronic publishing vendors. The SVG interface offers a solution to the problem of sharing many sophisticated, Web-based images. Vector graphics are more compact than bitmapped images and can potentially be altered by client devices to best suit display parameters.

legacy application or system

An information system that may be based on outdated technologies, but is critical to day-to-day operations. Replacing legacy applications and systems with systems based on new and different technologies is one of the information systems (IS) professional's most significant challenges. As enterprises upgrade or change their technologies, they must ensure compatibility with old systems and...

CNP (Certified Network Professional)

An information technology certification by the Network Professional Association (NPA) requiring two years of experience, two vendor certifications and a passing grade on the core fundamentals exam.

PX (private exchange)

An internal telephone exchange serving a single organization and having no connection with a public exchange. Also private automatic exchange (PAX). Other types of private exchange include 1. Private automatic branch exchange (PABX) A private automatic telephone exchange that provides for the transmission of calls internally and to and from the public telephone network. Also...

Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP)

An managed security service provider (MSSP) provides outsourced monitoring and management of security devices and systems. Common services include managed firewall, intrusion detection, virtual private network, vulnerability scanning and anti-viral services. MSSPs use high-availability security operation centers (either from their own facilities or from other data center providers) to provide 24/7 services designed to reduce...

Object Data Model

An object data model is a data model based on object-oriented programming, associating methods (procedures) with objects that can benefit from class hierarchies. Thus, "objects" are levels of abstraction that include attributes and behavior. An object-oriented data model is one that extends the individual program space into the world of persistent object management and shareability.

Object Transaction Monitor

An object transaction monitor (OTM) is an application program — similar to the mainframe Customer Information Control System (CICS) in function, but not in spirit — that represents a consistent model of an application for a modular and potentially highly distributed environment.

Object-Oriented Database Management System

An object-oriented database management system (OODBMS) applies concepts of object-oriented programming, and applies them to the management of persistent objects on behalf of multiple users, with capabilities for security, integrity, recovery and contention management. An OODBMS is based on the principles of "objects," namely abstract data types, classes, inheritance mechanisms, polymorphism, dynamic binding and message passing.

CPC (cost per click)

An online advertising metric which refers to advertising spending divided by the number of recipients who click on the message (e.g., a banner ad on a website or a link embedded in e-mail message).

Operating System

An operating system (OS) is software that, after being loaded into the computer by an initial boot program, manages a computer's resources, controlling the flow of information into and from a main processor. OSs perform complex tasks, such as memory management, control of displays and other input/output peripheral devices, networking and file management, and other...

discretionary security controls

An operating-system security rating of C2 or higher based on U.S. Department of Defense trusted computer system evaluation criteria.

Operations Support System

An operations support system (OSS) facilitates the operations of a communication carrier's transport network. An OSS can be thought of as a network-facing system. Read reviews of Operations Support System Software... Gartner Peer Insights has collected reviews on 10+ vendors in the Operations Support System software market. Learn about these companies and these products from IT...

CME (corporate and major enterprise)

An organization with more than 500 employees.

Original Equipment Manufacturer

An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is a technology provider that distributes output devices produced by another company under its own brand name.

Outage Management System (OMS)

An outage management system (OMS) is a utility network management software application that models network topology for safe, efficient field operations related to outage restoration. OMSs tightly integrate with call centers to provide timely, accurate, customer-specific outage information, as well as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems for real-time-confirmed switching and breaker operations. These...

Overlay

An overlay is an installation of a networking component that is noninvasive to the wired infrastructure. Overlays generally employ tunneling techniques that connect end-point functionality to a central controller offering a variety of data, management and control plane functions.

laser disk

An storage medium that uses laser technology to record and retrieve data.

Analytic Applications

Analytic applications are packaged business intelligence (BI) capabilities for a particular domain or business problem. Flexible, traditional BI tools often lack the "packaging" required to facilitate adoption among most employees. Examples of packaging include a user interface suitable for casual users, predefined integration with standard business process applications, issue-specific data models and best-practice templates or...

Big Data Analytics - Gartner Tech Definitions

Analytics has emerged as a catch-all term for a variety of different business intelligence-BI--and application-related initiatives. Click for free research

Podcast

Audio (or audio and video) content specifically designed for synchronizing and playback on mobile audio players, such as Apple's iPod and MP3 playback-enabled mobile phones. Much of this content is highly topical, derived from radio or TV broadcasts, and it is often free. Podcasts are an example of "sticky" content listeners are encouraged to subscribe...

Audio Mining/Speech Analytics

Audio mining/speech analytics embrace keyword, phonetic or transcription technologies to extract insights from prerecorded voice streams. This insight can then be used to classify calls, trigger alerts/workflows, and drive operational and employee performance across the enterprise.

Availability

Availability is the assurance that an enterprise's IT infrastructure has suitable recoverability and protection from system failures, natural disasters or malicious attacks.

hot spot

Area, often public, such as an airport, coffee shop or convention center, that is covered with a WLAN service. This service is available for the public to use for a nominal charge, for free or as a premium service.

CKO (chief knowledge officer)

Articulates and champions the knowledge management (KM) vision, provides the enterprise level leadership to implement and sustain KM, and is the ultimate focal point for knowledge creation, sharing and application.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence is technology that appears to emulate human performance typically by learning and coming to its own conclusions. Click for more.

Ensemble Programming

As mobile application development (AD) and Web development mature, designers will be called on to move beyond individual user interfaces (UIs) to address user experiences that transcend a single device. One example is a shopping application that interacts with a consumer at home on their PC, in transit on a mobile device and in a...

Asset Performance Management (APM)

Asset performance management (APM) encompasses the capabilities of data capture, integration, visualization and analytics tied together for the explicit purpose of improving the reliability and availability of physical assets. APM includes the concepts of condition monitoring, predictive forecasting and reliability-centered maintenance (RCM).

Applications Portfolio Analysis (APA)

Applications portfolio analysis (APA) is a tool to divide current and proposed applications into three categories — utility, enhancement and frontier — based on the degree to which they contribute to the enterprise's performance. The utility category is essential but does not enhance the enterprise's performance (e.g., payroll); the enhancement category contains applications that improve...

Applicant Tracking Systems - ATS

Applicant tracking systems (ATSs) automate the requisition-to-hire process. Visit Gartner for FREE research and recent webinars covering IT tech trends.

Application Architecture

Application architecture is the discipline that guides application design. Application architecture paradigms, such as service-oriented architecture (SOA), provide principles that influence design decisions and patterns that provide proven design solutions. Learn More at these Gartner Events... Gartner Enterprise Architecture & Technology Innovation Summit 2017 - access the full range of insights critical for architects like...

Application Control

Application control solutions, sometimes referred to as "application whitelisting," are a type of endpoint (e.g., desktop and server) protection under the broader category of host-based intrusion prevention systems. Basic application control solutions control whether a given piece of executable code is allowed to execute with more advanced solutions, subsequently offering varying degrees of control over...

Application Delivery Controller (ADC)

Application delivery controllers (ADC) are deployed in data centers to optimize application performance, security and resource efficiency by offloading servers, providing deep payload inspection and making the best use of complex protocols. Originally deployed for externally-facing Web applications, they are now used to deliver services for many types of business applications and protocols. Recent developments...

Application Infrastructure

Application infrastructure is software platforms for the delivery of business applications, including development and runtime enablers.

Application Outsourcing

Application outsourcing is an outsourcing arrangement for a wide variety of application services including new development, legacy systems maintenance, offshore programming, management of packaged applications and staff augmentation. While this form of outsourcing generally involves a transfer of staff, the use of the term has recently broadened to include arrangements where this is not the...

Augmented Reality - AR - Gartner's Tech Definition

Augmented reality (AR) is the real-time use of information in the form of text, graphics, audio and other virtual enhancements integrated with real-world objects. It is this "real world" element that differentiates AR from virtual reality.  AR integrates and adds value to the user's interaction with the real world, versus a simulation. Learn More at...

Authentication Technologies

Authentication technologies encompass a wide variety of products and services that implement a range of authentication methods in place of legacy password-based authentication.

Authorization

Authorization is defined as a process ensuring that correctly authenticated users can access only those resources for which the owner has given them approval.

Automatic Storage Tiering (Auto-Tiering)

Auto-tiering is a quality of storage service feature that enables logical volumes or LUNs to span different tiers of storage and transparently move portions of the logical volume between tiers of storage to minimize storage costs and deliver consistent performance and throughput. The movement of sub-LUNs between tiers is managed by auto-tiering algorithms and/or policy....

Automated Backup

Automated backup delivers the most basic form of storage availability — recoverable data. Most enterprises are struggling with the implementation of this function. It is a conceptually complex and labor-intensive process. Backup design must address multiple elements (e.g., hardware, network, file system and application) across heterogeneous platforms and geographically dispersed sites. Labor intensive, departmental processes...

Automated Business Process Discovery (ABPD)

Automated business process discovery (ABPD) as a complementary approach overcomes many of these shortcomings to create a business process model at a fraction of the time and cost involved in the traditional way. One major benefit of ABPD is process discovery across the "white space," the process knowledge gap that exists between departments and functions...

Automated Payment Tracking and Reconciliation Services

Automated payment tracking and reconciliation services enable the tracking of payments and associated documents (invoice and/or collection), and payment release without manual intervention. Connecting the bank to the customer's general ledger enables reconciliation of transactions, cash application, liquidity analysis and the updating of credit positions. Exception items are flagged for further analysis.

Automated Testing

Automated testing applies to commercially or internally developed software or services to assist in the testing process, including functional and load/stress testing. Automated tests provide consistent results and data points. The benefits are ease of maintenance, the ability to efficiently use resources in off-peak hours, and the capability to create reports based on the executed...

Automated Vehicle Locating (AVL)

Automated vehicle locating (AVL) enables fleet operators to locate and track the movements of their fleets in real time, using onboard sensors and cellular or satellite links that can capture and communicate GPS coordinates. When AVL is combined with electronic onboard recording (EOBR) devices, users can also capture and communicate data such as engine performance,...

Automatic Content Recognition (ACR)

Automatic content recognition (ACR) refers to the ability of a client application (typically a smartphone or media tablet app) to identify a content element within its proximity _ audio, video or digital image _ based on sampling a portion of the audio or video (or image), processing the sample and comparing it with a source...

jidoka

Automatic inspection such that defects can be prevented from moving further along in the production process.

Blu-ray

Blu-ray is an optical disc format like CD and DVD. Blu-ray discs can hold more information than other optical media, because of the blue lasers that the disc drives use. A single Blu-ray disc can hold up to 25GB of data. Dual-layer Blu-ray discs will be able to store 50GB of data — equivalent to...

B2B Gateway Software

B2B gateway software is integration middleware that is used to consolidate and centralize data and process integration and interoperability between a company's internal applications and systems, and external entities such as business partners or software as a service (SaaS).

Bandwidth as Currency

Bandwidth as currency initially involved customers purchasing a prepaid phone card that allowed subscribers to transfer surplus telecommunication minutes to other subscribers using text messages. Suppliers can be paid in the same way, and a bank of phone minute credits can be maintained and sold to others in the network. Cloud computing introduces an additional...

Bank Tiers

Bank tier or size — that is, the size of the bank in relation to other banks — depends  on the relative size to the overall banking market in terms of total banking assets as provided by the balance sheet of the bank. This type of comparison - across tiers - makes sense in relation...

Batch Processing

Batch processing is the processing of application programs and their data individually, with one being completed before the next is started. It is a planned processing procedure typically used for purposes such as preparing payrolls and maintaining inventory records.

Application Infrastructure Suite (AIS)

Because the market has evolved, products that were previously referred to as integration suites within this segment are now included with ESB suites. The application infrastructure suite market now includes only application platform suite functionality. Application platform suites are products composed of portals, integration middleware, BPM and business component engineering. They are geared toward supporting...

Benchmarking

Benchmarking is defined as the comparison between vendor performance and designated benchmark organizations or indexes. An index is a publicly available indicator for a factor that is associated with a pricing element. Internal benchmarking is the continuous process of measuring a company's products, services and practices to determine whether the best possible job is performed...

Binary Large Object (BLOB)

Binary large object (BLOB) is a generic term used to describe the handling and storage of long strings of data by database management systems. A BLOB is a category of data, characterized by large size (including media formats such as audio and video), which can place extreme demands on storage systems and network bandwidth.

Bioinformatics and Chemoinformatics

Bioinformatics and chemoinformatics solutions support R&D groups with applications, tools and procedures for analyzing and expanding the use of biological, chemical, medical, behavioral and health data. These systems can acquire, store, organize, archive, analyze and visualize data. They represent a very diverse field, with bioinformatics having a specialty focus for different biological field disciplines (such...

Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics solutions and service providers support research, development, the application of computational tools, and approaches for expanding the use of biological, medical, behavioral and health data. These systems are able to acquire, store, organize, archive, analyze and visualize data, and are integral to R&D drug development and therapy programs. They represent a very diverse field...

Blogging Platforms

Blogging platforms are broadcast-style communications systems that enable authors to publish articles, opinions or product reviews (known as posts), which can be delivered through stand-alone websites, email, feed syndications systems and social networks. Blogging platforms also enable direct reader participation with the host blogger or with other blog participants by enabling user comments.

Broadcast

Broadcast can be defined as follows Delivery of a transmission to two or more stations at the same time, such as over a bus-type local network or by satellite. Protocol mechanism whereby group and universal addressing is supported.

Business Continuity Management Planning (BCMP)

Business continuity management planning (BCMP) software tools are the key tools used to manage business continuity management (BCM) programs. They provide risk assessment, business impact analysis, business process, vendor and IT dependency mapping, and plan management functionality. Some products also offer plan exercising capability, resource modeling capability and crisis/incident management "lite" support.

Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

Business continuity planning (BCP) is a broad disaster recovery approach whereby enterprises plan for recovery of the entire business process. This includes a plan for workspaces, telephones, workstations, servers, applications, network connections and any other resources required in the business process.

Business Intelligence (BI) Platforms

Business intelligence (BI) platforms enable enterprises to build BI applications by providing capabilities in three categories analysis, such as online analytical processing (OLAP); information delivery, such as reports and dashboards; and platform integration, such as BI metadata management and a development environment.

Business Pattern Recognition

Business pattern recognition aims to understand how elements (activities, events, objects and information) may form new patterns that represent an opportunity for innovation or the threat of disruption to business operations or strategies.

Business Process Automation

Business process automation (BPA) is defined as the automation of complex business processes and functions beyond conventional data manipulation and record-keeping activities, usually through the use of advanced technologies.

Business Process Management Suites (BPMSs)

Business process management suites (BPMSs) are the leading application infrastructures to support BPM projects and programs. A BPMS supports the entire process improvement life cycle — from process discovery, definition and design to implementation, monitoring and analysis, and through ongoing optimization. Its model-driven approach enables business and IT professionals to work together more collaboratively throughout...

Byte Code

Byte code is the intermediate code compiled and executed by a virtual machine (VM). Byte code can be used unchanged on any platform on which the VM operates.

Caller ID

Caller ID is a telephone service that records the telephone numbers of incoming calls; it is a form of automatic number identification (ANI). Caller ID systems can be integrated with customer databases to streamline call management processes. This integration gives the agent receiving a call instantaneous access to relevant information about the caller. For example,...

Call Detail Recording (CDR)

Call detail recording (CDR) is a means of capturing telephone system information on calls made, including who made the call, where it went and what time of day it was made, for processing into meaningful management reports. With such information, it is easier to spot exceptions to regular calling patterns such as out-of-hours calling, international...

Call Processing

Call processing is defined as the sequence of operations performed by a switching system from the acceptance of an incoming call through the final disposition of the call.

Cargo Portals

Cargo portals are Internet-based protected websites that enable partners in a transportation community to query maritime vessel operators or air cargo carriers for real-time space availability and pricing, to book shipments and to track the status of en-route cargo. The portals provide an expanded planning horizon and enable fast, corrective action when shipment milestones aren't...

Carrier Network Infrastructure (CNI)

Carrier network infrastructure (CNI) can be defined as a combination of the following basic functions Voice switching, control and applications Optical transport Service provider routers and switches Mobile core Mobile radio Fixed access

Case Management Solutions

Case management solutions are applications designed to support a complex process that requires a combination of human tasks and electronic workflow, such as an incoming application, a submitted claim, a complaint, or a claim that is moving to litigation. These solutions support the workflow, management collaboration, storage of images and content, decisioning, and processing of...

Case-Based Reasoning (CBR)

Case-based reasoning (CBR) is an artificial-intelligence problem-solving technique that catalogs experience into "cases" and correlates the current problem to an experience. CBR is used in many areas, including pattern recognition, diagnosis, troubleshooting and planning. These systems are easy to maintain in comparison to rule-based expert systems.

Catalog Content Management

Catalog content management includes processes, services and applications used to allow electronic catalog creation and updating in an e-commerce environment.

telecommunications carrier

Catch-all/generic phrase covering all entities that provide some form of telecommunication services (fixed and/or mobile; voice and/or data) as their primary business to all or a subset of consumers, enterprises, governments and other telecom service providers.

Embedded Cellular Data

Cellular data implementations are embedded in notebooks, as well as in media tablets and other small form factor devices. The cellular or wireless WAN technology embedded in notebooks is typically wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA). Some modules, primarily in emerging markets, also support cellular data standards, such as general...

Cellular Radio

Cellular radio describes a method of increasing the number of simultaneous radio conversations that can be supported by a fixed number of radio frequency (RF) channels by limiting the range of transmitters to a single cell, to which a proportion of the available channels is allocated. Adjacent cells are allocated to a different set of...

Cellular to Wi-Fi Authentication

Cellular to Wi-Fi authentication provides the ability for dual-mode smartphones to move freely between cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity for voice and data applications. As part of the 802.11u standard, this multivendor and multiple physical layer authentication allows cellular connections to be transferred to Wi-Fi, as well as among multiple Wi-Fi vendors from one installation to...

contactless card

Chip-based Near Field Communication (NFC) card based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies that use RFs to transmit data, and which needs no physical contact to be read by readers or terminals. Contactless cards are waved near the reader to record transactions or to identify the user. Systems are either passive, with the readers generating...

Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR)

Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) is the successor to class-oriented domains for Internet routing, it allows for better allocations of Internet addresses. It combines a number of Class C Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to reduce the burden on routing tables in the Internet.

Client Management Tools

Client management tools (previously known as PC configuration life cycle management [PCCLM] tools) manage the configurations of client systems. Specific functionality includes OS deployment, inventory, software distribution, patch management, software usage monitoring and remote control. Desktop support organizations use client management tools to automate system administration and support functions that would otherwise be done manually....

Climate-Driven Forecasting

Climate-driven forecasting incorporates the impact of weather changes on future customer demand. Traditional demand forecasting has long accounted for the seasonal impact on customer behavior. Climate-driven forecasting is a logical extension that leverages improved analytics and the availability of structured and unstructured data. Some of the climate-driven forecasting solutions exploit existing demand signal repositories, but...

Cloud Printing Services (CPS)

Cloud printing services (CPS) are hosted cloud computing offerings that enable users to print documents and other materials on any device associated with the cloud. Users create content with any software tool they want and transfer the file to a cloud printing service provider via whatever device they choose, which then routes the file to...

