J2EE
Java Version 2 Enterprise Edition. A framework for developing multi-platform based Java applications. Increasingly used in the development of web services. It is based on J2SE.
J2ME
Java Version 2 Micro Edition. A framework for running Java on devices such as mobile phones, television set top boxes and printers.
J2SE
Java Version 2 Standard Edition. It is a collection of tools and technologies for developing and deploying Java applications.
Jad
Joint Application Design (or Development). A concept that describes the process of both users and developers coming together to co-create applications. Very much associated with the Agile approach to software development.
Java
A programming language created by Sun Microsystems in the early 1990s. Originally designed for embedded software development, today it is popular for web application development. It is both object oriented and platform independent. Java was released as open source in Q1 07.
Java Enterprise Edition
See J2EE.
Java Micro Edition
See J2ME.
Java Standard Edition
See J2SE.
JavaScript
Scripting language used to add functionality to Web pages. Syntactically similar to Java, but really a distant cousin. Like all web scripting languages it needs to be embedded within the web page code. Created by Netscape and now controlled by the Mozilla Foundation
JPEG
A standard for storing digital images.
Key Logger
Or keystroke logger is a piece of software that is used to monitor the key presses of the user. Spyware software sometimes uses this technology to acquire passwords and credit card details.
Keyboard Sniffer
See key logger.
KM
See Knowledge Management.
Knowledge Management
The management of knowledge within an organisation. Particularly significant in service based organisations where the company's principal asset is the knowledge of their people.
Lan
Local Area Network. A network contained within an office, building or campus, enabling computing devices (e.g. PCs and servers) to communicate with each other.
LCR
Least Cost Routing- is the process that provides customers with cheap telephone calls. Within a telecoms carrier, an LCR team will be choosing routes from between twenty to over one hundred suppliers for five hundred or more destinations across the world on a weekly or even daily basis to maintain a competitive cost base and acceptable call quality.
Leased line
A connection between two organizations usually for the purpose of conducting e-business. They tend to be very secure but costly. The connecting line is leased from a third party telecoms/cable provider.
Legacy system
An IT system that is based on out of date technologies but is still in use today. A reason for this might be because it works but nobody knows how or why and so cannot replicate it using more up to date technologies.
Linux
Linux is a flavour of Unix and is thus an operating system. A Scandinavian graduate student called Linus Torvalds originally created it. Some see it as a rival to Windows. It is gaining some traction on the desktop in emerging economies, but it is primarily used in the Western world as a server-based operating system. The name 'Linux' comes from the inventor's first name. It is of great interest to many people because it is open source, and being taken seriously by big players such as Oracle, Sap and IBM. And oddly Microsoft.
Local loop
The cabling that runs from the local exchange to the user's home or office.
M-N-O
Mainframe
A self-contained piece of hardware, which is essentially a centralised resource for many users. IT managers like them because it keeps processing and storage control within the IT department. They are also quite difficult to steal. However if it goes wrong it can send the organisation concerned into a corporate industrial coma. Old school technology. Mainframe vendors today refer to them as super servers or high-end servers.
Maintenance
The activity associated with systems that are operational. The focus of maintenance is to keep the operational systems available to the users.
Malware
Software that is created with the interests of the recipients definitely not at heart. Spyware and viruses are examples.
MAN
Metropolitan Area Network. Simply a LAN that spans a city.
m-commerce
E-commerce via a network where the buyer makes a wireless connection to the merchant.
MIS
Management Information Systems. It refers to technologies that help managers make better business decisions.
MMS
Multimedia Messaging Service. A standard mainly associated with cellular technology that enables users to send audio, graphics and video.
Mobile client
An architecture where the user's (client) device is untethered from the network i.e. wireless.
Mobile phone
Once used for making untethered phone calls and thus voice-centric. Today they are increasingly data-centric handling music and images. Where they handle email and web access they become what might be referred to as a personal digital assistant.
