List of terms and acronyms used in IT.
| Term |
Definition |
| Administrator |
An application user or account with elevated privileges, allowing them to configure, manage, and maintain its operation. |
| Agent AI |
Autonomous applications that use artificial intelligence to integrate data, make decisions, and perform actions independently to achieve your initially specified objectives. |
| AMS |
(Application Management Services) An outsourced service where a provider handles corrective maintenance and (generally) minor evolutions of your application. |
| Analytics |
(Audience measurement) The collection, analysis, and presentation of data, often related to the behavior of your application’s users. |
| Term |
Definition |
| CAPEX |
(Capital Expenditures) Upfront capital expenditures, like the development or enhancement costs of your new application. |
| Chatbot |
An application designed to simulate human conversation and interact with services or obtain information. Most now utilize generative AI. Examples: ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot. |
| Cloud |
A model for delivering IT services over the Internet, where resources (servers, storage, databases, software, etc.) are provided on demand by a third-party provider. Examples: Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure. |
| Cookies |
Text files stored by a website on a user’s device to collect information (such as preferences or shopping cart contents) and remember their actions on subsequent visits. |
| CRM |
(Customer Relationship Management) An application allowing you to manage and analyze interactions with your customers and prospects. |
| CSV |
(Comma Separated Values) A simple file format that stores each data record (numbers and text) as plain text on a line, separating each value with commas or other delimiters. |
| Term |
Definition |
| Desktop application |
An application that installs and runs directly on a personal computer, for example, Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Word. |
| Term |
Definition |
| ERP |
(Enterprise Resource Planning) An application that integrates and manages all or part of your company’s operational processes (finance, HR, production, etc.). Examples: Sage X3, SAP. |
| Term |
Definition |
| Freelance |
“An independent worker who offers services to clients on a contractual basis, often found via platforms like Fiverr or Upwork.” |
| Term |
Definition |
| GDPR |
(General Data Protection Regulation) A European Union regulation that grants individuals greater control over their personal data and imposes strict obligations on organizations, such as notifying data breaches (e.g., hacking followed by theft of user data). |
| Google Analytics |
A free web analytics service from Google that allows tracking and reporting of website traffic, providing detailed statistics on visitors. |
| Term |
Definition |
| HTTPS |
(Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) A secure communication protocol that ensures data exchanged between a web browser and a website is encrypted and protected. |
| Term |
Definition |
| Generative AI |
A recent branch of artificial intelligence capable of creating new and original content (text, images, music, code, etc.) or answering user questions after ’learning’ from vast existing datasets |
| Term |
Definition |
| JavaScript |
A programming language now ubiquitous and essential for web applications and websites. |
| Term |
Definition |
| Licence |
A legal agreement defining a user’s rights to use, distribute, or modify software, establishing the terms and restrictions of use. |
| Term |
Definition |
| Maintenance |
Activities aimed at ensuring the proper functioning of a system after its deployment, including bug fixes, updates, and enhancements. |
| Marketplace |
An online platform that offers extensions for a core application. Example: Shopify and its App Store. |
| Mobile application |
An application designed specifically for smartphones and tablets, downloaded from app stores like the App Store or Google Play. |
| Term |
Definition |
| No-code |
A set of tools that allows creating simple applications without writing a single line of code, by using visual interfaces and pre-existing drag-and-drop functionalities on screens. |
| Term |
Definition |
| Open-source |
An application whose source code is made publicly available, allowing anyone to view, modify, and (generally) freely distribute it. |
| OPEX |
(Operating Expenses) Recurring operational expenditures, such as maintenance or recurring SaaS subscriptions. |
| Term |
Definition |
| Persona |
A semi-fictional representation of your ‘ideal’ user, based on real data, which helps in designing products tailored to their needs. |
| Power BI |
A Microsoft application for data analysis and visualization, creating interactive dashboards and reports. |
| PRD |
(Product Requirement Document / Detailed Specification) A key document that details the expected functionalities and both business and technical requirements for your application. |
| Python |
A programming language highly popular for its (relative) simplicity and versatility. |
| Term |
Definition |
| Responsive design |
A web design approach that allows websites or applications to automatically adapt and display optimally on desktops, smartphones, and tablets. |
| Roadmap |
A strategic plan that outlines the long-term vision, direction, and major milestones of your application project. |
| Term |
Definition |
| SaaS |
(Software as a Service) A web application distribution model, fully managed by a third-party provider, which you can use via the internet with a subscription. |
| Scalability |
An application’s ability, like an e-commerce site handling a traffic surge during a flash sale, to manage increasing workload or adapt to growth without performance degradation. |
| Script |
A ’lightweight’ application for automating tasks. Examples: Extracting data from a website, deploying the same application to all 200 PCs in your company, or bulk renaming all files in a computer directory. |
| SQL |
(Structured Query Language) A computer language used to communicate with most databases. |
| Serveur |
A computer that provides data, resources, or services to other computers or applications, called clients, over the network. |
| SWOT |
(Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) A strategic planning tool that assesses the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of your project to inform decisions. |
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