Cloud Services Brokerage (CSB)

Cloud services brokerage (CSB) is an IT role and business model in which a company or other entity adds value to one or more (public or private) cloud services on behalf of one or more consumers of that service via three primary roles including aggregation, integration and customization brokerage. A CSB enabler provides technology to...

Mobile Cloud Synchronization

Cloud synchronization allows mobile devices to automatically and transparently synchronize local information and applications with a Web-based, in-the-cloud service to the user in real time. Information spans contacts, calendars, email and text messages to pictures, videos, music, documents and other media. Service offerings include data backup and federation of social networking information into a single...

Cloud-Based Grid Computing

Cloud-based grid computing involves using computers in a public cloud service, or a hybrid of public cloud and internally owned computers, to collectively accomplish large tasks, such as derivative risk analysis, candidate drug screening and complex simulations. We do not include grids that use private cloud or traditional in-house servers only, which we instead cover...

Cloudbursting

Cloudbursting is the use of an alternative set of public or private cloud-based services as a way to augment and handle peaks in IT system requirements at startup or during runtime. Cloudbursting can span between on-premises IT systems and services and the cloud, across multiple cloud providers or across multiple resource pools of a single...

Combined Heat and Power (CHP)

Combined heat and power (CHP) is a specific form of distributed generation (DG) that refers to the placement of electric-power-generating units at or near customer facilities to supply on-site energy needs. CHP enhances DG's advantages by the simultaneous production of thermal and power output, thus increasing overall efficiency. Once available only to large commercial buildings...

commerce platform servers

Commerce (B2B and B2C) software servers and tools are used to build systems that sell, service, market and buy products to customers and businesses through the Web and channel partners. These servers build systems for enterprises to automate their Web sales process and customer experience, gain insight into customer behavior and preferences, improve visibility into...

Commerce Everywhere

Commerce everywhere is a marketing strategy for facilitating sales transactions across customer touchpoints via a set of technologies that promotes products and enables sales in physical locations and digital channels, such as the Web, mobile, social and wearable devices.

Commerce Experiences

Commerce experiences represent the programmed interactions between a marketer and the customer, beginning with awareness and continuing through purchase and postpurchase feedback. A commerce experience adaptively frames the buying journey, highlighted by layers of social interaction.

Community Cloud

Community cloud computing refers to a shared cloud computing service environment that is targeted to a limited set of organizations or employees (such as banks or heads of trading firms). The organizing principle for the community will vary, but the members of the community generally share similar security, privacy, performance and compliance requirements. Community members...

Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) Radio Frequency (RF) Power Amplifiers (PAs)

Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) radio frequency (RF) power amplifiers (PAs) are used in mobile devices and are capable of providing up to two watts of output power (28 to 33 decibels [dBm]). They are used primarily in mobile phones and PC data cards. Currently used in basic Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)/general packet radio...

Complex-Event Processing

Complex-event processing (CEP) is a kind of computing in which incoming data about events is distilled into more useful, higher level "complex" event data that provides insight into what is happening. CEP is event-driven because the computation is triggered by the receipt of event data. CEP is used for highly demanding, continuous-intelligence applications that enhance...

Composite Content Applications (CCAs)

Composite content applications (CCAs) are collections of content; the platforms that store, manage and execute them; the processes that leverage them; and the context required to deliver value. CCAs typically include design templates and executable software components, both of which are configured, extended with additional functionality and integrated with existing applications and databases. CCAs require...

Computational-Fluid-Dynamic (CFD) Analysis

Computational-fluid-dynamic (CFD) analysis uses numerical algorithms to analyze and model the flow of air around data center hardware surfaces such as servers and storage systems. These simulations provide point-in-time data on the flow, speed, direction and temperature of the air. With this information, data center and facilities managers are able to determine the efficiency of...

Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE)

Computer-aided engineering (CAE) describes an area of automated manufacturing and design technology for building end products that had its roots in finite element methods, but today it includes all types of performance systems, e.g., heat transfer, structural, electromagnetic, aeronautics and acoustic analysis.

Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE)

Computer-aided software engineering (CASE) is an umbrella term for a collection of application development tools designed to increase programmer productivity. They include technologies such as application generators and PC-based workstations that provide graphics-oriented automation of the front end of the development process.

Computer-Based Physician Order Entry (CPOE)

Computer-based physician order entry (CPOE) refers to a physician's direct input of orders (medication and nonmedication) into an acute care (inpatient) automation system. We use physician order entry to emphasize that the ordering clinician — not someone operating on her behalf — needs to interact with the system.

Configuration Auditing

Configuration auditing tools provide change detection, configuration assessment, and reconciliation of detected changes against approved requests for changes (RFCs) and mitigation. Configuration settings are assessed against company-specific policies, or industry-recognized security configuration assessment templates used for auditing and security hardening. These tools focus on requirements specific to servers or PCs, but some also address network...

Connected Imaging Devices

Connected imaging devices include digital still cameras (DSCs) and digital camcorders with embedded wireless LAN (WLAN) or wireless WAN digital cellular connections. The wireless connection is typically used to send photos to a PC, an online photo service or social networking site, or as an attachment to an email. The advantage is that you can...

Connected Portable Media Players (PMPs)

Connected portable media players (PMPs) embed a wireless WAN digital cellular or Wi-Fi connection to connect to services designed to enhance the media playback experience, including direct-to-device content downloads, music ID capabilities, music discovery features, social networking features, and streaming Internet radio functions. In addition, more of these products are being based on mobile operating...

Consent Management

Consent management is a system, process or set of policies for allowing consumers and patients to determine what health information they are willing to permit their various care providers to access. It enables patients and consumers to affirm their participation in e-health initiatives (patient portal, personal health record or health information exchange) and to establish...

Consumer Web Mashups

Consumer Web mashups are lightweight, composite applications built using consumer Web-based mashup infrastructures and consuming publicly available consumer Web resources. Consumer Web mashup infrastructure providers claim to target average Web users, but most active use is by amateur developers and hard-core hobbyists.

Consumer Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Consumer digital rights management (DRM) technologies control how consumers use copyrighted material that is distributed in digital form, such as music, video files or text in e-books.

Consumer Telematics

Consumer telematics are end-user-targeted vehicle-centric information and communication technologies (vehicle ICTs) and services. Network-enabled cars for consumers provide in-vehicle services, such as emergency assistance, Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation, traffic information, local search (for example, for charging stations or restaurants) and concierge services.

Consumer Telepresence

Consumer telepresence is a set of technologies that enables users to feel they are "present" during videoconferences. Telepresence has the potential to break down the consumer dissatisfaction that has been prevalent with video telephony. Telepresence solutions share common traits, including life-size (or near life-size) image displays, high-quality audio, full-motion video capabilities and a minimal camera-to-eye...

consumer voice access lines

Consumer voice access lines is the sum of PSTN (including consumer channel counts for consumer Integrated Services Digital Network [ISDN]) and VoIP connections. Note that "virtual" VoIP connections used for voice communications, usually via a broadband connection to the Internet or some other IP network. The "virtual" line has to be associated with a telephone...

Consumer-Generated Media (CGM)

Consumer-generated media (CGM) refers to any written, audio or video content created by end users, using basic or semiprofessional tools. CGM can include one-consumer-to-many applications such as photo sharing, publishing via blogs, podcasting, social network videoblogging and the like, as well as "auteurs" looking to get their content to an audience.

Consumerization

Consumerization is the specific impact that consumer-originated technologies can have on enterprises. It reflects how enterprises will be affected by, and can take advantage of, new technologies and models that originate and develop in the consumer space, rather than in the enterprise IT sector. Consumerization is not a strategy or something to be "adopted." Consumerization...

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Contact Center Infrastructure

Contact center infrastructure includes software and hardware designed to run a contact/call center. This includes automatic call distributors, integrated voice response units, computer-telephony integration, and universal communications or universal queue management, integrating any of these multiple channels for a call/contact center. Read reviews of Contact Center Infrastructure Software... Gartner Peer Insights has over 160 reviews...

Content Management (CM)

Content Management (CM) is a broad term referring to applications and processes to manage Web content, document content and e-commerce-focused content.

Content Analytics

Content analytics defines a family of technologies that processes digital content and user behavior  in consuming and engaging with content, such as documents, news sites, customer conversations (both audio and text), and social network discussions, to answer specific questions.  

Content and Applications Service Provider

Content and applications service providers include providers focusing primarily on information and media services, content, entertainment and applications services. Examples include, Yahoo, Google.

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)

Content delivery networks (CDNs) are a type of distributed computing infrastructure, where devices (servers or appliances) reside in multiple points of presence on multihop packet-routing networks, such as the Internet, or on private WANs. A CDN can be used to distribute rich media downloads or streams, deliver software packages and updates, and provide services such...

Content Management Systems

Content management systems comprise a set of templates, procedures and standard format software that enables marketers and their proxies (e.g., webmasters) to produce and manage text, graphics, pictures, audio and video for use in Web landing pages, blogs, document repositories, campaigns or any marketing activity requiring single or multimedia content.

Content Provider

Content providers are companies that create and offer content, such as graphic products, ringtones, games, news, information and entertainment services.

Content Targeting

Content targeting is an ad-serving process in Google and Yahoo that displays keyword-triggered ads related to the content or subject (context) of the website a user is viewing.

Content-Aware Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Content-aware data loss prevention (DLP) tools enable the dynamic application of policy based on the content and context at the time of an operation. These tools are used to address the risk of inadvertent or accidental leaks, or exposure of sensitive enterprise information outside authorized channels, using monitoring, filtering, blocking and remediation features.

Context-Enriched Services

Context-enriched services are those that combine situational and environmental information with other information to proactively offer enriched, situation-aware and usable content, functions and experiences. The term denotes services and APIs that use information about the user to optionally and implicitly fine-tune the software action with better situational awareness. Such services can proactively push content to...

Continuous Controls Monitoring (CCM)

Continuous controls monitoring (CCM) is a set of technologies to reduce business losses through continuous monitoring and reducing the cost of audits through continuous auditing of the controls in financial and other transactional applications.

Continuous Data Protection (CDP)

Continuous data protection (CDP) is an approach to recovery that continuously, or nearly continuously, captures and transmits changes to files or blocks of data while journaling these changes. This capability provides the option to recover to many more-granular points in time to minimize data loss, and enables arbitrary recovery points. Some CDP solutions can be...

Continuous Integration (CI)

Continuous integration (CI) systems provide automation of the software build and validation process driven in a continuous way by running a configured sequence of operations every time a software change is checked into the source code management repository. These are closely associated with agile development practices and closely related to the emerging DevOps toolsets.

Cooling Management Systems

Cooling management systems tools fall into several categories, but our focus is on tools that manage and control the cooling of an entire plant, including the IT equipment and the facilities infrastructure. Control is a key word, because to qualify, the tools must have the ability to automatically make adjustments to the cooling plant —...

Data Wiping

Data wiping is the process of logically removing data from a read/write medium so that it can no longer be read. Performed externally by physically connecting storage media to a hardware bulk-wiping device, or internally by booting a PC from a CD or network, it is a nondestructive process that enables the medium to be...

Dynamic Content

Dynamic content is website content that is continually refreshed to provide new or updated information to attract new viewers and to keep prior viewers returning to the site.

PDA (personal digital assistant)

Data-centric handheld computer weighing less than 1 pound that is designed primarily for use with both hands. These devices use an open-market OS supported by third-party applications that can be added into the device by end users. They offer instant on/off capability and synchronization of files with a PC. A PDA may offer WAN support...

DAB (digital audio broadcasting)

DAB transmits digital signals rather than the analog audio signals traditionally used in broadcast radio. DAB is broadcast on terrestrial networks, with future prospects for satellite broadcasting. Apart from receiving high-quality audio entertainment via the radio, programs can be accompanied by text, such as lyrics. The DAB-IP variant used by Virgin U.K. can support video.

DAB+ (digital audio broadcasting plus)

DAB+ is an extension of DAB to support new and more efficient codecs with better error correction. This will, however, introduce challenges for backward compatibility with older DAB radios.

DASH7

DASH7 is a standard, promoted by the DASH7 Alliance that leverages the 433Mhz band unlicensed spectrum, supporting the networking of sensors up to 2 km apart and in-building positioning within 1 meter. The battery life for modules can be several years, with DASH7 supporting AES 128-bit public key encryption and data rates of 200 kbps.

prerelational DBMS

DBMS architectures were defined before relational theory became widely used. The prerelational DBMS generally is based on a hierarchical structure or a navigational (also known as network) structure.

Data Monetization

Data Monetization refers to using data for quantifiable economic benefit. This can include indirect methods such as measurable business performance improvements, beneficial terms or conditions from business partners, information bartering, productizing information (i.e., new information-based offerings), "informationalizing" products (i.e., including information as a value-add component of an existing offering), or selling data outright (via a...

packet-switched network

Data communications network in which data is divided into small segments known as packets. These are divided so that each packet forms part of a complete message that can be routed through a network of switches to its destination independently of all other packets forming the same message.

Data Deduplication

Data deduplication is a form of compression that eliminates redundant data on a subfile level, improving storage utilization. In this process, only one copy of the data is stored; all the redundant data will be eliminated, leaving only a pointer to the previous copy of the data. Deduplication can significantly reduce the required disk space,...

Data Profiling

Data profiling is a technology for discovering and investigating data quality issues, such as duplication, lack of consistency, and lack of accuracy and completeness. This is accomplished by analyzing one or multiple data sources and collecting metadata that shows the condition of the data and enables the data steward to investigate the origin of data...

Database Activity Monitoring (DAM)

Database activity monitoring (DAM) refers to a suite of tools that can be used to support the ability to identify and report on fraudulent, illegal or other undesirable behavior, with minimal impact on user operations and productivity. The tools, which have evolved from basic analysis of user activity in and around relational database management systems...

Database Encryption

Database encryption tools are used to protect data within relational database management systems (RDBMSs). Encryption can be implemented using native DBMS tools, third-party software tools and network-based appliances, or implemented within storage networks via fabric-based encryption. Database encryption is increasingly being implemented as a regulatory check box by clients that enable built-in encryption. There are...

HLR (home location register)

Database in a wireless network containing customer data, including service entitlements and call-routing information. In combination with the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), it provides the network mechanism for the cell-to-cell handover of calls and for local and international roaming.

Demand Signal Repository (DSR)

Demand signal repository (DSR) is a centralized database that stores, harmonizes and normalizes data attributes and organizes large volumes of demand data—such as point-of-sale (POS) data, wholesaler data, electronic data interchange (EDI) 852 and 867, inventory movement, promotional data and customer loyalty data for use by decision support technologies (category management, account team joint value...

gain sharing

Describes a contract that defines the vendor's contribution to the customer in terms of specific benefits to the customer's business. Such a contract also defines the payment the customer will make according to the vendor's performance in delivering those business benefits. Gain-sharing contracts require the development of a delivery paradigm that links a customer's business...

Design Thinking

Design thinking is a multidisciplinary process that builds solutions for complex, intractable problems in a technically feasible, commercially sustainable and emotionally meaningful way. Design thinkers balance intuitive originality (the hallmarks of great designers) with analytic mastery (the hallmarks of business leaders and engineers) to create business-focused outcomes that generate transformative, innovative and strategic change.

development and integration services

Development and integration services support the implementation and rollout of new network infrastructure, including consolidation of established network infrastructure. Activities may include hardware or software procurement, configuration, tuning, staging, installation and interoperability testing.

Device-Embedded Biometric Authentication

Device-embedded biometric authentication is a specialized use of biometric authentication methods to improve the security of endpoint devices, such as notebook PCs, smartphones and tablets, using capture devices (sensors) and biometric feature extraction and comparison software built into the device itself. Because such a mobile device is essentially personal to one user, the mode is...

proxy servers

Devices that process and filter all Internet Protocol (IP) packets that are directed to them and decide which protocols and services can be served out of their caches. Proxy servers tend to offer the greatest range of protocol and caching support since they cache Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP), Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTPS), File Transfer...

Digital Ad Operations Platforms

Digital ad operations platforms are advertising operations and management software for publishers and other sellers of digital advertising that support sales, pricing, optimization, yield management, analytics and delivery of advertising traffic and assets across multiple digital channels, including online, mobile, signage and new formats for digital TV.

Digital Commerce - Digital Commerce Experience - Gartner

Digital commerce experience is an interconnected process of searching, evaluating and purchasing products across digital and physical sales channels.TitleDigital Commerce - ecommerceDigital commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services using the Internet/mobile, etc.. Click for free research on social marketing.

Digital Cross-Connect (DXC)

Digital cross-connect (DXC) systems are used at major network nodes to cross-connect a number of inbound and outbound circuits. The cross-connecting of circuits is done when circuits are provisioned, but, typically, cross-connects are also used to implement various schemes for protection switching and network restoration. In the SDH market, the abbreviation "DXC" is used for...

Digital Customer

Digital customers use digital channels — Web, mobile and social — to consume content, engage with brands and complete a transaction.

Digital Disruption

Digital disruption is an effect that changes the fundamental expectations and behaviors in a culture, market, industry or process that is caused by, or expressed through, digital capabilities, channels or assets.

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing, which continues to be integrated with multichannel campaign management, includes addressable branding/advertising, contextual marketing, social marketing and transactional marketing. Digital marketing extends the marketing process through channels such as the Web, video, mobile and social applications, point-of-sale terminals, digital signage and kiosks.

TDMA (time division multiple access)

Digital modulation technique that allocates a discrete amount of frequency bandwidth to each user to permit many simultaneous conversations. Each caller is assigned a specific time slot for transmission. TDMA provides improved spectral efficiencies over analog systems. A derivative of this standard used in North America is called NA-TDMA. Other TDMA-based cellular systems include GSM,...

Digital Pathology Scanners

Digital pathology scanning is the use of microscopic array technology to produce a three-dimensional digital representation of a pathology slide for viewing and automated image analysis. Digital pathology scanning facilitates digital telepathology — pathologists remotely viewing digitized laboratory specimens.

Digital Transformation Consulting (DTC)

Digital transformation consulting (DTC) services are strategy and transformation consulting services supporting senior business stakeholders, such as CEOs, COOs, chief marketing officers (CMOs) and other business leaders. DTC particularly helps these leaders in efforts to leverage digital technologies that enable the innovation of their entire business or elements of their business and operating models. Specific...

Digital Watermarking

Digital watermarking refers to several different forms of tamper-resistant metadata that is used primarily to maintain a link to the data owner to support intellectual property claims and, secondarily, to enforce handling instructions. Invisible watermarks, which are usually based on a form of encryption technology, can be applied to multimedia objects (bitmaps, audio and video),...

Digitalization

Digitalization is the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities; it is the process of moving to a digital business.

Direct Chip Cooling

Direct chip cooling uses liquid or phase-change heat-transfer mechanisms operating on, or thermally close to, the exposed rear surface of the silicon of the chip. This approach provides maximum power and heat dissipation at a minimum operating temperature. Under operating conditions, a processor can operate significantly faster than a processor cooled by other traditional and...

SFA (sales force automation) — direct sales (field sales/inside sales)

Direct sales software builds on the attributes of technology, functionality and value of order management systems and also includes the functionality for sales execution and sales operations. The direct B2B sales organization is the traditional sales channel, composed of internal sales resources focused on the selling of products or services directly into the client, customer...

