BLEEDING EDGE TECHNOLOGY
New software and/or hardware products released to the consumer market with minimal real world functionality and stress testing.

HIGH TECHNOLOGY
Refers to the latest advancements in computers and electronics as well as to the social and political environment and consequences created by such machines.

IHV (Independent Hardware Vendor)

An organization that makes electronic equipment. It implies a company that specializes in a niche area, such as display adapters or disk controllers, rather than a computer systems manufacturer. Contrast with ISV.

IMPLEMENTATION

The carrying out or physical realization of something. The phrase "there are various implementations of the protocol" means that there are several software products that execute that protocol.

System implementation would be the installation of new hardware and system software. An information system implementation would be the installation of new databases and application programs and the adoption of new manual procedures.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT)

IT is a term that encompasses all forms of technology used to create, store, exchange, and use information in its various forms (business data, voice conversations, still images, motion pictures, multimedia presentations, and other forms, including those not yet conceived). It's a convenient term for including both telephony and computer technology in the same word. It is the technology that is driving what has often been called "the information revolution."

ISV (Independent Software Vendor)

A person or company that develops software. It implies an organization that specializes in software only and is not part of a computer systems or hardware manufacturer.

NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR

A person who manages a local area communications network (LAN) within an organization. Responsibilities include network security, installing new applications, distributing software upgrades, monitoring daily activity, enforcing licensing agreements, developing a storage management program and providing for routine backups.

NETWORK ENGINEER

A person who designs, implements and supports local area and wide area networks within an organization. Network engineers are high-level technical analysts specializing in networks.

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)

An OEM (original equipment manufacturer) is a company that uses product components from one or more other companies to build a product that it sells under its own company name and brand. (The term is sometimes mistakenly used to refer to the company that supplies the components.) IBM is an example of a supplier to the OEM market (and IBM is also an OEM itself since it uses other companies' parts in some of its products).

Frequently, an OEM company differentiates itself from the company it buys parts from by adding features or using different selling concepts. Many OEM companies are selling a "solution" tailored to a particular vertical market.

ROI (Return on Investment)

For a given use of money in an enterprise, the ROI (return on investment) is how much "return," usually profit or cost saving, results. An ROI calculation is sometimes used along with other approaches to develop a business case for a given proposal. The overall ROI for an enterprise is sometimes used as a way to grade how well a company is managed. If an enterprise has immediate objectives of getting market revenue share, building infrastructure, positioning itself for sale, or other objectives, a return on investment might be measured in terms of meeting one or more of these objectives rather than in immediate profit or cost saving.

SOFTWARE ENGINEER

A person that designs and programs system-level software, such as operating systems, database management systems (DBMSs) and embedded systems. The title is often used for programmers in the software industry that create commercial software packages, whether they are system level or application level. "Software engineer," "systems programmer" and "systems engineer" titles are often synonymous.

SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR

A person who manages a multi-user computer system. Responsibilities are similar to that of a network administrator. A system administrator would perform systems programmer activities with regard to the operating system and other network control programs.

SYSTEMS ANALYST

The person responsible for the development of an information system. They design and modify systems by turning user requirements into a set of functional specifications, which are the blueprint of the system. They design the database or help design it if data administrators are available. They develop the manual and machine procedures and the detailed processing specs for each data entry, update, query and report program in the system.

Systems analysts are the architects, as well as the project leaders, of an information system. It is their job to develop solutions to user's problems, determine the technical and operational feasibility of their solutions, as well as estimate the costs to develop and implement them.

They develop prototypes of the system along with the users, so that the final specifications are examples of screens and reports that have been carefully reviewed. Experienced analysts leave no doubt in users' minds as to what is being developed, and they insist that all responsible users review and sign off on every detail.

Systems analysts require a balanced mix of business and technical knowledge, interviewing and analytical skills, as well as a good understanding of human behavior.

SYSTEMS ENGINEER

Refers to a variety of jobs in the industry. It may refer to a system-level programmer or to pre-sales and post-sales programming for a hardware or software vendor.

SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

Making diverse components work together.

SYSTEMS INTEGRATOR

An individual or organization that builds systems from a variety of diverse components. With increasing complexity of technology, more customers want complete solutions to information problems, requiring hardware, software and networking expertise in a multi-vendor environment.

TECHNOLOGY

Applying a systematic technique, method or approach to solve a problem. Much of today's technology implies the use of computers.

VAR (Value Added Reseller)

An organization that adds value to a system and resells it. For example, it could purchase a CPU and peripherals from different vendors, graphics software from another and package it all together as a specialized CAD system. Although VARs typically repackage products, they might also include programs they have developed themselves. The terms VAR and ISV are often used interchangeably.

VENDOR

A vendor is any person or company that sells goods or services to someone else in the economic production chain. Parts manufacturers are vendors of parts to other manufacturers that assemble the parts into something sold to wholesalers or retailers. Retailers are vendors of products to consumers. In information technology as well as in other industries, the term is commonly applied to suppliers of goods and services to other companies.

WAN ADMINISTRATOR

A person who manages a wide area communications network (WAN). Such individuals are responsible for the configuration, implementation and monitoring of all networking hardware such as modems, DSU/CSUs, routers and switches.