Modem
Acronym for Modulator-Demodulator. It is hardware, which converts digital data into analogue signals that can be sent over an analogue telephone line. At the other end a modem is also used to convert the signal back into digital data.
Moore's Law
A law promoted by Intel founder Gordon Moore that chip capacity would double every 18 months. This law has largely held up since its creation in 1965.
Mozilla
A name associated with Netscape. It was associated with Netscape's products prior to its acquisition by AOL. It was also the name of Netscape's logo, which looked remarkably like Godzilla.
MP3
A digital audio standard.
MP4
A digital audio and video standard.
MPEG
Moving Pictures Expert Group. A working group associated with the development of audio and video encoding standards.
MPLS
MultiProtocol Label Switching- Speeding up the network traffic flow and making it easier to manage. It creates a specific path for a sequence of packets
Narrowband
A term used to describe a low bandwidth medium. This usually refers to voice quality data rates, eg. telephone lines.
NAS
Network Attached Storage. Storage technology that can be linked directly to a network rather than via a server.
Near Shoring
This is off shoring to a nearby country. For Western countries many of the off shoring suppliers are based on another continent. Some buyers prefer to have their off shoring carried out closer to home, hence nearshoring.
.NET
Pronounced Dotnet. Microsoft's collection of tools and technologies for developing web services.
Netiquette
Conducting oneself gracefully on the net. This excludes sending spam email. Dotcom era speak.
Netizen
A citizen who uses the Internet for engaging politically. Ultimately this will be tied into e-government. Another example of dotcom speak.
Network
A collective term used for computers, which are linked together using electronic (cable), optical (fibre optic) and/or wireless (infra red and radio) media.
Neural network
A concept associated with artificial intelligence. It underpins technology that mimics the manner in which the brain works to make decisions.
N-tier architecture
An IT architecture where the application is distributed across several (n) devices. A standalone PC is a one-tier architecture. The larger n is the more complex the system.
Object Orientation
A relatively new (40 years old) approach to software development designed to promote reusability of software and to make maintenance of software easier. Reusability is not happening as predicted by the textbooks, but the overall effect today is that more maintainable software is being produced.
Off shoring
Off shoring is a concept associated with outsourcing part of your business to a low cost location. Increasingly popular in respect of IT. Some organizations will set up a branch of their business off shore or hand over this part of their business to a third party off shore services provider.
Office
Microsoft's best selling office suite. It comprises Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint. Under threat from open source alternatives.
OLAP
Online Analytical Processing. A tool used to carry out data analysis. OLAP tools are a type of Business Intelligence (BI) tool. Also very much associated with Data Warehousing.
On Demand
A term coined by IBM to embrace their vision of the future. A future where businesses will be more responsive to the needs of their customers and changes in the marketplace. IBM coined the phrase with business in mind but it also lends itself to IT. See Utility Computing to understand how On Demand relates to IT.
On shoring
Outsourcing to a location in the same country as the buyer.
Open Office
Legally known as OpenOffice.org. It is an open source suite of applications designed to erode Microsoft's dominance in this space.
Open source
Software that is fully configurable by the developer community because the source code is openly available to everyone. It can also be thought of as a religious cult that is sweeping through the IT industry.
Open Systems
A philosophy that promotes standards as a way of empowering users to avoid vendor lock-in. Essentially open standards are those that are not under the control of a single vendor. As such a committee of people from a variety of institutions controls them.
Opera
A browser designed for palm top computers.
Operating System
This is the software that manages the hardware resources of a computer. It can be thought of as a layer of software, which protects the application software from the underlying hardware.
Operator
A person involved in monitoring the health of one or more back end computers.
Outsourcing
The concept of handing over part of one's business to a third party vendor so that they take responsibility for it. The reason for doing this is that the vendor is likely to be able to do it cheaper and perhaps even better. The outsourcing of IT services is popular. See Off Shoring and Near Shoring.