Disaster Recovery (DR)

Disaster recovery (DR) is defined as (1) The use of alternative network circuits to re-establish communications channels in the event that the primary channels are disconnected or malfunctioning, and (2) The methods and procedures for returning a data center to full operation after a catastrophic interruption (e.g., including recovery of lost data).

Distributed Power Generation

Distributed power generation is the installation and operation of small modular power-generating units at or near the end user. It is used mainly to reduce transmission and distribution losses and to improve reliability by combining energy management and storage systems. A distributed power generation system can be based on a renewable or nonrenewable energy source...

Distributed Tape for Backup and Archiving

Distributed tape for backup and archiving is a means by which organizations preserve secondary copies of data. Distributed tape backup solutions create copies of data on tape for logical or physical recovery, and for disaster recovery. Distributed tape as a repository for active archives enables long-term preservation of data for purposes other than operational recovery,...

Dock Scheduling

Dock scheduling is the use of optimization and scheduling tools to automate dock door and yard schedules. In this system, a dock calendar is maintained, showing all operating constraints, such as open/close time, commodities accepted through the dock door (e.g., refrigerated or ambient) and trailer types accepted. Advanced dock scheduling systems consider both transportation constraints...

Multimodal TMS

Domestic shipper-centric multimodal transportation management systems (TMSs) are used in a specific region or geography to manage domestic freight operations. These are used to plan movements, perform rating and shipping across all modes (truckload, less than truckload [LTL], air, parcel, rail and intermodal), consolidate orders, select the appropriate route and carrier, communicate (tender) with carriers,...

Bluetooth 4.0 (BT4.0)

During the past 10 years, Bluetooth has become the de facto technology for wireless point-to-point connectivity. Bluetooth 4.0 (BT4.0) is the latest revision that was introduced by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (BT-SIG) in June 2010. It includes three specifications in one single standard Classic Bluetooth Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (enhanced data rate). Bluetooth High...

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)

Dynamic application security testing (DAST) technologies are designed to detect conditions indicative of a security vulnerability in an application in its running state. Most DAST solutions test only the exposed HTTP and HTML interfaces of Web-enabled applications; however, some solutions are designed specifically for non-Web protocol and data malformation (for example, remote procedure call, Session...

Dynamic Business Process Management (BPM)

Dynamic business process management (BPM) is defined as the ability to support process change by any role, at any time, with very low latency. It is a set of disciplines combined with technologies that enhance the ability of a person or system to make appropriate and timely changes to respond to implicit and explicit process...

E-Book Readers (E-Readers)

E-readers are devices that facilitate screen-based reading of books and periodicals. These are devices for which reading is the sole purpose or among the leading uses. E-readers today primarily include black-and-white e-readers using e-ink technology; tablet devices, which offer color, allow access to rich media, and support enhanced e-book content as well as newspapers and...

E1

E1 is the European equivalent of T1; a common carrier-provided point-to-point digital line service used in private data networks and cellular, Wi-Fi and fixed-network backhaul. An E1 delivers 2.048 Mbps capacity that can be split into multiple 64 Kbps channels, and is typically charged by distance.

SIM toolkit (SIM application toolkit)

ETSI standard that allows additional information and functionality to be preprogrammed on to the SIM card, providing a customized menu/user interface on the phone. This helps users directly access services provided by network operators and service providers, such as banks and entertainment organizations.

Electronic Forms (E-Forms)

Electronic forms (e-forms) provide a user interface to data and services, typically through a browser-based interface. E-forms enable users to interact with enterprise applications and the back-end systems linked to them. Web applications, e-government and e-commerce solutions have sparked the demand for better Web forms that support richer and more dynamic interactions than are possible...

Electrovibration

Electrovibration is based on an effect in which touch receptors in the skin can be duped into perceiving texture. Electrical charges simulate the feeling of localized vibration and friction, mimicking shapes, textures and contours (such as the feel of a keyboard key or a button) on touchscreens on tablets and other mobile devices or product...TitleEmbedded AnalyticsEmbedded analytics is the use of reporting and analytic capabilities in transactional business applications. Click for free research and conference info.

Emerging Data Protection Schemes

Emerging data protection schemes implement algorithms that deliver a higher mean time between data loss (MTBDL) than redundant array of independent disks (RAID) technology. These schemes take advantage of improvements in microprocessor performance and new algorithms to reduce rebuild times and storage protection overhead, while making protection levels a user-defined option. The availability of ever-larger-capacity...

Energy Management Systems (EMSs)

Energy management systems (EMSs) make up the "central nervous system" of the power transmission network and are the critical governing component of the power grid's operational reliability. EMSs perform state estimation, contingency analysis and other advanced applications. Operator training applications offer offline study modes and real-time simulations.

Energy Trading and Risk Management (ETRM)

Energy trading and risk management (ETRM) systems involve commercial decision making and market execution using an integrated system that enables data exchanges among trade floor, operations, credit, contract and accounting functions. Integral to the process are event and trade identification/capture, comprehensive risk management strategies/policies, scheduling/nomination/transportation and settlement execution. The process also provides for price transparency,...

Enhanced E-Books

Enhanced e-books refer to books that include supplementary audio, video and features, such as games or puzzles. Enhanced e-books are particularly popular in the categories of children's books, cooking, travel and the general area of learning. Similar to DVDs with bonus material, the content complements the original text and graphics; unlike most DVDs, enhanced books...

Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS)

Enhanced messaging service (EMS) uses some features defined in the Short Message Service (SMS) specification to enhance the user experience when sending messages. A thin client is added to the mobile phone and by using standard SMS parameter fields, such as the user data header, binary-encoded and concatenated messages can be sent that display enriched...

Enhanced Network Delivery

Enhanced network delivery comprises network-based acceleration services, including WAN optimization, application delivery controller/asymmetrical optimization and WOC equipment-based deployments to improve performance of cloud applications. Enhanced network delivery uses a combination of techniques, including protocol spoofing, route control, HTML rewrite, compression and caching, along with quality of service and bandwidth bursting, to provide enterprises with improved...

Enterprise Application Outsourcing (EAO)

Enterprise application outsourcing (EAO) is a multiyear or annuity contract/relationship involving the purchase of ongoing application service for managing, enhancing and maintaining custom or packaged application software in the server/host or desktop platforms. Enterprise application outsourcing does not include applications services sold as discrete, project-based services or staff augmentation services. In addition to application management...

Enterprise Context

Enterprise context is the first key deliverable of the EA process during the work of organizing the EA effort. The enterprise context is the process of identifying internal and external environmental trend, articulating the business strategy, identifying requirements, creating principles and developing anchor models of the business.

Enterprise Fraud Management (EFM)

Enterprise fraud management (EFM) software supports the detection, analytics and management of fraud across users, accounts, products, processes and channels. It monitors and analyzes user activity and behavior at the application level (rather than at the system, database or network level), and watches what transpires inside and across accounts, using any channel available to a...

Enterprise Information Architecture (EIA)

Enterprise information architecture (EIA) is the part of the enterprise architecture process that describes — through a set of requirements, principles and models — the current state, future state and guidance necessary to flexibly share and exchange information assets to achieve effective enterprise change. Learn More at these Gartner Events... Gartner Enterprise Architecture & Technology...

Enterprise Information Archiving (EIA)

Enterprise information archiving (EIA) is the next step in the evolution of archiving that incorporates new products and solutions for archiving user data (e-mail, files on file shares, instant messages, Microsoft SharePoint documents), and, optionally, other content types such as structured data. These products provide features such as single-instance storage across content types, retention management,...

Enterprise Information Management (EIM)

Enterprise information management (EIM) is an integrative discipline for structuring, describing and governing information assets across organizational and technological boundaries to improve efficiency, promote transparency and enable business insight.

Enterprise Security Intelligence (ESI)

Enterprise security intelligence (ESI) is a concept that recognizes security intelligence as an explicit deliverable, and designates it as a strategic security objective for the enterprise's IT security and risk management. ESI aims at increased accuracy and breadth of security detection and protection, as well as optimal security and risk management.

Enterprise Unified Communications Infrastructure

Enterprise unified communications infrastructure encompasses server-based products and software that provide a central platform for communications for enterprises and other organizations. A key part of the UC proposition is the promise of a more consistent user experience across a wider range of communications channels and features. To achieve this, a critical task is to tightly...

sensor and RFID-based inventory and asset management infrastructure software

Enterprises need software and development patterns to deal with RFID data and hardware. Currently, the most popular approach is to put in middleware that acts like an integration broker between RFID readers and business applications that need to receive the data.

Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Applications

Environmental health and safety (EH&S) applications applications are designed to help manufacturers manage employee health, reduce safety incidents, manage their environmental footprint and help to ensure operational continuity. The applications can be broadly divided into several categories occupational health/industrial hygiene and incident management, product safety and compliance, health and safety applications, environmental monitoring and control...

synchronization

Establishment of common timing between sending and receiving equipment.

Event-Triggered Marketing

Event-triggered marketing includes identifying, categorizing, monitoring, optimizing and executing events (such as channel reconciliation). It can be applied in a multichannel relationship (such as social, mobile, direct mail, inbound call conversions, lead management and email marketing). It's an approach to B2B and business-to-consumer marketing that addresses the appropriate timeliness of offers from the customer's perspective,...

DASD (direct-access storage device)

Generic nomenclature for a storage peripheral that can respond directly to random requests for information; usually denotes a disk drive.

CMNS (Connection Mode Network Service)

Extends local X.25 switching to Ethernet, token ring or Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) networks.

Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)

Extensible authentication protocol (EAP) is an extensible framework and transport for other network access authentication protocols. The original dial-up Point-To-Point Protocol (PPP) provided only basic security by using Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) and Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP). EAP was added to support more-sophisticated authentication, particularly on wireless networks.

Extreme Low-Energy Servers

Extreme low-energy servers are systems constructed around processor types that were originally designed for very low-power environments, typically in devices like smartphones or in an object with a processor embedded inside.

Eye Tracking

Eye tracking, also called "gaze tracking," involves determining the angle or position of a user's visual attention, usually through the use of cameras.

FTTH (fiber to the home)

FTTH includes fiber-optic access solutions designed for residential deployments. In FTTH networks, fibers are directly connected to individual homes or multitenant buildings. FTTH includes various flavors of both PONs and PTP Ethernet-based solutions. Fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) solutions where fibers are not installed all the way to the residential premises are not included in the FTTH segment....

Facebook Commerce (F-Commerce)

Facebook commerce (F-commerce) is the retail transaction capability offered within the Facebook social network platform. These transactional capabilities are facilitated via the utilization of Facebook APIs that allow retailers to present products, information and offers to consumers, as well as allow consumers to complete transactions within Facebook.

Federated Identity Management

Federated identity management enables identity information to be developed and shared among several entities and across trust domains. Tools and standards permit identity attributes to be transferred from one trusted identifying and authenticating entity to another for authentication, authorization and other purposes, thus providing "single sign-on" convenience and efficiencies to identified individuals, identity providers and...

Federated Search

Federated search aggregates the results of a user-initiated search to multiple search engines and presents those results back to the user. Sometimes federated search interleaves the results, so that they are compared with each other; sometimes they are just presented next to each other as alternatives.

Field Service Management

Field service management includes the detection of a field service need (through remote monitoring or other means, inspection or a customer detecting a fault), field technician scheduling and optimization, dispatching, parts information delivery to the field, and process support of field technician interactions. Read reviews of Field Service Management Software... Gartner Peer Insights has over...

Folksonomies (Social Tagging)

Folksonomies also known as social tagging, are user-defined metadata collections. Users do not deliberately create folksonomies and there is rarely a prescribed purpose, but a folksonomy evolves when many users create or store content at particular sites and identify what they think the content is about. "Tag clouds" pinpoint various identifiers and the frequency of...

Forensic Software

Forensic software is used to collect raw data from digital storage devices, including the recovery of hidden and deleted files, in support of e-discovery and investigations of digital activity.

frequency

Frequency is an expression of how frequently a periodic wave form or signal repeats itself at a given amplitude. It can be expressed in hertz (Hz), kilohertz (kHz), megahertz (MHz), etc.

Ku-band (Kurtz-under band)

Frequency range allocated from 10.9GHz to 17GHz. Ku-band satellites are among the most numerous, operating for all forms of satellite communications, including video, voice and data services for consumers and enterprises. Most VSATs are in the Ku-band and are predominantly GEO-based systems. Ku-band satellite antennas (which are smaller than C-band antennas but suffer from rain...

Ka-band (Kurtz-above band)

Frequency range allocated from 17.7GHz on the downlink and to 30.6GHz on the uplink for use by satellite communication systems. Ka-band satellites deliver high-speed broadband Internet connectivity and digital video/audio transmission. Satellites in this frequency range are characterized by two-way or bidirectional communications capability; wider-bandwidth transponders that provide higher overall capacity spot beams that can...

Branded Content Management

From a technology perspective, branded content management is the automation of processes from initial creative idea through to production and storage and, ultimately, to the fulfilment of branded content in the field and across various channels/media.

CoDA (context delivery architecture)

Gartner defines CoDA as an architectural style that builds on service-oriented architecture (SOA) and event-driven architecture (EDA) interaction and partitioning styles, and adds formal mechanisms for the software elements that discover and apply the user's context in real time. CoDA provides a framework for solution architects that allows them to define and implement the technology,...

Pattern-Based Strategy

Gartner defines Pattern-Based Strategy as the discipline that enables business leaders to seek, amplify, examine and exploit new business patterns. A business pattern is a set of recurring and/or related elements (business activities, events, weak or strong signals) that indicates a business opportunity or threat. A weak or strong signal is a piece of information,...

consumer NAS (consumer network attached storage)

Gartner defines a consumer NAS as a centralized, multifunction storage system for the home network. It can function as a file server with remote access to multiple PCs and media players, a print server, a media server, a backup and archive system, and temporary storage for Internet downloads or video-on-demand.

High Performance Workplace

Gartner defines a high performance workplace as a physical or virtual environment designed to make workers as effective as possible in supporting business goals and providing value. A high-performance workplace results from continually balancing investment in people, process, physical environment and technology, to measurably enhance the ability of workers to learn, discover, innovate, team and...

Synchronized Bills of Materials

Gartner defines a synchronized bill of materials (BOM) capability as enabling value chains, including OEMs, suppliers and service organizations (such as electronics manufacturing services), to synchronize different views of items in different BOMs.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM)

Gartner defines application performance monitoring (APM) as one or more software and hardware components that facilitate monitoring to meet five main functional dimensions end-user experience monitoring (EUM), runtime application architecture discovery modeling and display, user-defined transaction profiling, component deep-dive monitoring in application context, and analytics. Read reviews of Application Performance Monitoring (APM) Software... Gartner Peer...TitleaPaas - Application Platform as a Service - GartnerApplication platform as a service (aPaaS) is a cloud service that offers development and deployment environments for application services.

Business Process

Gartner defines business process as an event-driven, end-to-end processing path that starts with a customer request and ends with a result for the customer. Business processes often cross departmental and even organizational boundaries. Read reviews of Business Process Software... Gartner Peer Insights has over 130 reviews on 19+ vendors in the Business Process software market....

Cloud Computing

Gartner defines cloud computing as a style of computing in which scalable and elastic IT-enabled capabilities are delivered as a service using Internet technologies. See also CASB or cloud access security brokers Learn More at these Gartner Events... Gartner Enterprise Architecture & Technology Innovation Summit 2017 - access the full range of insights critical for...

cloud engineering

Gartner defines cloud engineering as the process of designing the systems necessary to leverage the power and economics of cloud resources to solve business problems.

Dark Data

Gartner defines dark data as the information assets organizations collect, process and store during regular business activities. Click for more...

DMI (data management and integration)

Gartner defines data management and integration as the practices, architectural techniques and tools for achieving consistent access to and delivery of data across the spectrum of data subject areas and data structure types in the enterprise, to meet the data consumption requirements of all applications and business processes

Digital Forensics

Gartner defines digital forensics as the use of specialized, investigative techniques and technologies to determine whether illegal or otherwise inappropriate events have occurred on computer systems, and provide legally defensible information about the sequence of those events.

Enterprise Metadata Management (EMM)

Gartner defines enterprise metadata management (EMM) as the business discipline for managing the metadata about the information assets of the organization. Metadata is "information that describes various facets of an information asset to improve its usability throughout its life cycle." Read reviews of Metadata Software... Gartner Peer Insights has over 130 reviews on 19+ vendors...

Information Governance

Gartner defines information governance as the specification of decision rights and an accountability framework to ensure appropriate behavior in the valuation, creation, storage, use, archiving and deletion of information. It includes the processes, roles and policies, standards and metrics that ensure the effective and efficient use of information in enabling an organization to achieve its...

Innovation Management

Gartner defines innovation management as a business discipline that aims to drive a repeatable, sustainable innovation process or culture within an organization. Innovation management initiatives focus on disruptive or step changes that transform the business in some significant way.

integration brokerage (IB)

Gartner defines integration brokerage (IB) as a category of discrete IT outsourcing for integration projects, such as those involving cloud services integration and supply chain integration. IB is one of three primary cloud services brokerage (CSB) roles and combines cloud-based B2B integration infrastructures with people and processes to help companies for initial implementation and ongoing...

Mobile Payment

Gartner defines mobile payment as transactions conducted using a mobile phone and payment instruments that include Banking instruments such as cash, bank account or debit/credit card, and Stored value accounts (SVAs) such as transport card, gift card, Paypal or mobile wallet and exclude transactions that use Carrier billing using the telecom's billing system with no...

Portfolio Management

Gartner defines portfolio management as a shift from the practice of using a single integrated application for the support of business requirements to using a collection of applications, technologies and services to create a system that addresses the unique requirements of an organization and leverages best-of-breed opportunities.

Public Cloud Computing

Gartner defines public cloud computing as a style of computing where scalable and elastic IT-enabled capabilities are provided as a service to external customers using Internet technologies—i.e., public cloud computing uses cloud computing technologies to support customers that are external to the provider's organization. Using public cloud services generates the types of economies of scale...

Risk Management and Compliance Consulting Services

Gartner defines risk management and compliance consulting services as the bundle of expert-driven consulting services directed at assisting enterprises to identify, manage and mitigate IT and enterprise compliance risk. Although there are myriad types of risk and compliance in the life of an enterprise, we focus on risk and compliance advisory services directly affecting or...

Social Software

Gartner defines social softwareas the tools that encourage, capture, and organize open and free-form interaction between employees, customers, and partners. It is a "socializing" technology—sometimes also referred to as Enterprise 2.0—that enables a grassroots approach to creating and exploiting collective knowledge.

hybrid thinking

Gartner defines the concept of hybrid thinking as an organic discipline for taking on wicked problems by iteratively implementing transformative, innovative, and strategic change via the co-creative exploration of human-centered experiences that are culturally meaningful, technically feasible, and economically sustainable.

Prescriptive Analytics

Gartner describes Prescriptive Analytics as a form of advanced analytics which examines data or content to answer the question "What should be done?"

BPM Pure-Play

Gartner first introduced the term BPM pure-play in 2003 to describe tools that delivered an application-independent approach to coordinating business. BPM pure-play products provide a set of services and tools for explicit process management (that is, process analysis, definition, execution, monitoring and administration), including support for human- and application-level interaction. BPM pure-play software includes commercially...

