Creotec UK - Electronic business terms and definitions

Electronic business terms and definitions

e-business encompasses all forms of on-line electronic trading, taking in the more narrowly defined concept of consumer-based (B2C) "e-commerce", plus B2B electronic trading and process integration, as well as the internal use of IP and related technologies for process integration inside organisations. An e-business company is an enterprise that conducts many of its business functions through electronic means. The term also refers to businesses that operate on the Internet and offer goods, services, and information for sale via the web

Terms and definitions

ASP: An application service provider (ASP) is a company that offers individuals or enterprises access over the Internet to applications and related services that would otherwise have to be located in their own personal or enterprise computers. ASP can also stand for Active Server Pages, which is an HTML page that includes one or more embedded programs that are processed on a Microsoft Web server before the page is sent to the user.
ATM: Short for Asynchronous Transfer Mode, a network technology based on transferring data in cells or packets of a fixed size over a dedicated connection. The cell used with ATM is relatively small compared to units used with older technologies. The small, constant cell size allows ATM equipment to transmit video, audio, and computer data over the same network, and assure that no single type of data hogs the line.
B2B: Business-to-Business - The exchange of products, services, or information between-businesses rather than between businesses and consumers.
B2B Hub: An intermediary operation that links multiple suppliers and multiple business customers for transacting volume business, with the potential of significant efficiencies.
B2C: Short for business-to-consumer, or the retailing part of e-commerce on the Internet.
B2G: On the Internet, B2G is business-to-government (a variation of the term B2B), the concept that businesses and government agencies can use central Web sites to exchange information and do business with each other more efficiently than they usually can off the Web.
BPR: Business Process Reengineering -The critical analysis and radical redesign of existing business processes to achieve breakthrough improvements in performance measures. Contrast with TQM (Total Quality Management).
Broadband: Telecommunication that provides multiple channels of data over a single communications medium.
Ciphertext: Ciphertext is encryption text. Plaintext is what you have before encryption, and ciphertext is the encrypted result.
Click-and-mortar: Click-and-mortar describes a store that exists online and in the physical world.
Click Rate: In Web advertising, the click rate is the number of click on an ad on an HTML page as a percentage of the number of times that the ad was downloaded with a page.
Click Stream: In Web advertising, a click stream is the sequence of clicks or pages requested as a visitor explores a Web site.
Client-Server: Client/server describes the relationship between two computer programs in which one program, the client, makes a service request from another program, the server, which fulfills the request. Clients rely on servers for resources, such as files, devices, and even processing power.
CMS: Acronym for content management system. A system for the creation, modification, archiving and removal of information resources from an organised repository. Includes tools for publishing, format management, revision control, indexing, search and retrieval.
Co-branding: Co-branding on the Web often means two Web sites or Web site sections or features displaying their logos (and thus their brands) together so that the viewer considers the site or feature to be a joint enterprise.
Cookie: A message given to a Web browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file called cookie.txt. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customised Web pages for them.
CRM: Acronym for customer relationship management. CRM entails all aspects of interaction a company has with its customer, whether it be sales or service related. CRM an information industry term for methodologies, software, and usually Internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organised way.
Cyberspace: The total interconnectedness of human beings through computers and telecommunication without regard to physical geography.
Cybersquatting: Reserving an Internet domain name for the purpose of selling it later to a company that wants to use it.
Data Mart: A repository of data gathered from operational data and other sources that is designed to serve a particular community of knowledge workers.
Data mining: The analysis of data for relationships that have not previously been discovered.
Data Warehouse: A is a central repository for all or significant parts of the data that an enterprise's various business systems collect. Data warehousing emphasizes the capture of data from diverse sources for useful analysis and access, but does not generally start from the point-of-view of the end user or knowledge worker who may need access to specialised, sometimes local databases.
Database: A collection of data that is organised so that its contents can easily be accessed, managed, and updated.
Digital Cash: A system that allows a person to pay for goods or services by transmitting a number from one computer to another. Like the serial numbers on real dollar bills, the digital cash numbers are unique.
Digital Certificate: A digital certificate is an electronic "credit card" that establishes your credentials when doing business or other transactions on the Web. The most common use of a digital certificate is to verify that a user sending a message is who he or she claims to be, and to provide the receiver with the means to encode a reply.
Digital Signature: A digital signature is an electronic rather than a written signature that can be used by someone to authenticate the identity of the sender of a message or of the signer of a document. It can also be used to ensure that the original content of the message or document that has been conveyed is unchanged.
Disinermediation: Removing the middleman.