Master Content Management (MCM)

Gartner sees the term master content management (MCM) being used in two distinct senses 1) MCM is the workflow process in which business and IT work together to ensure the uniformity, accuracy, stewardship and accountability of the enterprise's official, shared information assets; in this case, content assets, such as employee, supplier and customer contracts, new...

Rich Internet Application (RIA)

Gartner views rich Internet application (RIA) platforms as a composite construct, referring to technologies that enable organizations to build applications that provide a rich, responsive user experience. The term "RIA platform" is not consistently used in the industry. Gartner uses it in the broadest scope to aggregate multiple approaches and technologies into one overall concept...

CORE (COMPARE Operational Readiness Evaluation)

Gartner's CORE risk assessment and reporting steps are used to define business operational risks, to report risks to management, investors, regulators and customers in a consistent form, and to determine when contingency and recovery strategies are required.

MarketScope

Gartner's MarketScopes rate vendors based on criteria that focuses on the important aspects of an emerging or mature market. In emerging markets, vendors and products are less well known or tested in the market, and it would be difficult to analyze all criteria typically used in a Magic Quadrant. In mature markets, vendors and products...TitleMarketing Automation Systems | MAS | Gartner TechnologyOne click gets you FREE research from Gartner on Marketing Automation Systems. Learn what 12,000 CIOs and Senior IT Leaders already know.

Pace-Layered Application Strategy

Gartner's Pace-Layered Application Strategy is a methodology for categorizing, selecting, managing and governing applications to support business change, differentiation and innovation.

INSPECT

Gartner's iterative framework for planning and executing application change. The letters stand for Inventory, Scope, Parse, Examine, Consider options, Tactical solutions.

Automated Document Factory (ADF)

Gartner's term for an architecture and set of processes to manage the creation and delivery of mission-critical, high-volume digital documents. The ADF applies factory production concepts to the document production — raw materials, including data and preparation instructions, enter the ADF, where they are transformed into digital documents and prepared for delivery.

Generation Scheduling

Generation scheduling tools analyze the electric power system network operations and the economic dispatch of each power plant to optimize overall energy delivery under given constraints, such as carbon dioxide emissions or transmission stability limits. Scheduling tools support different planning horizons, such as hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and annually, as well as 10-year plans for...

RSA (rural service area)

Geographic area designation used for the allocation of 1,900MHz cellular licenses to mobile service providers in the U.S. that determines where they can operate. An RSA is a non-urban area. There are 306 MSAs and 428 RSAs in the U.S. There is considerable overlap with the older BTA and MTA designations. See also BTA, MSA...

Geospatial Mashups

Geospatial mashups are applications that can display many sources of information and the geographical relationships among them. A mashup is a lightweight, Web-based, composite application, with no native data store or content repository. What makes a mashup geospatial is the ability to view multiple data repositories or even real-time data streams within a consistent geospatial...

Geothermal Cooling for Data Centers

Geothermal cooling is different from using geothermal energy to generate power. It uses the near-constant temperature of the earth just below the surface to provide cooling capability. Geothermal cooling is not new; throughout history, people have kept foods and beverages, such as wine, cool by storing them below ground in cellars. For data centers, geothermal...

Geothermal Power Generation

Geothermal power is a highly geographically variable renewable energy source. Traditionally, energy is produced from geothermal resources that have a combination of three attributes high temperature rock, saturation of the rock mass and high permeability to allow water (the heat transfer agent) to move throughout the target geothermal field. Since geothermal power output can be...

Gesture Control

Gesture control is the ability to recognize and interpret movements of the human body in order to interact with and control a computer system without direct physical contact. The term "natural user interface" is becoming commonly used to describe these interface systems, reflecting the general lack of any intermediate devices between the user and the...

Global Delivery

Global delivery is the technical skills, process rigor, tools, methodologies, overall structure and strategies for seamlessly delivering IT-enabled services (IT or business process services) from global locations. Global delivery locations are broadly categorized as being inclusive of four options onsite, onshore, nearshore  and offshore (see "Offshore Services").

Global Delivery Model

Global delivery model (GDM) refers to the assets and competencies (IT skills/labor resources, tools, policies and procedures, methodologies, infrastructure, management, human resource functions, and delivery processes) of an organization's service provider (internal or external) to source skills from global locations for IT/business benefit. In an optimized GDM, the disparate set of resources comes together seamlessly;...

Global Regulatory Management

Global regulatory management represents key capabilities that a life science company must possess to operate in a global regulatory environment that is increasingly complex and in a state of continuous change. Key capabilities that we will highlight are clinical trial disclosure, product registrations and submission tracking/management. Each capability area addresses a discrete but related need,...

Glonass

Glonass is a global satellite positioning system run by the Russian Ministry of Defence. It runs parallel to the U.S. GPS system and the planned Galileo system [currently being built by the European Union (EU) and European Space Agency (ESA)], and its signals can be reached by any user of a Glonass receiver globally (once...

Green Money

Green money is a medium of exchange used to fund and support ecological endeavors in promotion of the environmental economy.

Group Buying

Group buying is a type of social commerce in which an offer is made by an organization using socially based techniques and capabilities to potential customers. However, the offers are contingent on a certain number of buyers partaking in the offers, as well as other participation conditions.

HR Shared-Service-Center Tools

HR shared-service tools enable organizations to manage HR shared-service operations more effectively. This includes ticketing, policy and knowledge management, incident routing, SLA monitoring, and elements of manager and employee self-service portals. HR shared-service tools often manage sensitive employee data, such as disciplinary data or medical information. Typically, the solutions integrate with core HR management system...TitleHuman Resource Management System | HRMS | Gartner Technology TrendsOne click gets you FREE research from Gartner on HR software. Learn what 12,000 CIOs and Senior IT Leaders already know.

HTML5

HTML5 is a collection of proposed specifications for the next generation of HTML. Beyond this, HTML5 is used as a short-hand label for all that's new with the Web, including CSS3 and changes to HTTP.

HTTP 2.0

HTTP 2.0 is the next-generation successor to HTTP 1.1, the protocol that governs the transfer of documents between servers and clients on the World Wide Web. HTTP 2.0 stems from an initiative of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to address perceived problems in performance and efficiency, and possibly provide enhanced security as well.

Hadoop

Hadoop is an open-source software framework that supports the processing and storage of extremely large data sets in a distributed computing environment. All the modules in Hadoop are designed with a fundamental assumption that hardware failures are a common occurrence and should be automatically handled by the framework.  It is part of the Apache project...

Handwriting Recognition

Handwriting recognition systems use pattern matching to convert handwritten letters into corresponding computer text or commands in real time. Batch recognition of handwritten forms is already embedded into mainstream form sorting and processing systems (for example, for mail and check handling, and other types of financial applications and transactions), and it is not included in...

Haptics in Automotive

Haptics use tactile interfaces (for example, steering wheels and seats) to provide touch or force feedback as part of the user interface (UI) in vehicles (for example, a vibrating seat to inform driver of a pedestrian about to cross the street). Haptic technology has the potential to add new forms of driver communication to a...

synchronous

Having a constant time interval between successive bits, characters or events. Synchronous transmission uses no redundant information to identify the beginning and end of characters, and is faster and more efficient than asynchronous transmission, which uses start and stop bits. The timing is achieved by transmitting sync characters prior to data; usually synchronization can be...

High-Speed Color Inkjet Printing

High-speed color inkjet technology enables printing in excess of 150 letter-size pages per minute (ppm) using stationary print heads. Multiple banks of print heads are used to print colors individually or in combination to produce process color images.

High-Temperature Superconductivity

High-temperature superconductivity is a technology that facilitates the use of ceramic materials for conducting and transmitting electricity with little or no resistance loss without the need to achieve low-temperature superconductivity. Despite its name, high-temperature superconductivity still occurs at cryogenic temperatures. The main difference from low-temperature superconductivity, which is usually achieved at or near the absolute...

historian software

Historian software captures the output of operational technology systems and manages its life cycle, and provides access for and performing some levels of data analysis.

Home Server

Home servers are used to aggregate storage on consumer home networks. Although similar to less-expensive home network-attached storage (NAS) devices, home servers are more sophisticated devices geared to aggregating a broader range of services on a home network. These services center on storage/media streaming (e.g., music, photos and videos) and home PC backup, but also...

Hosted PC Virtualization Software

Hosted PC virtualization software enables a user to run multiple OSs simultaneously on top of a single, host PC OS.

Human Capital Management (HCM) Application Services

Human capital management (HCM) application services include services that advise, plan, design, build and implement strategies, processes and solutions for HCM or HR, as well as the operation and maintenance of such applications. A 2014 study stated that "Improved efficiency/accuracy" was the top reason buyers were seeking new HR software.

Human Capital Management - HCM

Human capital management (HCM) is a set of practices related to people resource management.

Humanitarian Disaster Relief

Humanitarian disaster relief is a complex set of tools and processes that government agencies use to obtain and maintain authority and control, manage disparate resources and address the many needs of victims during a disaster. Complexity is inherent in the process because many organizations with expert disaster relief skills, emergency responders and volunteers are present...

Hundred Call Seconds (CCS)

Hundred Call Seconds (CCS), or centum call seconds, is a metric used in calculating call center inquiry volume or efficiency.

Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs)

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) have both a petrol- or diesel-powered combustion engine and an electric engine. HEVs increase fuel efficiency by either switching from one engine to the other or adding additional power, according to the driving conditions.

Hybrid Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC)

Hybrid unified communications and collaboration (UCC) allows enterprises to procure UCC services through several deployment models, while supporting the seamless service integration needed to deliver a UCC experience to users, for example, by blending traditional on-premises, public cloud and private cloud deployment models. Hybrid UCC allows organizations to select different procurement models for different UCC...

Hydrogen Economy

Hydrogen economy is a vision of an energy delivery infrastructure based on hydrogen as a carbon-free energy carrier. Fuel cells would generate electricity from hydrogen with heat and water vapor as byproducts. An alternative energy economy in the form of a parallel power and transportation infrastructure is needed, including technical solutions for energy-efficient hydrogen production,...

IM (instant messaging)

IM is a communications service in which short messages appear in pop-up screens as soon as they are received, thereby commanding the recipient's immediate attention. Most IM services offer presence information that indicates if the user is online and available to send and receive messages. These services also provide "buddy lists" that are groups of...

IP Centrex platforms

IP Centrex platforms offer a broad range of PBX replacement and new services. These products typically work with a variety of end-user devices and interfaces, including analog and digital phones, IP desktop phones, PDAs and mobile phones, all of which are widely used in enterprises. These platforms offer a wide variety of enhanced features, such...

IP multimedia subsystem session control layer

IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is a standardized, open architecture based on SIP and the Diameter authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) protocol. IMS defines how applications and services are delivered to customers, regardless of which network they run on. It separates session control from the actual applications for maximum flexibility, and can be used for centralized...

IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)

IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is an open architecture standard based on Session Initiation Protocol. It defines how applications and services are delivered to customers, regardless of the access network on which they run. IMS separates session control from the host application for maximum flexibility and standardizes the signaling and control layer, together with network-based and...

IP datacasting

IP datacasting uses DVB-H technology to transmit digital multimedia data to mobile devices in the form of IP datagrams. Content can be optimized for mobile handsets by adapting it to their small screens.

IRR (internal rate of return)

IRR analysis determines the interest rate and then compares this rate to the "risk-adjusted rate of return." industry protocol.

IT Service Desk (ITSD)

IT Service Desk (ITSD) products range from simple call tracking/trouble ticketing (aka "help desk" products) to broad suite solutions encompassing call management, incident management, problem management, IT change management, configuration/inventory repositories, request fulfillment and self-service portals. In their technical platform, ITSD products include knowledge management (knowledge search capability) and workflow engines (managing automated escalation and...

IT Management

IT management services provide day-to-day management and operation of IT assets and processes. As such, they represent the core value components of ITO. IT management services are divided into three key subsegments operations services (for IT infrastructure), application management services and help desk management services.

IT Services

IT services refers to the application of business and technical expertise to enable organizations in the creation, management and optimization of or access to information and business processes. The IT services market can be segmented by the type of skills that are employed to deliver the service (design, build, run). There are also different categories...

IT Strategy

IT strategy is the discipline that defines how IT will be used to help businesses win in their chosen business context.  

IT/OT Alignment

IT/OT alignment is an approach to deal with the internal changes within an organization in response to IT/OT convergence. As the nature of the OT systems starts to change, organizations need to respond by aligning the standards, policies, tools, processes and staff between IT and the business.

IT/OT Integration

IT/OT integration is the end state sought by organizations (most commonly, asset-intensive organizations) where instead of a separation of IT and OT as technology areas with different areas of authority and responsibility, there is integrated process and information flow.

IMT-2000 (international mobile telecommunications-2000)

ITU's name for a family of 3G cellular standards. It is aimed at providing a standard framework for worldwide wireless access that links the diverse system of terrestrial- and satellite-based networks.

IAM as a Service (IAMaaS)

Identity and access management (IAM) as a service (IAMaaS) refers to software as a service (SaaS) forms of IAM that require minimal or no enterprise on-premises presence of hardware or software.

Identity Management - Access Management - Gartner Research

Identity and access management is the security discipline that enables individuals to access the right resources at the right times for the right reasons.

Image Recognition

Image recognition technologies strive to identify objects, people, buildings, places, logos, and anything else that has value to consumers and enterprises. Smartphones and tablets equipped with cameras have pushed this technology from mainly industrial applications (for example, sorting fruit) to consumer applications. For example, logos, cars, landmarks, wine labels, and book and album covers can...

Immersive Learning Environments (ILEs)

Immersive learning environments (ILEs) are learning situations that are constructed using a variety of techniques and software tools, including game-based learning, simulation-based learning and virtual 3D worlds. ILEs are distinguished from other learning methods by their ability to simulate realistic scenarios and environments that give learners the opportunity to practice skills and interact with other...

IMT-A (international mobile telecommunications advanced)

In December 2005, IMT-A became the ITU's official term for 4G mobile telephony. ITU defines the objectives of IMT-A as providing throughout of up to 100 Mbps for a moving mobile device and 1 Gbps for a static device. See also 4G and LTE.

DAS (dual-attached station)

In Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), a device that is attached to both the primary and secondary rings.

Distributed Version Control System (DVCS)

In a distributed version control system (DVCS), a full copy of the source code and version history can be on each participant's desktop. It is easier to create a new branch or variation, rapidly reflecting an individual's change actions, but this approach shifts network overhead and difference/merge overhead to a synchronized workflow stage. This separation...

CIR (committed information rate)

In a frame relay network, the minimum speed to be maintained between nodes.

Average Inventory

In an inventory system, average inventory is the sum of one-half the lot sizes plus the reserve stock in formula calculations.

Object-Oriented System

In an object-oriented system, all data is represented as discrete objects with which the user and other objects may interact. Each object contains data as well as information about the executable file needed to interpret that data. An object-oriented system allows the user to focus completely on tasks rather than tools. Examples of object-oriented programming...

SCR (sustainable cell rate)

In asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), the average cell rate a source is allowed to maintain.

cladding

In fiber-optic cable, a colored, low refractive index material that surrounds the core and provides optical insulation and protection to the core.

Pwn

In hacker jargon, pwn  means to compromise or control, specifically another computer, website, gateway device, or application.

secret-key cryptography

In this cryptography method (also known as symmetric-key cryptography), the single key needed to encrypt and decrypt messages is a shared secret between the communicating parties. The biggest problem with this method is that the secret key must be communicated through an external mechanism separate from the communication channel over which the encrypted text flows....

Information Life Cycle Management (ILM)

Information life cycle management (ILM) is an approach to data and storage management that recognizes that the value of information changes over time and that it must be managed accordingly. ILM seeks to classify data according to its business value and establish policies to migrate and store data on the appropriate storage tier and, ultimately,...

information (knowledge) assets

Information relevant to an enterprise's business function, including captured and tacit knowledge of employees, customers or business partners; data and information stored in highly-structured databases; data and information stored in textual form and in less-structured databases such as messages, e-mail, workflow content and spreadsheets; information stored in digital and paper documents; purchased content; and public...

knowledge assets

Information relevant to an enterprise's business function, including the captured and tacit knowledge of employees, customers or business partners; data and information stored in structured databases; data and information stored in textual form and unstructured databases (e.g., e-mail and workflow systems); information stored in digital and paper documents; purchased content; and public content from the...

Instruction Set Virtualization

Instruction set virtualization emulates the instruction set of one processor type by hardware, firmware and/or software running on a different processor type. It can apply emulation to individual programs or on entire virtual machines. A user who owns software developed to run on one chip type would be able to use it on a server...

knowledge capital

Intangible assets of an enterprise that are required to achieve business goals, including employee's knowledge; data and information about processes, products, customers and competitors; and intellectual property such as patents or regulatory licenses.

Integrated Marketing Management

Integrated marketing management (IMM) represents the business strategy, process automation and technologies required to integrate people, processes and technologies across the marketing ecosystem. IMM supports closed-loop marketing by integrating operational, executional and analytical marketing processes from concept/idea to planning to resource allocation to creation/project management to piloting to full-scale execution through to evaluation and analysis.

Integrated Risk Management (IRM)

Integrated risk management (IRM) is a set of practices and processes supported by a risk-aware culture and enabling technologies, that improves decision making and performance through an integrated view of how well an organization manages its unique set of risks. Under the Gartner definition, IRM has certain attributes Strategy Enablement and implementation of a framework,...

intellectual property

Intellectual property traditionally includes assets that are protected through regulatory methods such as patents, copyrights and regulatory licenses; however, this protection is being expanded to include software and business processes when these can be demonstrated to be original, novel and non-obvious. Customer intelligence and business intelligence may be considered intellectual "property" by its owner, depending...

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)

Internet Protocol television (IPTV) refers to the network architecture, equipment and technologies, middleware and software platforms used to deliver standard or high-definition television (HDTV) signals, in real time, over managed communications service provider (CSP) networks. Until recently, IPTV services were a TV delivery solution for wireline CSPs over either DSL or FTTH access networks. Now,...

expertise location

Involves identifying human expertise, determining the status of that resource and integrating the person or expertise into the interaction process. It is used to maintain in-depth representations of skills, geographic locations, availability and other parameters relevant to the use of the expertise.

PHS (personal HandyPhone system)

Japanese standard operating in the 1,900MHz band for low-mobility digital cellular or mobile WLL services. It typically supports handover between cells for users traveling at pedestrian or slow vehicular speeds, or it can be used to provide fixed wireless access to users. See also mobile WLL and PAS.

gemba

Japanese term for "actual place" but frequently used as "the shop floor" in the lean paradigm.

kohai

Kohai is the Japanese term for "protégé"; used in lean enterprises to describe a student of lean practices who learns from a senpai.

Line of Code

Line of code is a unit used in measuring or estimating the scale of programming or code conversion efforts.

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been cooled to _259 degrees Fahrenheit. It occupies 0.17% of the volume of natural gas, making cost-effective overseas transport by large-capacity ships between LNG processing terminals or ports possible. LNG technologies are associated with key processes of liquefaction, transportation and regasification. These processes include operational technologies...

Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS)

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) is a microdisplay technology in which liquid crystals are fabricated on a silicon device that contains control electronics. These devices compete with Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology in the projector and picoprojector markets. Viewfinders in camera products are another key application area.

Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) Batteries

Lithium Iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries are a type of lithium ion (Li-Ion) rechargeable battery. Their benefits over the more traditional cobalt-based Li-Ion batteries are increased power output, faster charging, reduced weight and longer lifetime. The batteries also have better safety characteristics and do not explode under extreme conditions. LiFePO4 batteries also eliminate the concerns of...

Load Forecasting

Load forecasting minimizes utility risk by predicting future consumption of commodities transmitted or delivered by the utility. Techniques include price elasticity, weather and demand response/load analysis, and renewable generation predictive modeling. Forecasts must use regional customer load data, with time series customer load profiles. Accurate forecasts require adjustments for seasonality. Distribution load forecasting must be...

Location-Aware Technology

Location-aware technology includes sensors and methods for detecting or calculating the geographical position of a person, a mobile device or other moving objects. The most common location-aware technologies are GPS, assisted GPS (A-GPS), Wi-Fi, Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD) and Enhanced GPS (E-GPS).

Location-Based Advertising (LBA)

Location-based advertising (LBA) refers to advertisements that appear on a mobile device, including banner or text ads on a mobile Internet site or mobile application, including maps.

Logistics Network Planning

Logistics network planning refers to the class of tools required to analyze the trade-offs among inventory quantities, number and location of warehouses, and transportation costs to most profitably support a desired level of customer service. LNP is a proven scientific method for analyzing the required cost and service levels that warehouses need to meet specified...

LTE-A

Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) is defined in 3GPP Release 10 and is intended to be the first fully compliant version of the ITU's specification for 4G systems. The targeted peak rate for downlink is 1 Gbps and, for uplink, greater than 500 Mbps. This should be achieved with scalable usage of up to 100...

Loopback

Loopback tests the performance and quality of a line or terminating equipment.

Loosely Coupled Multiprocessing

Loosely coupled multiprocessing is a configuration of several processors, each with its own memory, that execute user and operating-system code independently.

Low-Cost IT

Low-cost IT refers to the delivery of managed IT services (infrastructure, application, business process services) designed and implemented to minimize IT price — per-user/unit per-month — while maximizing the number of client organizations and users that adopt the services.

Management Consulting

Management consulting is strategic consulting focused on high-level corporate or business unit strategy (e.g., deciding what businesses to participate in or whether to make an acquisition), or on operational improvement (e.g., improving customer service or determining the most effective type of retail delivery system).

IT management services

Management services transfer all or part of the day-to-day management responsibility for a customer's network environment (including LAN hardware and software, WAN — voice and data — and voice network hardware and software) and, in some cases, the ownership of the technology or personnel assets, to an outside vendor. These services may include system operation...

Manufacturing Execution System

Manufacturing execution systems (MESs) manage, monitor and synchronize the execution of real-time, physical processes involved in transforming raw materials into intermediate and/or finished goods. They coordinate this execution of work orders with production scheduling and enterprise-level systems. MES applications also provide feedback on process performance, and support component- and material-level traceability, genealogy, and integration with...

Manufacturing Planning

Manufacturing planning refers to the weekly or daily production and machine schedules across multiple plants or lines to meet orders and forecast demand. Some manufacturing planning modules also incorporate materials planning.

Manufacturing Scheduling

Manufacturing scheduling is a generation of plant-level execution schedules by product and resource (e.g., line and machine) and resolution of day-to-day capacity bottlenecks. Scheduling applications normally include a more granular level of resource information, and will provide such functionality as sequence dependent setup, tank scheduling and point-of-use material availability.

dirty protocols

Many Internet Protocol (IP) applications assume that direct IP connectivity exists between hosts. In today's Internet or extranets, this is often not true. The problems of limited IP address space have caused many enterprises to use private Request for Comment (RFC) 1918 addresses. These addresses cannot be routed and, for enterprises to connect to the...

MapReduce

MapReduce is a programming model or algorithm for the processing of data using a parallel programming implementation and was originally used for academic purposes associated with parallel programming techniques.

Marketing Mix and Product Portfolio Optimization

Marketing mix optimization enables marketers to maximize returns on their marketing expenditures by determining the best set of advertising and targeted campaigns across various channels. Media mix optimization, which is one type of marketing mix optimization, supports media planning and buying, and maximizes the return on spending across media and advertising campaigns. Production portfolio optimization...

Marketing Performance Management (MPM)

Marketing performance management (MPM) encompasses the technologies and services for solutions that support marketing's ability to gain access to insights, analyze data, make predictions, and optimize marketing programs, campaigns and resources. At the foundational level, MPM includes a data repository, BI tools and analytical workbenches. At the strategic level, MPM provides role-based access to information...

Marketing Resource Management

Marketing resource management applications enable strategic planning and budgeting, program management, creative development and distribution, content management, media planning and execution, event coordination, and resource measurement.

Mashups

Mashups are lightweight composite applications that source all of their content from existing systems and data sources; they have no native data store or content repository. To access the resources that they leverage, mashups employ the technologies of the Web, including representational state transfer (REST) APIs, RSS and ATOM feeds and widgets.

Mass Collaboration

Mass collaboration is the ability for multitudes of people to quickly and effectively contribute to the development or evolution of an idea, artifact, process, plan, action, etc. In the context of social software, mass collaboration includes participation by people who otherwise may not have had a pre-existing relationship.

Message Switching

Message switching refers to the technique of receiving a message, storing it until the proper outgoing line is available, and then retransmitting it. Unlike in-line switching, no direct connection between the incoming and outgoing lines is established.

Master Data Management (MDM)

Master data management (MDM) is a technology-enabled discipline in which business and IT work together to ensure the uniformity, accuracy, stewardship, semantic consistency and accountability of the enterprise's official shared master data assets. Master data is the consistent and uniform set of identifiers and extended attributes that describes the core entities of the enterprise including...

Business Process Management - BPM

Master the Digital Process Revolution. Visit Gartner for Research and Webinars Covering IT Tech Trends and Business Process Management.TitleBPO - Business Process Outsourcing - Gartner ITThe delegation of one or more IT-intensive business processes to an external provider. click for FREE Research Covering Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

Materials Management

Materials management is a term to describe the grouping of management functions related to the complete cycle of material flow, from the purchase and internal control of production materials, to the planning and control of work in process, to the warehousing, shipping and distribution of the finished product. It differs from materials control in that the...

Media Objects

Media objects are non-Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) files or applications that can be displayed or executed as part of an HTML document. Examples include graphic, audio and video files, and Java applets.

Media-Embedded Merchandising (MEM)

Media-embedded merchandising (MEM) is a form of product placement that enables commercial content (such as a branded prop, product shot or custom segment) to be embedded into, and/or automatically identified and tagged within, a rich-media element (usually a linear video program, but games and virtual worlds are also possible) in a way that allows viewers...

Memory Overcommit

Memory overcommit is a term used to describe the ability to run multiple virtual machines (VMs) when the total memory defined for the VMs is higher than the physical memory that's actually available.

Message Authentication

Message authentication is a function in which the device determines if the received message arrived from its stated source and in an unaltered form. The actual message need not be encrypted, but its authentication code must be.

Message Feedback

Message feedback is a method of checking the accuracy of data transmission. The received data is returned to the sending end for comparison with the original data, which is stored there for this purpose. Also called information feedback and loop checking.

Message Format

Message format are rules for the placement of portions of a message, such as the heading, address, text, end-of-message indication and error-detecting bits.

Message Numbering

Message numbering is the identification of each message within a communications system through the assignment of a sequential number.

Message Passing

Message passing refers to services performing a simple, one-way transfer operation between two programs. Like the other one-way messaging models, message passing generally leaves the sending program unblocked. Also, as with all forms of messaging, message passing is usually connectionless, which means that the sending application does not have to explicitly establish and manage a...

Messaging Hypertext Markup Language

Messaging Hypertext Markup Language (MHTML) is a language that is capable of packaging externally referenced image files within an HTML page, potentially increasing the bulk of the page significantly.

Messaging

Messaging refers to an alphanumeric or graphic one-way or two-way service that sends, receives and displays messages on a mobile device.

Metadata

Metadata is information that describes various facets of an information asset to improve its usability throughout its life cycle. It is metadata that turns information into an asset. Generally speaking, the more valuable the information asset, the more critical it is to manage the metadata about it, because it is the metadata definition that provides...

Microcode

Microcode refers to the microinstructions, especially of a microprocessor, that govern the details of operation. Microcoded functions can improve performance but add a layer of complexity. For example, microcode errors appear to software as being hardware failures.

Microgrid

Microgrids are small-scale, low-voltage power systems with distributed energy sources, storage devices and controllable loads. They are operated connected to the main power network or "islanded" in a controlled, coordinated way. The operation of microgrids offers advantages to customers and utilities by improving energy efficiency, reducing transmission and distribution losses, improving reliability, reducing environmental impact,...

Microgrids

Microgrids are small-scale, low-voltage power systems with distributed energy sources, storage devices and controllable loads. They are operated connected to the main power network or "islanded" in a controlled, coordinated way. The operation of microgrids offers advantages to customers and utilities by improving energy efficiency, reducing transmission and distribution losses, improving reliability, reducing environmental impact,...

Microinverters

Microinverters are small power inverters designed to be mounted on the individual panels of a photovoltaic (PV) solar electric system, in contrast to conventional, centralized inverters that are larger and designed to handle the output of many PV panels. The primary function of the inverter is to convert the DC output of the PV panel...

Microsoft Certified Professional

Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) is a Microsoft certification that requires passing a single operating-system test. MCPs can further specialize in Internet technologies to attain an MCP with Internet or site-building specialization, or can continue taking the exams necessary to become a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE).

directory services

Middleware that locates the correct and full network address for a mail addressee from a partial name or address. A directory service provides a naming service and extends the capabilities to include intelligent searching and location of resources in the directory structure.

Mobile PC ODMs

Mobile PC ODMs are defined as mobile PC contract manufacturers that provide mobile PC manufacturing services to mobile PC OEM vendors.

Mobile PC

Mobile PCs meet all PC criteria but are designed to be easily moved from place to place. The system is completely self-contained and can be carried as a single unit, which includes a keyboard, a display, mass storage and the main system unit. Its power sources are alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC). Mobile...

Mobile TV

Mobile TV is any linear, continuous content that is streamed or broadcast over a network to mobile phones. This is often referred to as "live" or real-time TV.

Mobile Web Applications

Mobile Web applications refer to applications for mobile devices that require only a Web browser to be installed on the device. They typically use HTML and Ajax (and, increasingly, HTML5 components), although they may make use of augmented rich Internet application (RIA) technologies, such as Flash, JavaFX and Silverlight, but are not written specifically for...

Mobile and Wireless Infrastructure Software Platforms

Mobile and wireless infrastructure software platforms refer to development tools and deployment servers that are used to create brand-new customer mobile applications or to "mobilize" established conventional enterprise applications, e-mail and enterprise data stores.

M-business

Mobile business (m-business) refers to new business models enabled by the extensive deployment of key mobile and wireless technologies and devices (for example, Bluetooth, e-purses, smartphones, UMTS and WAP), and by the inherent mobility of most people's work styles and lifestyles. The value proposition of m-business is that the user can benefit from information or services any...

OSI Management

OSI management refers to the facilities to control, coordinate and monitor the resources that enable communications in an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) environment.

Mobile Centrex

Mobile centrex is a network-based service using wireless mobile phones that enables traditional PBX-style calling features. Mobile centrex can be provided in several forms IP PBX with cellular or Wi-Fi dual-mode handsets, private base stations with cellular single-mode handsets, or mobile virtual private networks (VPNs).

M-commerce

Mobile commerce (m-commerce) refers to the delivery of e-commerce capabilities directly to mobile service users by wireless technology.

Mobile Deep Packet Inspection (DPI)

Mobile deep packet inspection (DPI) is a technique used to monitor the data traffic in mobile applications. As a business model evolves in which data services become more important than voice for revenue generation—and in which the network is upgraded to Long Term Evolution (LTE) and becomes Internet Protocol (IP) end-to-end—the ability to perform traffic...

Mobile Device Management (MDM)

Mobile device management (MDM) includes software that provides the following functions software distribution, policy management, inventory management, security management and service management for smartphones and media tablets. MDM functionality is similar to that of PC configuration life cycle management (PCCLM) tools; however, mobile-platform-specific requirements are often part of MDM suites.

quad-band

Mobile device that supports voice and data communications conforming to one bearer technology, such as GSM, but on four different sets of frequencies. For example, many European and Asia/Pacific countries/markets have licensed deployment of GSM networks on 900MHz and 1,800MHz spectrums, and in North America GSM has been deployed on 800MHz and 1,900MHz. A quad-band...

Mobile DRM

Mobile digital rights management (mobile DRM) refers to technology that enables the secure distribution, promotion and sale of digital content for mobile devices. The OMA sees mobile DRM as an enabler of controlled consumption of digital content, enabling content providers to specify usage rights on such content. Usage rights include, among other things, the ability...

Mobile Satellite Services (MSS)

Mobile satellite services (MSS) provide two-way voice and data communications to global users who are on the go or in remote locations; terminals range in size from handheld to laptop-size units. Terminals can also be mounted in a vehicle, with communications maintained while the vehicle is moving. MSS operates at L-band—low enough in the frequency...

Mobile Social Networks

Mobile social-networking services enable individuals to connect to their social communities with a mobile device, through one or more available channels.

Mobile Widgets

Mobile widgets are small, usually simple, applications built using Web technologies such as JavaScript, XML, HTML and style sheets. Widgets are stored on a handset and are executed locally by a widget engine, which may be provided by the mobile browser or as a separate tool. Most widget technologies are available on smartphones; some are...

Model-Driven Packaged Applications

Model-driven packaged applications refer to enterprise applications that have explicit metadata-driven models of the supported processes, data and relationships, and that generate runtime components through metadata models, either dynamically interpreted or compiled, rather than hardcoded. The essential difference is that models can be modified by business analysts or key users without having to involve programmers,...

Molten Salt Energy Storage

Molten salt energy storage is a means of storing energy in the form of heat that can be retrieved and used to create steam to drive a turbine for purposes of generating electricity.

Money Clouds

Money cloud platform development projects are collaborative initiatives that attempt to create a technology platform and protocol standards to enable multiple, interoperable currencies to exist on the Internet. The goal is to create an open-source technology environment that decentralizes the monetary economy, and enables person-to-person (P2P) transactions without a central controlling system or proprietary technology.

self-test and fault isolation

Most systems include a processor-check capability that allows the controlling computer to test itself and the rest of the system. If a fault is found, an alarm light is lit and a message is given on the system printer teletype, if one is provided. This feature also expedites service since the computer can pinpoint faulty...

Multichannel Loyalty

Multichannel loyalty systems are next-generation systems that enable retailers to use loyalty functionality from one centralized management system to transact with, interact with, and reward customers across any and all channels. Providing loyalty capability to point of sale (POS), e-commerce and call centers is the minimum. Mobile and social capabilities continue to emerge in importance.

Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service

Multichannel multipoint distribution service (MMDS) is a fixed wireless technology, sometimes referred to as wireless cable TV or wireless generic DSL (xDSL). MMDS operates between 2.5GHz and 2.7GHz and is used for broadcasting, personal communications and interactive media services in metropolitan areas.

Multiple Instruction, Multiple Data

Multiple instruction, multiple data (MIMD) is a design for parallel computers characterized by the simultaneous execution of many different instruction streams (programs), each of which handles different data.

Multiplexing

Multiplexing is a division of a transmission facility into two or more channels either by splitting the frequency band transmitted by the channel into narrower bands, each of which is used to constitute a distinct channel (frequency division multiplexing), or by allotting this common channel to several different information channels, one at a time (time...

Multipoint

Multipoint pertains or refers to a communications line to which three or more stations are connected. It implies that the line physically extends from one station to another until all are connected.

Multitenancy

Multitenancy is a reference to the mode of operation of software where multiple independent instances of one or multiple applications operate in a shared environment. The instances (tenants) are logically isolated, but physically integrated. The degree of logical isolation must be complete, but the degree of physical integration will vary. The more physical integration, the...

Multitouch

Multitouch refers to a touchscreen interaction technique in which multiple simultaneous touchpoints and movements can be detected and used for screen navigation or to control objects (such as sorting a series of pictures) on the screen. Various combinations of two or more fingers may be used together to create control gestures. A user may, for...

FOMA (Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access)

NTT DoCoMo's WCDMA cellular service, launched in October 2001, was only the second deployment of its kind in the world — the first being the network of Manx Telecom on the Isle of Man.

Nanotube

Nanotubes are tiny cylinders of atoms that can be used for a wide variety of purposes because of their electrical or mechanical properties. Different properties and different forces apply at the nanoscale level when compared with macro or "real world" dimensions. These differences exhibit themselves in the form of high electrical conductivity, great mechanical strength...

Natural-Language Understanding

Natural-language understanding (NLU) is the comprehension by computers of the structure and meaning of human language (e.g., English, Spanish, Japanese), allowing users to interact with the computer using natural sentences.

Netbooks

Netbooks are mobile computing devices that have a screen size of five to 10 inches and run a full version of the client OS, such as Windows 7, Windows XP or a Linux PC OS. They have a clamshell form factor.

Network and System Management

Network and system management (NSM) refers to the intersection of networking, network management and system management. The vision of NSM (also known as "networked systems management") is to enable the management of a distributed set of systems in a fashion similar to that in which many centralized data centers are managed.

Network Configuration and Change Management (NCCM) Tools

Network configuration and change management (NCCM) tools focus on discovering and documenting network device configurations; detecting, auditing and alerting on changes; comparing configurations with the policy or "gold standard" for that device; and deploying configuration updates to multivendor network devices.

Network Fault Monitoring Tools

Network fault monitoring tools indicate the up/down status of network components, such as routers and switches. In some cases, the tools also discover and visualize the topology map of physical relationships and dependencies among network components as a way to display the up/down status in a context that can be easily understood.

Network Intelligence (NI)

Network intelligence (NI) is an enabling technology that allows communications service providers (CSPs) to capture subscriber-, service- and application-level awareness contained in network traffic. This information is analyzed and exposed for integration with other applications in the back office, allowing CSPs to apply granular policies to influence customer experience and adapt to dynamic shifts in...

network outsourcing (enterprise and public network)

Network outsourcing is a multiyear or annuity contract/relationship involving the purchase of ongoing network or telecom management services for managing, enhancing, maintaining and supporting premises or core network infrastructure or enterprise telecommunications assets (including fixed and wireless). In addition to network or telecommunications management, network outsourcing isolates those services specifically delivered in a longer-term contract...

Network Performance Monitoring Tools

Network performance monitoring tools provide performance and availability monitoring solutions for the data communication network (including network devices and network traffic). These tools collect performance data over time, and include features such as baselining, threshold evaluation, network traffic analysis, service-level reporting, trend analysis, historical reporting and, in some cases, interfaces to billing and chargeback systems.

Network Redundancy

Network redundancy is a communications pathway that has additional links to connect all nodes in case one link goes down.

Network Security

Network security are measures taken to protect a communications pathway from unauthorized access to, and accidental or willful interference of, regular operations.

Network Virtualization

Network virtualization is the process of combining hardware and software network resources and functionality into a single virtual network. This offers access to routing features and data streams which can provide newer, service-aware, resilient solutions; newer security services that are native within network elements; support for subscriber-aware policy control for peer-to-peer traffic management; and application-aware,...