Dotcom: Any Web site intended for business use and, in some usages, it's a term for any kind of Web site.
Dynamic HTML: Refers to new HTML extensions that will enable a Web page to react to user input without sending requests to the Web server.
EC Business Model: How a firm intends to make money long term via e-commerce. Components include value, scope, revenue sources, pricing, connected activities, implementation, capabilities, sustainability, and the linkages among these components.
EDI: Short for Electronic Data Interchange, a set of common standards for the transfer of data between different companies using networks.
EFT: Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) is a system of transferring money from one bank account directly to another without any paper money changing hands.
ERP: Short for enterprise resource planning, a business management system that integrates all facets of the business, including planning, manufacturing, sales, and marketing, through a common corporate database. As ERP methodology has become more popular, software applications have emerged to help business managers implement ERP.
E-form: An e-form (electronic form) is a computer program version of a paper form.
E-outsourcing: For a business, e-outsourcing is buying information technology products and services that could be furnished in-house from one or a variety of sources on the Internet.
E-procurement: The business-to-business purchase and sale of supplies and services over the Internet.
E-tailing: The selling of retail goods on the Internet.
Encryption: The conversion of data into a form, called a ciphertext, that cannot be easily understood by unauthorised people.
Ethernet: A local-area network (LAN) protocol developed by Xerox Corporation in cooperation with DEC and Intel in 1976. It is one of the most widely implemented LAN standards.
Extranet: An extranet is a private network that uses the Internet protocol and the public telecommunication system to securely share part of a business's information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers, or other businesses.
E-zine: Short for "electronic" magazine.
Flash: A bandwidth friendly and browser independent vector-graphic animation technology.
Firewall: A system designed to prevent unauthorised access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both.
FTP: Abbreviation of File Transfer Protocol, the protocol used on the Internet for exchanging files between computers.
Full Service Provider: On the Internet, a full-service provider (FSP) is an application service provider (ASP) that offers a wide range of Web-based information technology services to other companies - including the planning and creation of a Web presence, providing needed software applications, and hosting and maintaining the site.
Gateway: A network point that acts as an entrance to another network.
Groupware: Programs that help people work together collectively while located remotely from each other. Groupware services can include the sharing of calendars, collective writing, e-mail handling, shared database access, electronic meetings with each person able to see and display information to others, and other activities.
Hosting: The business of housing, serving, and maintaining files for one or more Web sites.
HTML: Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the set of markup symbols or codes inserted in a file intended for display on a World Wide Web browser page. The markup tells the Web browser how to display a Web page's words and images for the user.
HTTP: The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the set of rules for exchanging files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web.
Hub: A common connection point for devices in a network. Hubs are commonly used to connect segments of a LAN.
Hypertext: The organisation of information units into connected associations that a user can choose to make.
IIS: Short for Internet Information Server, Microsoft's Web server that runs on Windows NT/2000 platforms. With IIS, Microsoft includes a set of programs for building and administering Web sites, a search engine, and support for writing Web-based applications that access database.
Incubator: In the business world, an incubator is an enterprise that is set up to provide office space, equipment, and sometimes mentoring assistance and capital to new businesses that are just getting started.
Infomediary: An infomediary is a Web site that provides specialised information on behalf of producers of goods and services and their potential customers.
Instant Messaging: Instant messaging is the ability to easily see whether a chosen friend or co-worker is connected to the Internet and, if they are, to exchange messages with them.
Intelligent Agent: A program that performs some information gathering or processing task in the background. Typically, an agent is a given a very small and well-defined task.
Internet: A worldwide system of computer networks - a network of networks - based on client-server technology.
Internet telephony: Internet telephony is the use of the Internet rather than the traditional telephone company infrastructure and rate structure to exchange spoken or other telephone information.
Intranet: A private network that is contained within an enterprise, that uses Internet protocols.
IP Address: A number that identifies each sender or receiver of information that is sent in packet across the Internet.
Java: Java is a compiled object-oriented programming language expressly designed for use in the distributed environment of the Internet. Java can be used to create complete applications that may run on a single computer or be distributed among servers and clients in a network. It can also be used to build a small application module or applet for use as part of a Web page.
JavaScript: JavaScript is an interpreted programming or script language from Netscape. Script languages generally take longer to process than compiled languages, but are very useful for shorter programs.
Knowledge Management: Knowledge management is the name of a concept in which an enterprise consciously and comprehensively gathers, organises, shares, and analyzes its knowledge in terms of resources, documents, and people skills.