Neurobusiness

Neurobusiness is the capability of applying neuroscience insights to improve outcomes in customer and other business decision situations.

IMS (IP multimedia subsystem)

Next-generation application delivery architecture. In the IMS architecture, applications can be created, controlled and changed, regardless of the kind of network or platform on which they run. IMS promises to bring flexibility, operational effectiveness, openness and standardization to the delivery of applications across fixed and mobile networks. It specifies a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based control...

Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs)

Next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) are deep-packet inspection firewalls that move beyond port/protocol inspection and blocking to add application-level inspection, intrusion prevention, and bringing intelligence from outside the firewall. An NGFW should not be confused with a stand-alone network intrusion prevention system (IPS), which includes a commodity or nonenterprise firewall, or a firewall and IPS in the...

No-Email Initiatives

No-email initiatives seek to eliminate, or at least drastically reduce, the use of email for internal communications and collaboration. These efforts seek to reduce the problems of email overload by switching communications to enterprise social network platforms which offer richer and more varied forms of collaboration (for example, activity streams, comments, ratings, recommendations wikis and...

Non-Cable Consumer Fixed Broadband

Non-cable consumer fixed broadband incorporates FTTH, fiber to the premises (FTTP), Ethernet, DSL and other high-speed broadband services. It excludes cable broadband.

ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute)

Nonprofit enterprise whose mission is to produce the telecommunications standards that will be used throughout Europe. Standards developed by ETSI may be adopted by the European Commission as the technical base for directives or regulations. ETSI's main task is to remove all deviations from global standards and to focus on a defined, European-specific set of...

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)

Nonprofit professional association of scientists and engineers founded in 1963 with more than 365,000 members in 150 countries. It is best known for setting global standards for computing and communications and has 1,300 standards and projects under development.

continuous moves

Normally used in conjunction with private truck fleets in process industries to keep the trucks moving with different loads and driver crews on regular routes with just-in-time materials. This concept is being adopted by public fleets to utilize their assets more effectively.

OASIS

OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) is an international nonprofit consortium that promotes open, collaborative development of e-business specifications based on public standards such as XML and SGML.

PTT PoC (push-to-talk over cellular)

OMA-defined specification for the delivery of PTT walkie-talkie services over a packet radio network, typically GPRS.

Object Class

Object class is the grouping of objects that can be described in terms of the attributes its members have in common. Generic e-mail, for example, could be an object class, because all e-mail systems have certain things in common.

Object Instance

Object instance is a specific occurrence of an object. For example, a specific mail message document is an instance.

Object Late Binding

Object late binding is a runtime interpretation of messages. Using late binding, objects are integrated at runtime, as opposed to compiling an integrated object. This greatly enhances flexibility.

Object Role Modeling

Object role modeling is a proprietary method that uses English to convey data design elements. The object is to enable developers to easily present the elements to end users who are unfamiliar with modeling notation.

Object-Based Middleware

Object-based middleware is runtime software that enables objects (components) to work cooperatively with a container program or another object, even if the software is distributed across multiple computers.

Off the Shelf

Off the shelf  refers to equipmentthat has already been manufactured and is available for delivery from stock.

IRD (integrated receiver decoder)

Official name for the signal reception system that receives and converts modulated signals back into their original format suitable for presentation to an end-user device or display. IRDs typically contain a built-in decoder for unscrambling subscription TV programming channels. It is also known as a satellite receiver or satellite set-top box.

Offshore Programming

Offshore programming refers to the contracting by a company for software services to be carried out in a country other than its own — e.g., a user located in North America may choose to have applications maintenance work carried out in India.

NC (network computer)

Often called a "thin client," a network computer is a limited-function desktop computer that is designed to easily connect to networks. NCs include a keyboard, mouse, monitor, memory and a network connection but only limited, if any, local disk storage. When end users want to access software or databases using an NC, they would use...

Automated System Operations (ASO)

Often referred to as "lights-out operations," automated system operations (ASO) is a combination of hardware and software that allows a computer installation to run unattended — that is, without the need for a human operator to be physically located at the site of the installation.

Olfactory Interfaces

Olfactory interfaces synthesize odorants from a digital signature. They consist of a palette of odorants, a flow delivery system, and a control algorithm that determines the mixing ratios, concentration and timing of the stimulus. The palette stores odorants in either gel or microencapsulated form, and the diffuser is typically a set of nozzles equipped with...

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knowledge use

One of the five activities of the knowledge management process framework. Knowledge use is the application of knowledge to business decisions or opportunities. Use is also recursive, and continually generates feedback that affects and is integrated into the other knowledge activities.

LCR (Lifetime Clinical Record)

One way to build portable applications is to support only those functions that are provided on all of the target platforms. This "LCD" approach enables programs to run on numerous platforms, but does so at the expense of forgoing the use of unique, added-value features that may be offered on individual platforms.

Open Source

Open source describes software that comes with permission to use, copy and distribute, either as is or with modifications, and that may be offered either free or with a charge. The source code must be made available.

Operational Resource Management

Operational resource management is a method for acquiring a better view into the cost of goods and services to yield enterprisewide financial control that streamlines the maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) procurement process (indirect goods) and supply chain control.

Operational Technology (OT)

Operational technology (OT) is hardware and software that detects or causes a change through the direct monitoring and/or control of physical devices, processes and events in the enterprise.

Option Analysis

Option analysis is a statistical technique based on the idea that changes over time will affect the cost and benefit of a future IT investment. If it has no option to change the decision, the IT organization must abide by the original decision. However, by creating an option for a decision in the future, the...

Bluetooth 3.0 (BT3.0)

Over the last decade, Bluetooth has become the de facto technology for wireless point-to-point connectivity. Bluetooth 3.0 and Bluetooth 3.0 + HS (collectively referred to as BT3.0; HS stands for "high speed") were introduced in 2009. BT3.0 includes all of the functionality of BT2.1 EDR, in addition to the following new features Generic test methodology...

radio PAD (radio packet assembler/disassembler)

PAD with an integrated radio transceiver for use with packet radio systems.

POS (point of sale)

POS systems use personal computers or specialized terminals in combination with cash registers, optical scanners or magnetic-stripe readers to capture and record data at the time of transaction. POS systems are usually online to a central computer for credit checking and inventory updating. Alternatively, they may be independent systems that store daily transactions until they...

Parallel Network File System (pNFS)

Parallel Network File System (pNFS) is an emerging industry standard for parallel storage input/output (I/O), which is an optional feature of Network File System (NFS) v.4.1. The new technology requires a pNFS client and a pNFS server. The pNFS server manages file metadata and communicates a file layout map to the client, and the client...

Persona Management

Persona management is the nascent class of tools that helps people keep track of and communicate what they are saying in the context in which they are saying it while participating in multiple social communities.

simplex

Pertaining to the capability to transmit in one direction only. See half duplex and full duplex.

Phase Change Memory (PCM)

Phase-change memory (PCM) is a fast, low-power, random-access, nonvolatile and potentially low-cost memory technology. PCM chips are the first to be based on phase-change chalcogenide alloys, similar to the film used to store information on compact disc-rewritable (CD-RW) and DVD-RAM optical discs. The technology is also known by other names, including PCRAM and PRAM.

Physical Resource and Infrastructure Management Tools

Physical resource and infrastructure management tools are software products that monitor, model and help manage the physical dimensions of data center infrastructures, such as the IT hardware, cables, power distribution units, generators, and space. They are used to design new data centers, as well as optimize established data centers, for thermal, electrical and spatial characteristics....

Pico Projector

Pico projectors are very small projector modules that can be integrated into mobile devices, such as handsets or laptops, or used to create highly portable projector accessories for mobile workers. They can be implemented using several technologies, including liquid-crystal-on-silicon imaging chips with light-emitting diode or laser diode illumination, microelectromechanical systems digital light processing technology, or...

Plain Old XML (POX)

Plain Old XML (POX) refers to techniques where applications exchange raw XML documents using standard transfer protocols, such as HTTP, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and File Transfer Protocol (FTP), or using proprietary protocols (such as message-oriented middleware). "Raw" means that XML documents aren't wrapped in any kind of messaging protocol or envelope, such as...

Predictive Support

Predictive support provides synchronous real-time intervention based on continuous monitoring and asynchronous trend analysis to prevent service-impacting events or incidents and guarantee performance and availability. Predictive services reach out to individual customer configurations before specific issues, which may be unknown and unpredictable, manifest themselves. The support provider proactively attempts to eliminate causes and mitigate contributory...

GAN (generic access network)

Previously known as unlicensed mobile access (UMA), a GAN (generic access network) is a network architecture designed to support seamless connectivity between wide-area cellular networks, such as GSM/GPRS, and LAN technologies, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth — it is an example of fixed-mobile convergence.

secondhand market

Previously owned or used mobile devices that are sold or given free to other users who typically obtain a new network connection. Secondhand devices sometimes are refurbished systematically before resale in other countries or passed on to other users in their original condition. Although most countries have a small secondhand market, it is a significant...

hand-off

Process of transferring a mobile telephone call from one cell to another without dropping the call. Cellular users may traverse several cells during a conversation, sometimes requiring a high-speed handoff in a moving vehicle. A soft handoff entails establishing a second radio link with the mobile device before the first link is severed.

Procurement Applications

Procurement applications are used to help companies understand and improve the terms and conditions of trade and to comprehend enterprise spending. These applications assist in supplier selection, the analysis of supplier performance, and the establishment of the terms of trade to balance cost, quality and risk. Typical modules and applications include E-procurement Strategic sourcing Procurement...

Product Cost and Life Cycle Management (PCLM)

Product cost and life cycle management (PCLM) is core to maximizing product profitability from introduction to end of life. PCLM helps product management and operations executives address the many reasons why products fail to meet business targets. Unbalanced product portfolios can bring the wrong products to market or sacrifice the operations excellence needed for efficient,...

Product Life Cycle Management (PLM)

Product life cycle management (PLM) is a philosophy, process and discipline supported by software for managing products through the stages of their life cycles, from concept through retirement. As a discipline, it has grown from a mechanical design and engineering focus to being applied to many different vertical-industry product development challenges.

Product Portfolio and Program Management (PPM)

Product portfolio and program management (PPM) is the continuous cultivation of a product set and the set of capabilities to prioritize and manage product development programs. Software that supports portfolio management assists in analyzing and reporting risks versus opportunities, and it makes these analyses and opinions visible to all decision makers. PPM includes dashboards with...

product support services

Product support services refer to labor-based services for hardware or software, which can be performed by the manufacturer of the product or parties other than the vendor that created the product. These services can be provided by several types of vendors, typically including hardware OEMs, such as Dell, HP, EMC or IBM; and software publishers,...

production devices

Production devices encompass printers, stand-alone copiers and MFPs featuring a printing speed of more than 70 ppm in both monochrome and color. Production printers perform three specific types of printing • Transaction printing includes statements, bills, notices and other transactional documents that are printed in large volumes. With the growth of color print, transaction printing...

SIM card (subscriber identity module) card

Programmable smart card in a mobile device that gives access to a network. It contains codes (such as the IMSI) to identify a subscriber to a digital mobile service and the details of the special services the subscriber has elected to use. A SIM card may be a removable plastic card with embedded memory and...

Project Management

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. Gartner analysts observe many clients focused on enhancing the collaboration, communication and resulting project portfolio-level reporting needed to gain first-line visibility into project demand, project status, resource capacity and utilization, and cost estimates versus actuals. PPM...

software development

Project management, specifications, design, programming, testing, installation and training associated with a specific application development project of any size.

Public-Key Infrastructure (PKI)

Public-key infrastructure (PKI) was developed mainly to support secure information exchanges over unsecure networks. It has been used to ensure that the person identified as sending a transaction is the originator, that the person receiving the transaction is the intended recipient and that the transaction data has not been compromised. PKI requires a system for...

Quantum Dot Displays

Quantum dots are nanocrystals made from types of semiconductors that emit colored light. They are very small, with a diameter ranging from two to 10 nanometers. The different colors emitted can be finely tuned by changing the size of the quantum dot and manipulating their chemical composition.

RFID tags

RFID tags are generally small devices that respond to an RFID reader's interrogation via radio frequency. Tags vary in terms of memory, the range over which they can be read, the level of read and write capabilities, and the availability of other computational functions. The tag can hold just a product's serial number all the...

Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)

Radio frequency identification (RFID) refers to an automated data collection technology that uses radio frequency waves to transfer data between a reader and a tag to identify, track and locate the tagged item. There are two basic categories of tags used for logistics and transportation passive and battery-enabled. Passive tags collect the necessary energy from...

FDD (frequency division duplex)

Radio modulation scheme that defines separate uplink and downlink frequencies, enabling users to transmit and receive simultaneously.

spread spectrum

Radio technology that enables a number of radio communication links to use the same band of frequencies simultaneously without mutual interference.

Real-Time Analytics

Real-time analytics is the discipline that applies logic and mathematics to data to provide insights for making better decisions quickly. For some use cases, real time simply means the analytics is completed within a few seconds or minutes after the arrival of new data. On-demand real-time analytics waits for users or systems to request a...

Records Management (RM)

Records management (RM) technologies enable organizations to enforce policies and rules for the retention and disposition of content required for documenting business transactions, in addition to automating the management of their record-retention policies. These technologies, implemented with well-formulated and consistently enforced RM strategies and policies, form an essential part of the organizationwide life cycle management...

I/O bound

Refers to programs with a large number of I/O (input/output) operations, which slow the central processing unit (CPU).

Regulatory Compliance

Regulatory compliance is concerned with laws that a business must obey, or risk legal sanctions, up to and including prison for its officers.

Reusable Analog Intellectual Property (IP)

Reusable analog intellectual property (IP) refers to analog and mixed-signal IP blocks that can be reused across multiple chips. They may be designed by a chip vendor or licensed from a third-party IP vendor or a design services company. Typical analog IP blocks include, for example, operational amplifiers, analog-to-digital converters, digital-to-analog converters, phase-locked loops, delay-locked...

Revenue Assurance

Revenue assurance is the application of a process or software solution that enables a communications service provider (CSP) to accurately capture revenue for all services rendered. Instead of correcting errors after they occur, or not detecting and correcting them at all, revenue assurance enables the CSP to examine and plug dozens of actual or potential...

Rich Communication Suite (RCS)

Rich Communication Suite (RCS) is a GSMA initiative, aiming to develop specifications for Rich Communication Services. These include "enhanced" instant messaging, video calling and the ability to share documents and photos simultaneously during calls and service discovery. All services can be accessed from a subscriber's contact list. RCS services will be available across any network...

session border controllers

SBCs connect IP networks (enterprise to service provider) and introduce new edge requirements in three major areas security, service assurance and law enforcement. SBCs sit at the edge of the service provider's network and complement established routers with their ability to perform required control functions by integrating session signaling and media control. SBCs operate as...

Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN)

SD-WAN solutions provide a replacement for traditional WAN routers and are agnostic to WAN transport technologies. SD-WAN provides dynamic, policy-based, application path selection across multiple WAN connections and supports service chaining for additional services such as WAN optimization and firewalls.

SDH/SONET

SDH/SONET technology differs by region. SONET is sold only in North America. SDH is sold outside North America and comes in two types SDH (Japan) is sold only in Japan, while SDH (ETSI) is sold in the rest of the world. SDH/SONET supports ring and mesh topologies, and protection of circuits through automatic protection switching...

SOA governance technologies

SOA governance technologies are a set of tools and technologies that are used to enact and enforce governance processes and policies. They include technologies for SOA policy management, SOA registries and repositories, and SOA quality assurance and validation.

SONET (Synchronous Optical Network)

SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) is a standard for connecting fiber-optic transmission systems sold in North America only. SONET was proposed by Bellcore in the mid-1980s and is now an ANSI standard. SONET defines interface standards at the physical layer of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) seven-layer model. The standard defines a hierarchy of interface rates...

SRA

SRA is a Subsidy, Reimbursement, or Allowance often used to offset the employee's cost of using their personal technologies in business, e.g., for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs.  The term is used to capture all employer contributions to the program regardless of which method is used.  Specific SRA methods may have tax and processing...

SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication)

SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is a self-describing messaging format that is used within the banking and finance industry to support electronic funds transfer. SWIFT is also the name of the format's creator, an organization that provides messaging and transaction-processing services to member banks and other financial organizations, including brokers, securities depositories, clearing...

Sales Analytics

Sales analytics is used in identifying, modeling, understanding and predicting sales trends and outcomes while aiding sales management in understanding where salespeople can improve. Specifically, sales analytic systems provide functionality that supports discovery, diagnostic and predictive exercises that enable the manipulation of parameters, measures, dimensions or figures as part of an analytic or planning exercise.

Sales-Focused Partner Relationship Management (PRM)

Sales-focused partner relationship management (PRM) applications are designed to improve an enterprise's ability to market, sell and service end customers through channel partners. This category includes many of the traditional elements contained in a direct sales solution (opportunity management), but the solutions are configured for supporting a partner-driven environment. These applications consolidate data and transactions;...

Satellite Navigation Systems

Satellite navigation systems are based on the Global Positioning System (GPS) and other national and multinational satellite initiatives (for example, Glonass and Galileo) with applications in consumer and commercial markets. Satellite navigation systems are embedded in a vehicle, available as a portable unit (personal navigation device [PND]) or offered as an application in cellular phones,...

Scriptless Testing

Scriptless testing tools reduce or eliminate the amount of scripting involved in the creation of tests using model-, object-, data- or keyword-driven approaches. The goal is to enable business user testing and to reduce maintenance costs. The majority of products are focused on functional automation, but performance testing products are also appearing.

secure Web gateway

Secure Web gateway solutions protect Web-surfing PCs from infection and enforce company policies. A secure Web gateway is a solution that filters unwanted software/malware from user-initiated Web/Internet traffic and enforces corporate and regulatory policy compliance. These gateways must, at a minimum, include URL filtering, malicious-code detection and filtering, and application controls for popular Web-based applications,...TitleSecurity information and event management - SIEM - GartnerSIEM supports threat detection and security incident response through the real-time collection and historical analysis of security events.

gateway (transcoding) server

Server designed to transform data streams to better match device capabilities. For example, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) gateway servers convert HTML to Wireless Markup Language (WML) for wireless devices, and a number of products can reformat HTML for devices such as mobile phones and PDAs. Today, HTML-based servers predominate. HTML can be made aware of...

server virtualization management

Server virtualization management tools comprise management tools embedded in the hypervisor sale, as well as operations management and administration management tools. Server virtualization management technology can be found in two types of delivery vehicles. The first is embedded within the infrastructure itself — in this case, as part of the package that includes the hypervisor...

serverless printing

Serverless printing is peer-to-peer printing over Internet Protocol. This permits the removal of a dedicated print server for managing print queues, distributing printer drivers, and so on.

SPP (service parts planning)

Service parts planning (SPP) supports the optimal stock quantities and location of items used to service internal assets or customer equipment in the aftermarket. SPP applications address processes such as • Forecasting and demand planning • Inventory planning and optimization • Distribution/allocation and supply planning • Collaboration • Workforce planning • Analytics and BAM (such...

LBS (location-based services)

Services based on the location of a mobile user as determined by using network and/or mobile-device-based technology. Technologies supporting this include cell of origin (also known as cell ID), AOA, time of arrival (TOA), EOTD and GPS or assisted GPS. GPS can be used without network modification but requires mobile devices to support GPS. In...

IDS (Internet document security)

Services that provide a core set of capabilities required to enable business communications to move in a secure electronic form over the Internet.

Shadow IT

Shadow IT refers to IT devices, software and services outside the ownership or control of IT organizations.

Shared Services or Shared Services Center

Shared services or shared services center (SSC) refers to a dedicated unit (including people, processes and technologies) that is structured as a centralized point of service and is focused on defined business functions. These functions are supported by IT and IT services for multiple business units within the enterprise. Shared services may come from several...

Short Message Service (SMS)

Short message service (SMS) is a facility developed as part of the GSM standard that enables a mobile device to send, receive and display messages of up to 160 characters in Roman text and variations for non-Roman character sets. Messages received are stored in the network if the subscriber device is inactive and are relayed...

picocell

Short-range cellular base station typically providing 100-meter to 250-meter range, used to boost in-building cellular coverage or for high-traffic locations.

SFDR (software failure detection and recovery)

Should support the concept of a transaction, including atomicity (either all changes take place or none take effect) to enable operating-system or application data recovery mechanisms to be implemented.

digital

Signal transmission that conveys information through a series of coded pulses representing 1s and 0s (binary code).

Silicon Anode Batteries

Silicon anode batteries are an extension of widely used lithium ion (Li-Ion) batteries. Early generation Li-Ion batteries used lithium as the anode material. This was replaced with carbon/graphite following a number of widely reported overheating and explosion incidents. Next-generation Li-Ion batteries are likely to make use of silicon anodes that utilize silicon nanotubes, or a...

screen sharing

Similar to application sharing, but not all parties can update the document simultaneously.

Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a business management strategy aimed at improving the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimizing variability. "Six Sigma" refers to a six standard deviation distance between a process norm and its nearest specification limit; in practice, Six Sigma is also known by its improvement process...

ODP (on-device portal)

Small downloadable mobile applications provided by media companies, handset vendors and some operators that make it easier for users to obtain new services such as music, videos, games and applications "off-deck" — that is, from independent websites. The traditional operator approach to media distribution has been to allow access only to an operator-controlled "walled garden"...

SFF-LR (small-form-factor, legacy-reduced)

Small footprint PC that has reduced support for legacy technologies such as mouse and keyboard ports, PCI slots, serial and parallel ports.

femtocell

Smaller than picocells, these cellular base stations are designed for use in residential or corporate environments that connect to the customer's broadband connection using an IP link. Advantages include lower cost than microcellular technology, physically smaller units and greater network efficiency. See also picocell.

Smart Machines

Smart machine technologies learn on their own and can produce unanticipated results. They must Adapt their behavior based on experience (learning) Not be totally dependent on instructions from people (learn on their own) Be able to come up with unanticipated results Learn More at these Gartner Events... Gartner Enterprise Architecture & Technology Innovation Summit 2017...

Smart Pills

Smart pills are essentially ingestible sensors that are swallowed and can record various physiological measures. They can also be used to confirm that a patient has taken his or her prescribed medication, and can measure the effects of the medication.

Social CRM

Social CRM is a business strategy that entails the extension of marketing, sales and customer service processes to include the active participation of customers or visitors to an Internet channel (Web or mobile) with the goal of fostering participation in the business process.

Social Analytics

Social analytics is monitoring, analyzing, measuring and interpreting digital interactions and relationships of people, topics, ideas and content. Interactions occur in workplace and external-facing communities. Social analytics include sentiment analysis, natural-language processing and social networking analysis (influencer identification, profiling and scoring), and advanced techniques such as text analysis, predictive modeling and recommendations, and automated identification...

Social Content

Social content is unstructured data created, vetted, marked-up or delivered through a social process or channel and destined for human consumption. Social content scenarios range from the use of enterprise-managed blogs and wikis, to externally hosted environments (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and others) for document sharing and collaboration, to tools for supporting project teams.

Social Gaming

Social gaming is an online digital game that 1) Contains at least one game mechanic that utilizes a player's social graph; 2) Facilitates and encourages social interaction and communication about the game outside the game and not only inside the game; and 3) Is accessed via PCs, game consoles, and mobile and portable devices. Digital...

Social Media

Social media is an online environment where content is created, consumed, promoted, distributed, discovered or shared for purposes that are primarily related to communities and social activities rather than to functional, task-oriented objectives. "Media," in this context, represents an environment characterized by storage and transmission, while "social" describes the distinct way these messages propagate in...

Social Network Analysis (SNA)

Social network analysis (SNA) tools are used to analyze patterns of relationships among people in groups. They are useful for examining the social structure and interdependencies (or work patterns) of individuals or organizations. SNA involves collecting data from multiple sources (such as surveys, emails, blogs and other electronic artifacts), analyzing the data to identify relationships,...

Social networking sites

Social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook or MySpace, provide open membership where people can congregate to share information. They are an example of a decentralized network that exhibits emergent behavior.

Social Profiles

Social profiles are a description of individuals' social characteristics that identify them on social media sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook, when using tools such as digg and Delicious as well as collaboration applications such as Jive, IBM Connections or Socialtext. Profiles describe any number of characteristics about individuals, such as interests, expertise, professional affiliations,...

Social Search

Social search uses elements of user behavior, implicit and explicit, to improve the results of searches inside and outside enterprises. Such elements are typically stored as metadata, making social search a type of metadata mining. It also enables users to disambiguate results from their queries more effectively.

Social Software Standards

Social software standards are protocols and data formats that have been agreed on by industry bodies or are, in practice, used by several products or services to support interoperability and for data/service access and reuse between social software environments.

Social Tagging (Folksonomy)

Social tagging also known as "folksonomies", are user-defined metadata collections. Users do not deliberately create folksonomies and there is rarely a prescribed purpose, but a folksonomy evolves when many users create or store content at particular sites and identify what they think the content is about. "Tag clouds" pinpoint various identifiers and the frequency of...

Socialcasting

Socialcasting provides lightweight, portable tools for the creation of scheduled and ad hoc live broadcasts. This space has evolved from consumer webcam videocasts to a clear bifurcation between a growing number of professional news organizations and consumer webcasts in social media.

softswitch architecture

Softswitch architecture comprises softswitches/MGCs, VoIP gateways and application servers. These are among the terms used to identify the major network elements of softswitch architecture. For our purposes, the terms "softswitch" and "softswitch architecture" refer to the softswitch/VoIP gateway/application server approach to distributed switching technology. Softswitches for cable networks are essentially the same as those used...

SCCM (software change and configuration management)

Software change and configuration management (SCCM — mainframe and distributed) tools implement a set of disciplines used to stabilize, track and control the versions and configurations of a set of software items and also may include development change management, defect tracking, change automation, development release management, integrated test management, integrated build management and other related...

software support services

Software support services are generally technical support or break/fix services that are delivered for specific software products. These services include revenue derived from long-term technical-support contracts or pay-as-you-go, incident-based support. Software support services typically include remote troubleshooting capabilities, installation assistance and basic usability assistance. Remote troubleshooting capabilities may be delivered via telephone and online communication...

platform-independent

Software that can run on a variety of hardware platforms or software architectures. Platform-independent software can be used in many different environments, requiring less planning and translation across an enterprise. For example, the Java programming language was designed to run on multiple types of hardware and multiple operating systems. If Java platform-independence becomes a reality,...

groupware

Software that supports interpersonal processes and the objects with which people commonly work. Groupware was originally coined to describe a new class of applications designed to provide electronic support for groups of individuals working together toward a common goal. The term has been applied to applications ranging from unstructured electronic mail to rigorously structured workflow...

CPMS (corporate property management software)

Software whose basic functionality is to produce basic rent rolls and feed to general ledger; to track simple information about leased or owned property (e.g., renewal dates, term dates, amount of square footage and basic breakdown of divisions or departments in space for space allocation); and to capture data regarding parties to agreement and basic...

Software-Defined Networks

Software-defined networks are emerging networking architectures that separate the control plane from the data plane in networking equipment. This is so that network intelligence and state are logically centralized, and the underlying network infrastructure is abstracted from applications.

Software-Defined Radio (SDR)

Software-defined radio (SDR) provides software control of significant parts of a wireless function rather than through traditional hardware control. This allows devices to switch dynamically between protocols and frequencies under software control. SDR is most attractive where standards are changing and uncertain, or where multiple standards are required. Smart antennas are an important part of...

Base Station

Within a mobile radio system, a base station is a fixed radio station providing communication with mobile stations and, where applicable, with other base stations and the public telephone network.

device resource management

Storage subsystems and SAN infrastructure component software products provide configuration utilities and agents that collect capacity, performance and status information, usually for a single device type or a set of devices from a single vendor. Most of the products in this segment are called element managers.

frequency reuse

Technique for using a specified range of frequencies more than once in the same radio system so that the total capacity of the system is increased without increasing its allocated bandwidth. Frequency reuse schemes require sufficient isolation among the signals that use the same frequencies so that mutual interference among them is controlled at an...

DMB (digital multimedia broadcasting)

Technology that can transmit digital video to mobile devices. It developed out of the DAB standard, which established itself as the best terrestrial radio system for delivering CD-quality, digital stereo sound in fixed, portable and mobile reception conditions.

Techquisitions

Techquisitions are acquisitions of digital or IT companies by enterprises in other conventional industries that have not created or sold information and communication technology-based products or services before.  

knowledge representation

Structures used to store knowledge in a manner that relates items of knowledge to one another, and that permits an inference engine to manipulate the knowledge and its relationships.An activity that spans three components of the knowledge management (KM) process — knowledge capture, knowledge organization and knowledge access — to enable people to share knowledge across the boundaries of geography and time.

P2P (peer-to-peer)

Style of networking in which computers communicate directly with one another rather than routing traffic through managed central servers and networks.

CIO - Chief Information Officer

The person who oversees the people, processes and technologies within a company's IT organization to ensure outcomes that support business goals. Click here

sub-11GHz proprietary BWA

Sub-11GHz proprietary broadband wireless access (BWA) systems are not WiMAX-certified or designed for IEEE 802.16. They include technologies such as IPWireless, Flarion and iBurst. In most cases, they are deployed to provide service providers with quick and easy access to business subscribers or to allow the delivery of broadband data services or fast Internet access...

narrowband channels

Sub-voice-grade pathways characterized by a speed range of 100 to 200 bits per second.

Super Wi-Fi

Super Wi-Fi is a new prototype solution that uses the "white space" between licensed TV frequencies. It can reach further and penetrate buildings more easily than standard Wi-Fi radios that comply with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification. Wi-Fi runs in the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.

IT services sourcing

The term "IT services sourcing" can mean different things to different people. However, regardless of the terminology, it is critical to understand its basic components, as it constitutes one of the largest areas of spend for organizations "IT services" refers to the application of business and technical expertise to enable organizations in the creation, management...

SCP (supply chain planning)

Supply chain planning (SCP) is the forward-looking process of coordinating assets to optimize the delivery of goods, services and information from supplier to customer, balancing supply and demand. An SCP suite sits on top of a transactional system to provide planning, what-if scenario analysis capabilities and real-time demand commitments, considering constraints. Typical modules include  ...

Telecom Analytics

Telecom analytics encompass sophisticated business intelligence (BI) technologies that are packaged to satisfy the complex requirements of telecom organizations. These include increasing sales, reducing churn and fraud, improving risk management and decreasing operational costs. Analytics solutions usually extend beyond the capabilities of regular BI solutions for reporting and dashboarding to include capabilities ranging from ad...

Java

The term "Java" can be applied to Sun's Java platform or to its Java programming language. The Java platform is made up of a set of technologies that provide cross-platform, network-centric computing solutions. The programming language is simply one aspect of the Java platform. The elements of the Java platform include the Java Virtual Machine...

Sustainability Management

Sustainability management is a management discipline embracing corporate strategies, operational capabilities, competencies, behaviors and cultures. It focuses on products, services, the enterprise and the supply chain, and it seeks to optimally balance organizational performance and outcomes across economic, environment and social criteria over all time scales.

Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs)

Synchronized phasor measurement units (PMUs, or synchrophasors) provide instantaneous representations of voltages and currents at key power grid locations, and help diagnose the grid's actual risk status. Deployment of PMUs can help transmission operators with early detection of the frequency oscillations that foreshadow a potential blackout. Operators can improve transfer capacity, manage congestion and integrate...

telecommunications equipment

Telecom equipment now includes mobile devices, PBX equipment (contact center, telephony and IP telephony), and network equipment (LAN and WAN). Enterprise networking and communications — Enterprise networking and communications includes telecom equipment and systems that are based in consumer and business locations and that connect either with the PSTN or to private data or voice...

Internet telephony

Term used to describe packetized IP voice traffic sent over the Internet (as distinct from a private or managed IP telecommunications infrastructure). When used to enable Internet telephony from a PC, it requires client software on the PC such as Skype, plus a broadband connection with minimal latency. See also IP telephony and VoIP.

C (Programming Language)

The C programming language was created by Dennis Ritchie at the former Bell Laboratories in 1972. C provides very precise control of the computer's operation.

Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC)

The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) is a standards-based organization designed to interoperate technologies. The CCC is the result of the evolution of the Terminal Mode initiative, which was originally initiated by Nokia. The CCC's goal is to promote in-vehicle connectivity solutions that use portable devices, including the Terminal Mode standard, as well as future technologies...

Clinical Information Modeling Initiative (CIMI)

The Clinical Information Modeling Initiative (CIMI) is an ad hoc group of data modelers that are attempting to enumerate the detailed models of hundreds to thousands of medical ideas to achieve consensus among clinicians. It plans to make detailed clinical models freely available as unencumbered intellectual property. They could be used as components to define...

College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME)

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an organization formed in 1992 to advocate more effective use of information management in healthcare, and to meet the professional-development needs of healthcare CIOs.

Common Gateway Interface (CGI)

The Common Gateway Interface (CGI) standard is a data-passing specification used when a Web server must send or receive data from an application such as a database. A CGI script passes the request from the Web server to a database, gets the output and returns it to the Web client.

DAS (distributed antenna system)

System that uses passive (non-powered) or active (powered) networking equipment, such as antennas, fiber-optic, coaxial cable and other technologies to extend RF coverage (of any technology) inside a building.

ERP definition - Enterprise Resource Planning - Gartner IT

The Definition of ERP Plus Free Research and Webinars Covering IT Tech Trends and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is availabe at Gartner.com

DoJa (DoCoMo Java)

The DoJa profile is the NTT DoCoMo Java environment specification for i-Mode mobile phones, used mainly for i-Mode games.

DTH (direct to home)

TV and broadcasting industries that deliver by satellite services directly to consumer households enabled by individual reception systems (antenna/dish and satellite Integrated Receiver-Decoder (IRD)/receiver). DBS satellite providers deliver a form of direct-to-home service. See also DBS and IRD.

Tag Management

Tag management systems simplify the deployment and maintenance of JavaScript tags, used in online content to interface with applications such as Web analytics, personalization and advertising. A single tag replaces all other tags and when executed, the tag manager publishes other tags, based on business rules and a common data model. This decouples tag control...

component

Technically, a dynamically bindable package of functionality that is managed as a unit and accessed through documented interfaces that can be discovered at runtime. Pragmatically, components tend to fall into two major groups technical components, which perform a technology-specific task that is application-independent (e.g., a graphical user interface control), and business components, which encapsulate a...

Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

Static application security testing (SAST) is a set of technologies designed to analyze application source code, byte code and binaries for coding and design conditions that are indicative of security vulnerabilities. SAST solutions analyze an application from the "inside out" in a nonrunning state. Gartner Tech Conference & Webinar The premier gathering of security leaders,...

Statistical Multiplexing

Statistical multiplexing is a time-division multiplexing technique in which time slots are dynamically allocated on the basis of need (i.e., slots are allocated to equipment with data to be transmitted).

Storage Resource Management (SRM)

Storage resource management (SRM) software provides near-real-time and historical information for the storage infrastructure regarding availability, capacity and performance, device management, problem determination, configuration planning and change management. SRM software identifies storage usage, availability and performance by application, business unit or user, providing data that can be used for IT consumption tracking and chargeback in...

standards

Specifications or styles that are widely accepted by users and adopted by several vendors. Standards are critical to the compatibility of hardware, software, and everything in between. Industry standards enable the essential elements of a computer and related infrastructure to work together. Standards provide specifications to hardware manufacturers and software developers that allow them to...

guard interval

Specified period of time used to separate transmissions so that they do not interfere with each other. In IEEE 802.11n, the guard interval has been reduced from 800 ns to 400 ns to boost the throughput. Also used in TDMA transmissions. See also 802.11n and TDMA.

Speech Recognition

Speech recognition systems interpret human speech and translate it into text or commands. Primary applications are self-service and call routing for contact center applications; converting speech to text for desktop text entry, form filling or voice mail transcription; and user interface control and content navigation for use on mobile devices, PCs and in-car systems. Control...

Supply Chain Architecture Life Cycle

The Gartner Supply Chain Architecture Life Cycle (SCALe) is the process of managing the entire life cycle of each capability within your supply chain. For each supply chain capability, the life cycle includes inception; design and launch (physical, financial and digital); use for delivery of customer perfect orders; tracking of performance; refinement; and, ultimately, retirement...

HIS (hospital information system or healthcare information system)

The IT applications used to manage hospital operations (e.g., patient financials, registration, scheduling, general financials, back-office systems and order communications).

ICD-10 Adoption Technology

The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) is the newest version of the common tool used to turn diagnoses and procedures into a universally recognized machine-readable sequence. It replaces the decades-old ICD-9 code standard. It has greater complexity, because it identifies twice as many diagnostic codes as ICD-9, 20 times as many injuries and...

Java platform AD tools

The Java platform AD tool market includes tools used to construct applications that operate within Java Community Process (JCP)-certified and JCP-compliant Java runtimes. These tools may include code-centric integrated development environments, or they may employ more-advanced features, such as model-driven code generators or other architected rapid AD features.

Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI)

The Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) is a programming interface specification that enables an application to send and receive mail over a Microsoft Mail messaging system. It was designed to separate the mail engine from the mail client.

Next-Generation Telematics Protocol (NGTP)

The Next-Generation Telematics Protocol (NGTP) is a technology-neutral telematics approach that aims to provide greater flexibility and scalability to the automotive, telematics and in-vehicle technology industries to offer better connectivity and integration of data and services aimed at drivers, passengers and the vehicle itself (e.g., airbag deployment notification services). The telematics framework was initially developed...

Nexus of Forces

The Nexus of Forces is the convergence and mutual reinforcement of social, mobility, cloud and information patterns that drive new business scenarios.

Occam Process

The Occam Process is a solderless approach to electronics manufacturing. The process utilizes a reverse-order interconnection solution that employs mature, low-risk, familiar basic assembly technologies in a novel sequence. Components are interconnected by means of printing or plating after they are held into their final positions via an encapsulation process, thus eliminating conventional printed circuit...

relational DBMS

The RDBMS architecture is based on a formal method of constructing a database in rows and columns using rules that have formal mathematical proofs. RDBMSs originated in the work of E.F. Codd. In an RDBMS, relationships among tables are created by comparing data, such as account numbers and names. In addition, an RDBMS has the...

Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC)

The Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) is a vendor consortium that selects and standardizes benchmark programs submitted by members or others, for the purpose of rating and comparing the performance of processors.

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)

The U.S. government department that developed the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) ARPANET protocol architecture.

social feedback

The ability for participants in a social media environment to add their opinions about the quality or relevance of the content. Common examples are "like/not like," "thumbs up/thumbs down," dig it, star ratings, social commentary, tagging (or mass categorization), flagging and badging.

content awareness

The ability to determine what information is contained in a specific file, folder, application or other data store, whether that information is at rest, in use or in transit. Enterprises achieve content awareness with technologies that use one or more inspection techniques and mechanisms, including exact data matching, structured "fingerprinting" of data, statistical analysis (for...

financial footprint

The amount of money paid, monthly or yearly, to a vendor to support a particular system or application. Because most hardware and software is easily upgradable, financial-footprint management involves managing a stream of recurring payments instead of physical assets.

Average Selling Price (ASP)

The average selling price (ASP) is the typical "street" price of any product. In Gartner communications research, it generally refers to the typical price of a mobile phone.

Average Speed of Answer (ASA)

The average speed of answer (ASA) is a standard quantitative method for measuring the speed at which call center calls are answered.

KCC (Korea Communications Commission)

The broadcasting, communications and IT regulator in the Republic of South Korea, which superseded the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) and the Korean Broadcasting Commission in 2008. See also KCC.

Business Service Provider (BSP)

The business service provider (BSP) is the extension of the application service provider (ASP) model into business process management. A BSP manages and operates standardized business processes on behalf of its customers, delivering its service across a network to multiple customers using a "pay as you go" payment model.

social publishing

The capability for the masses to accumulate their individually developed content (versus shared development via a wiki) into a usable repository and shared channel for social use and feedback.

DAT (dynamic address translation)

The change of a logical storage address to an actual storage address.

clicks and bricks

The combining of e-business channels and network-based processes with selective investment in physical locations to control local markets, distribution channels, and critical labor accessibility.

FCC (Federal Communications Commission)

The communications regulator in the United States of America (Federal Communications Commission).

perfection

The complete elimination of muda so that all activities along a value stream create value.

performance-driven culture

The concept of a performance-driven culture is a change in management style that shifts from a "rearview-mirror perspective" focused on financial measures to a perspective that balances this with the use of leading performance indicators and weak signals to actively seek and then act on patterns to drive better business outcomes. This approach will fundamentally...

private key

The confidential half of the asymmetric key pair used in public-key cryptography. Unlike the "secret key" used in symmetric-key cryptography — a single key known by both the sender and the receiver — a private key is known only by the recipient. See public-key cryptography and secret-key cryptography.

daisy-chaining

The connection of multiple devices in a serial fashion. An advantage of daisy-chaining is savings in transmission facilities. A disadvantage is that if a device malfunctions, all of the devices daisy-chained behind it are disabled.

LAN bridging

The connection of multiple physical local-area networks (LANs) to support a single logical LAN environment.

content, communications and collaboration

The content, communications and collaboration software market sector comprises software products, tools and hosted services to organize, access, use and share content. Content management and/or collaboration initiatives involve managing and interacting with a multitude of content types, including documents, records, images, forms and, increasingly, digital media. Included in this market sector are enterprise content management...

social systems

The context for the way everyone works. Social systems emerge from the people, processes, tools, organizations, relationships, skills and information associated with a group of individuals.

problem management

The core function of a customer service and support (CSS) application used by call centers. It coordinates a multitier, multiowner service and support environment, enables pattern analysis, provides management reports, and facilitates requesting additional service and support resources by providing hard numbers on the service workload and its changing nature. Because PM tools can also...

Customer Engagement Hub (CEH)

The customer engagement hub (CEH) is an architectural framework that ties multiple systems together to optimally engage the customer. A CEH allows personalized, contextual customer engagement, whether through a human, artificial agent, or sensors, across all interaction channels. It reaches and connects all departments, allowing, for example, the synchronization of marketing, sales and customer service...

data replication

The data replication segment includes a set of data replication products that reside in the disk array controller, in a device in the storage network or on a server. Included are local and remote replication products, migration tools, and disk imaging products. Also included are replication products specifically targeted as an alternative to backup applications....

circuit grade

The data-carrying capability of a circuit; the grades of circuit are broadband, voice, subvoice, and telegraph.

real time

The description for an operating system that responds to an external event within a short and predictable time frame. Unlike a batch or time-sharing operating system, a real-time operating system provides services or control to independent ongoing physical processes. It typically has interrupt capabilities (so that a less important task can be put aside) and...

STEP (specification, tracking, evaluation, production)

The four stages on which essential activities in the successful deployment of advanced technology are based. They are • Specification — which aligns corporate strategy and technology focus • Tracking — which assesses individual technologies for maturity and business impact • Evaluation — which involves prototyping and other in-depth evaluation activities to further gauge the...

4G Standard

The fourth generation (4G) Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) standard is for next-generation local- and wide-area mobile platforms supporting high peak data rates; handover between wireless bearer technologies; Internet Protocol (IP) core and radio transport networks for voice, video and data services; and support for call control and signaling. With peak data rates of 100 Mbps...

PLC (programmable logic controller)

The fundamental building block of factory and process automation. A specialty purpose computer, including input/output processing and serial communications, used for executing control programs, especially control logic and complex interlock sequences. PLCs can be embedded in machines or process equipment by OEMs, used stand-alone in local control environments or networked in system configurations.

knowledge architect

The individual who oversees implementation of the enterprise's knowledge architecture, who leads the "knowledge architecture team" in identifying, organizing and providing access to scattered, heterogeneous information in digital and paper form, and who leads the knowledge audit to determine and continually re-evaluate the specific knowledge needs of users and their business processes. The knowledge architect...

CIM (computer-integrated manufacturing)

The integration of manufacturing operations by integrating human systems, information systems and manufacturing systems. The goal of such systems is to combine electronically the systems and functions necessary to manufacture products more effectively.

PSA (professional services administration)

The integration of planning, resource management, project management and project accounting for service organizations.

CTI (computer-telephony integration)

The intelligent linking of computers with switches, enabling coordinated voice and data transfers to the desktop.

ISO 9000

The international standard for quality control. It is also known as BS5750 and EN29001. The three standards are identical, but they are numbered and published differently by different standards bodies. The worldwide standard is published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and is the one generally referenced. ISO 9000 is a generic standard that...

selector

The last octet of an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) address.

scalability

The measure of a system's ability to increase or decrease in performance and cost in response to changes in application and system processing demands. Examples would include how well a hardware system performs when the number of users is increased, how well a database withstands growing numbers of queries, or how well an operating system...

Mobile Browsers

The mobile browser is an on-device, client-side application that is resident on a mobile device. It provides access to content and applications from the Internet and, increasingly, in the cloud. Desktop and mobile browsers share many functions; however, increasingly, there are also differences, including the size of the screen, the power of the device (both...

tacit knowledge

The personal knowledge resident within the mind, behavior and perceptions of individuals. Tacit knowledge includes skills, experiences, insight, intuition and judgment. Tacit knowledge is typically shared through discussion, stories, analogies and person-to-person interaction and is, therefore, difficult to capture or represent in explicit form. Because individuals continually add personal knowledge, which changes behavior and perceptions,...

NAP (network access point)

The point from which an Internet service provider (ISP) drops down its lines and establishes a peering arrangement to provide Internet connectivity to customers.

HR disintermediation

The practice of bypassing the HR department to define and implement technology practices to support human capital management (HCM) issues. When no clear HCM strategy is in place, business leaders formulate departmental plans and adopt the technologies they feel they need to support individual and group responsibilities for enterprise performance.

Functional Programming Languages

The precise definition of a functional programming language is often a hotly debated topic among computer scientists, but it is generally accepted that such languages emphasize the value of expressions, rather than the execution of commands. These languages enable the programmer to think like a mathematician by emphasizing data over state. Functional programming techniques (and...

content aggregation

The presentation of content from multiple sources at a single Web location for review by the customer.

Redaction

The process of "redacting" documents has been used in the legal profession for decades to black out confidential or privileged information during the exchange of documents during litigation. In electronic documents, redaction refers to the permanent removal of information, not the masking or obfuscating of data.

compliance

The process of adhering to policies and decisions. Policies can be derived from internal directives, procedures and requirements, or from external laws, regulations, standards and agreements.

resource requirements planning

The process of converting the production plan or the master production schedule into the impact on key resources, e.g., man hours, machine hours, storage, standard cost dollars, shipping dollars and inventory levels.

Data Mining - Big Data Analytics - Gartner

The process of discovering meaningful correlations, patterns and trends by sifting through large amounts of data. Click for free research from Gartner.

digital switching

The process of establishing and maintaining a connection under stored program control where binary-encoded information is routed between an input and an output port.

identity and access intelligence

The process of gathering data about identity and access, and converting it to information and knowledge for action-oriented insight and intelligent decision making in IT and business.

process control

The regulation of variables that influence or control the conduct of a process so that a specified quality and quantity of product are obtained.

Retail Execution and Monitoring

The retail execution and monitoring technology identifies tasks and enables the execution of in-store activities by field sales personnel or third-party sales agents on behalf of consumer goods manufacturers. These activities include promotional activities, asset management, retail audits and proof-of-performance information collection.

Advanced Technology Group (ATG)

The role of the advanced technology group (ATG) is to provide a continuing stream of technology opportunities to the enterprise. It typically takes the lead in prototype and pilot projects.

Rotary Heat Exchanger (Kyoto Wheel)

The rotary heat exchanger (also known as a Kyoto Wheel) is a form of air-side economizer that solves some of the problems associated with air-side economizers. Instead of introducing exterior air directly into the server room, the heat wheel transfers heat between separated data center ducts and outside air ducts. The heat wheel is bisected...

2G (second generation)

The second generation of wireless networks designed to improve on analog with digital circuit-switched solutions. The three main 2G technology standards are Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), which is based on European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standards, time division multiple access (TDMA) IS-136 and code division multiple access (CDMA). The Japanese personal digital cellular...

parallel processing

The solution of a single problem across more than one processor. Little parallel processing is done today outside of research laboratories, because it is difficult to decompose tasks into independent parts, and the compiler technology does not yet exist that will extensively parallelize applications code.

client/server

The splitting of an application into tasks performed on separate computers connected over a network. In most cases, the "client" is a desktop computing device (e.g., a PC) or a program "served" by another networked computing device (i.e., the "server"). Gartner has defined five styles of client/server computing, based on how presentation, application logic and...

cooperative processing

The splitting of an application into tasks performed on separate computers. Physical connectivity can occur via a direct channel connection, a local-area network (LAN), a peer-to-peer communication link or a master/slave link. The application software can exist in a distributed processing environment, but this is not a requirement.

IT industrialization

The standardization of IT services through predesigned and preconfigured solutions that are highly automated and repeatable, scalable and reliable, and meet the needs of many organizations.

storage management software

The storage management software market includes all software products that are sold as value-added options to run on a server, storage network device or storage device to aid in managing the device or managing and protecting the data. Revenue is for new license sales and for maintenance and support services that include new version license...

secret key

The symmetric key used in secret-key cryptography. It is a secret shared between communicating parties, but is not truly private. See secret-key cryptography, private key and public-key cryptography.

SSP (service switching point)

The telecommunications switch in an intelligent network which handles a call with reference to supplementary routing and database information contained at a service control point (SCP).

Data Center Bridging (DCB)

The term "data center bridging" (DCB) refers to a collection of proposed standards designed to transform Ethernet into a lossless network with efficient Layer 2 multipath forwarding. DCB (formerly called converged enhanced Ethernet [CEE]) depends on a handful of standards that are being developed by three different standards bodies the American National Standards Institute, the...

Network on Chip (NoC)

The term "network on chip" (NoC) refers to distributed connectivity of computing and other resources that are configured as an on-chip computer network. At sub-32-nanometer dimensions, increased electrical noise and cross-talk reduces the effectiveness of traditional on-chip bus structures. Complex system-on-chip (SoC) devices will require a network-like structure with an error correction protocol. The most...

Molecular Transistors

The term molecular transistors refers to switching circuits constructed from an individual molecule. Today's semiconductor devices use "top down" bulk techniques involving lithography; however, the potential exists to grow individual devices using chemical processes in a "bottom up" fashion. This will achieve structures far smaller than is possible using current lithographic techniques. The presence or...

FTTP (fiber to the premises)

The term residential fiber to the premises (FTTP) refers to equipment used in fiber access deployments where fibers extend all the way to the end-user premises and the equipment is designed and optimized for use in residential applications. Equipment designed and optimized for fiber-to-the-business applications is not included — such equipment is included in the...

IP telephony

The term used for LAN-attached telephony systems and the associated telephone handsets (that is, the IP version of the PBX). More specifically, IP telephony involves the delivery of the telephony application (for example, call setup and teardown, and telephony features) over IP, instead of using circuit-switched or other modalities. IP telephony is not the same...

SMS (system-managed storage)

The term used for the conceptualization of an architecture for attachment, management and reconfiguration of secondary storage. Among the SMS basic design goals is the separation of logical-device management from physical-device management.

response time

The time period between a terminal operator's completion of an inquiry and the receipt of a response. Response time includes the time taken to transmit the inquiry, process it by the computer, and transmit the response back to the terminal. Response time is frequently used as a measure of the performance of an interactive system.

downtime

The total time a system is out of service.

satellite communications

The use of geostationary orbiting satellites to relay transmissions from one earth station to another or to multiple earth stations.

predictive behavior analysis

The use of techniques such as data mining, data visualization, algorithm clustering, and neural networking to find patterns or trends in data. These patterns or trends are used to forecast future behavior based on current or past behavior. Uses of predictive behavior analysis include identifying customers likely to drop out or default; identifying products customers...

field service management software

These applications are designed within a CRM environment that enable field service technicians or dispatchers to diagnose problems categorically, identify the required parts and information, and dispatch them to the client or site. The system identifies the proper tools or materials required for the specific problem and their current location. It includes field service workforce...

incentive compensation management

These applications manage and administer compensation plans, quotas, crediting and adjustments, while processing commissionable transactions for direct and partnered sales organizations generating transaction registers and commission statements. They provide extensive reporting and ad hoc query capabilities for sales management and finance, as well as "what if" modeling for financial analysis and plan design.

signaling gateways/IP-STPs

These are an NGN component, facilitating the crossing of a policy boundary or performing protocol conversion. NGN IP-STP products include products using protocols such as SIP, Session Initiation Protocol for Telephony (SIP-T), Parlay, Electronic Numbering (ENUM) and XML. SGs use SS7 and SIGTRAN protocols.

hardware maintenance and support services

These are preventive and remedial services that physically repair or optimize hardware, including basic installation, contract maintenance and per-incident repair — both on-site and at a centralized repair depot. Hardware support also includes telephone technical troubleshooting and assistance for setup and all fee-based hardware warranty upgrades. Exclusive of parts bundled into maintenance contracts, sales of...

connected portable media players

These embed a wireless WAN or WLAN connection to connect to services designed to enhance media playback, including direct-to-device content downloads, music ID capabilities, music discovery features, social networking features and streaming Internet radio functions. Some products can run applications and browse the Web.

IUS (infrastructure utility services)

These services involve the provision of outsourced, industrialized, asset-based IT infrastructure managed services (below the functional business application layer).

sales configuration systems

These systems are used to configure ship-to-order, assemble-to-order and engineer-to-order products and to configure nonproduct information and customized financing plans.

security information and event management software

This category includes security information and event management software products providing Security event management — The ability to process near-real-time data from security devices and systems to determine when security events of interest have occurred Security information management — Reporting and historical analysis to support security policy compliance management and the generation of security metrics

retail sales

This category includes the additional collection of sales applications required for a retail environment. It includes point-of-sale applications for recording sales transactions, usually a cash register and merchandising software.

document management hardware services

This segment includes copier and printer services. Copier services — Copiers perform image capture and transfer. This category includes analog (optical technology) and digital (digital scanning and printing technology) copiers. Printer services — A printer is the peripheral output device of a computer system for producing computer-generated images on paper using various marking...

print markets and management hardware

This segment includes copiers and printers. • Copiers — Copiers perform image capture and transfer. This category includes analog (optical technology) and digital (digital scanning and printing technology) copiers. • Printers — A printer is the peripheral output device of a computer system for producing computer-generated images on paper using various marking technologies. To be...

storage subsystem hardware services

This segment includes other storage subsystem services and redundant array of independent disks (RAID)-based storage system services. • RAID-based storage system services — This category includes the total of all external controller-based RAID-based disk storage, host-based external RAID storage, host-based internal RAID storage and network-attached storage. RAID refers to a set of disk drives (at...

partner customer support software

This segment includes service-focused partner relationship management applications designed to improve an enterprise's ability to market, sell and service end customers through channel partners. Key components include entitlement management, order management, service-level management and material reverse logistics.

3D Bioprinting

Three-dimensional bioprinting is a medical application of 3D printers. It is a system directed by medical imaging data and software that specifies the design of living tissue and organs, plus the printing device to create a functioning human organ from an individual's own or other cells.

synchronous transmission

Timing is achieved by transmitting sync characters prior to data. It does not use such redundant information as the start and stop bits in asynchronous transmission to identify the beginning and end of characters and is thus faster and more efficient.

PTR (peak transaction rate)

Total number of wireless transactions by all mobile devices during a specified period of time per access point.

3D Flat-Panel TVs and Displays

Two technologies are currently used to show 3D images on the majority of flat-panel TVs and displays polarization 3D, which uses a pattern retarder and polarized glasses and is only offered by a small number of display manufacturers; and alternate-frame sequencing, which uses active shutter glasses and requires high refresh rates on displays. Autostereoscopic displays,...

DBS (direct broadcast satellite)

Type of satellite used for consumer services, primarily the transmission of radio and TV programs. A direct broadcasting satellite is similar to a fixed-service satellite (FSS); however, it offers a higher power output, requiring smaller antennas to receive the signal. Typical DBS services offer digital programming, digital audio services and, increasingly, high-definition TV (HDTV).

language-oriented development environments (distributed platforms, proprietary)

Typically, these are development environments for code targeted to deploy to distributed platforms (Windows, Linux, Unix) built on a compiler and a language. Language-oriented development environments generally include graphical user interface (GUI) builders, debuggers, editors and other utilities that are integrated into the environment. This market also includes proprietary fourth-generation language (4GL) language tools. It...

software maintenance

Updating software, adding new functions, fixing bugs and solving problems. Technology vendors often sell a maintenance contract with their software. This contract is usually calculated as an annual fee based on some percentage of the total software cost. It generally provides for overall support and maintenance of a software product, including applications. Support may include...

CMOT (CMIP over TCP/IP)

Use of the Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP) to manage gateways in a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) network.

simulation routines

Various routines using historical information to simulate future alternatives for supply chain operations design. Usually strategically focused for use in future operations, these may then be optimized or prioritized.

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Network Sharing

We define "network sharing" as a business model in which two or more communications service providers (CSPs) share network resources through joint ownership or by third-party-enabled network sharing (open networks).It is a generic concept but is most widely applied in mobile and fiber to the home (FTTH) networks. It is technology-neutral, and includes active and...

iDEN (integrated digital enhanced network)