Knowledge Worker: A knowledge worker is anyone who works for a living at the tasks of developing or using knowledge. For example, a knowledge worker might be someone who works at any of the tasks of planning, acquiring, searching, analyzing, organising, storing, programming, distributing, marketing, or otherwise contributing to the transformation and commerce of information and those (often the same people) who work at using the knowledge so produced.
LAN: A LAN (local area network) is a computer network that spans a relatively small area. Most LANs are confined to a single building or group of buildings. However, one LAN can be connected to other LANs over any distance.
Leased Line: A permanent telephone connection between two points set up by a telecommunications common carrier. Typically, leased lines are used by businesses to connect geographically distant offices. Unlike normal dial-up connections, a leased line is always active.
M-commerce: M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services through wireless handheld devices such as cellular telephone and personal digital assistants.
MAN: Short for Metropolitan Area Network, a data network designed for a town or city. In terms of geographic breadth, MANs are larger than local-area networks (LANs), but smaller than wide-area networks (WANs). MANs are usually characterised by very high-speed connections using fiber optical cable or other digital media.
Micropayment: On the Web, micropayment is a business concept whose goal is to generate revenue by offering pay-per-view Web pages, Web links, or Web services for small amounts of money called "microcents".
Middleware: In the computer industry, middleware is a general term for any programming that serves to "glue together" or mediate between two separate and usually already existing programs.
Mirror Site: A Web site or set of files on a computer server that has been copied to another computer server in order to reduce network traffic, ensure better availability of the Web site or files, or make the site or downloaded files arrive more quickly for users close to the mirror site.
Modem: Acronym for modulator-demodulator. A modem is a device or program that enables a computer to transmit data over telephone lines. Computer information is stored digitally, whereas information transmitted over telephone lines is transmitted in the form of analog waves. A modem converts between these two forms.
MRO: MRO - Maintenance, Repair, and Operations, a class of goods and services purchased by a business to support its internal operations (also called "indirect" goods and services). Other classifications include Direct goods and services, raw materials and production goods and services that are inputs to a manufacturing process or goods purchased for re-sale, and Capital goods, long term investments in plant and equipment.
Multiplexing: To combine multiple signals (analog or digital) for transmission over a single line or media.
Net PC: The Net PC (also referred to as the Network PC) is an industry specification for a low-cost personal computer designed for businesses and their network applications. A Net PC, which is a design for what is also sometimes known as a thin client, is intended to be centrally managed and to lack a diskette drive, CD-ROM drive, or hardware expansion slots. It is designed to support specific business tasks and applications, which are downloaded from a server as required, rather than stored locally.
NIC: A network interface card (NIC) is a computer circuit board or card that is installed in a computer so that it can be connected to a network. Personal computers and workstations on a local area network (LAN) typically contain a network interface card specifically designed for the LAN transmission technology, such as Ethernet. Network interface cards provide a dedicated, full-time connection to a network.
NOS: A network operating system (NOS) is an operating system that includes special functions for connecting computers and devices into a local-area network (LAN).
OOP: A revolutionary concept that changed the rules in computer program development, object-oriented programming (OOP) is organised around "objects" rather than "actions," data rather than logic.
OLAP: OLAP (online analytical processing) enables a user to easily and selectively extract and view data from different points-of-view.
Online Transaction Processing: A class of program that facilitates and manages transaction-oriented applications, typically for data entry and retrieval transactions in a number of industries, including banking, airlines, mailorder, supermarkets, and manufacturers.
ODBC: Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a standard or open application programming interface (API) for accessing a database.
Open eBook Forum: The Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF) is an organisation whose purpose is to develop a specification for electronic content, based on existing HTML and XML standards, that allows electronic book content to be viewed on various devices and all platforms.
Open Source: Software that is intended to be freely shared and possibly improved and redistributed by others.
OSI: OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) is a standard description or "reference model" for how messages should be transmitted between any two points in a telecommunication network.
Optical Fiber: Optical fiber (or "fiber optic") refers to the medium and the technology associated with the transmission of information as light pulses along a glass or plastic wire or fiber.
Packet: A packet is the unit of data that is routed between an origin and a destination on the Internet or any other packet-switched network.
Packet Switching: Refers to protocols in which messages are divided into packets before they are sent. Each packet is then transmitted individually and can even follow different routes to its destination. Once all the packets forming a message arrive at the destination, they are recompiled into the original message.
PDA: PDA (personal digital assistant) is a term for any small mobile hand-held device that provides computing and information storage and retrieval capabilities for personal or business use.
Peer-to-Peer: A communications model in which each party has the same capabilities and either party can initiate a communication session.
Permission Marketing: Permission marketing is an approach to selling goods and services in which a prospect explicitly agrees in advance to receive marketing information.
Portal: A World Wide Web site that is or proposes to be a major starting site for users when they get connected to the Web or that users tend to visit as an anchor site.
Private Key: A private or secret key is an encryption/decryption key known only to the party or parties that exchange secret messages.
Public Key: A public key can be made available to the public, unlike a private key, which is not shared. Public and private keys are related to each other, such that when a message is encrypted with one, it must be decrypted with the other.
Pull technology: A message is delivered to a received after their explicit request for this information. The World Wide Web is an example of pull technology.
Push technology: A message is delivered to a receiver without their explicit request. Unprompted e-mail is an example of push technology.
S-HTTP: An extension to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) that allows the secure exchange of files on the World Wide Web.
Scalable: How well a hardware or software system can adapt to increased demands.
Seamless Interface: A seamless interface is the joining of two computer programs so that they appear to be one program with a single user interface.
SET: SET (Secure Electronic Transaction) is a system for ensuring the security of financial transactions on the Internet, where buyers are assured that merchants will not be able to access their personal credit card information.
Smart Card: About the size of a credit card, a smart card is a plastic card with an embedded microchip that can be loaded with data, used for telephone calling, electronic cash payments, and other applications.
Spam: Unsolicited e-mail on the Internet. From the sender's point-of-view, it's a form of bulk mail.
SSL: Short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting private documents via the Internet.
SSI: Short for server-side include, a type of HTML comment that directs the Web server to dynamically generate data for the Web page whenever it is requested.
Stickiness: Stickiness is anything about a Web site that encourages a visitor to stay longer before clicking away and also to return to it in the future; a Web site is sticky if a visitor tends to stay for a long time and to return.
Supply Chain Management: Supply chain management (SCM) is the oversight of materials, information, and finances as they move in a process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer.
Telnet: Allows remote access to a computer/server.
Thin Client: A low-cost, centrally-managed computer devoid of CD-ROM players, diskette drives, and expansion slots.
Thin Server: A PC that contains just enough hardware and software to support a particular function that users can share in a network, such as access to files on a storage device, access to CD-ROM drives, printing, or Internet access.
TQM: Total Quality Management is the continuous or incremental improvement of existing business processes over time. This entails moderate risks as compared to BPR, which is typically high risk.
URL: Abbreviation of Uniform Resource Locator, the global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web.
Value Chain: A string of companies working together to satisfy market demands. The value chain typically consists of one or a few primary value (product or service) suppliers and many other suppliers that add on to the value that is ultimately presented to the buying public.
VAN: A value-added network (VAN) is a private network provider that is hired by a company to facilitate electronic data interchange (EDI) or provide other network services.
VC: Venture capital (VC) is funding invested, or available for investment, in an enterprise that offers the probability of profit along with the possibility of loss.
Vertical Market: A vertical market is a particular industry or group of enterprises in which similar products or services are developed and marketed using similar methods. Broad examples of vertical markets are: insurance, real estate, banking, heavy manufacturing, retail, transportation, hospitals, and government.
Viral Marketing: On the Internet, viral marketing is any marketing technique that induces Web sites or users to pass on a marketing message to other sites or users, creating a potentially exponential growth in the message's visibility and effect. One example of successful viral marketing is Hotmail, that promotes its service and its own advertisers' messages in every user's e-mail notes.
Virtual Community: A community of people sharing common interests, ideas, and feelings over the Internet or other collaborative networks.
Vortal: On the Web, a vortal (vertical industry portal) is a Web site that provides a gateway or portal to information related to a particular industry, such as health care, insurance, automobiles, or food manufacturing.
VPN: Short for virtual private network, a private network that is constructed by using public wires to connect nodes. For example, there are a number of systems that enable you to create networks using the Internet as the medium for transporting data. These systems use encryption and other security mechanisms to ensure that only authorised users can access the network and that the data cannot be intercepted.
W3C: The W3C is an industry consortium which seeks to promote standards for the evolution of the Web and interoperability between WWW products by producing specifications and reference software.
WAN: A WAN (wide area network) is a geographically dispersed telecommunications network
WAP: WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) is a specification for a set of communication protocol to standardise the way that wireless devices, such as cellular telephones and radio transceivers, can be used for Internet access, including e-mail, the World Wide Web, newsgroups, and Internet Relay Chat.
World Wide Web: Resources on the Internet that are using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol
XML: Short for Extensible Markup Language. It allows designers to create their own customised tags, enabling the definition, transmission, validation, and interpretation of data between applications and between organisations.

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