Glossary

A

  • Adaptable Solutions

    In an adaptable solution, up to 20% of the end solution can be adapted through customizations, extensions, integrations, or new customer-specific modules.

  • Agile Design Methodology

    Gartner defines Agile as a development approach that delivers software in increments by following the Manifesto for Agile Software Development principles.

  • AI Assisted Development (AIAD)

    AI-Assisted Development (AIAD) refers to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance and streamline the software development process. By integrating AI tools and techniques, developers can automate repetitive tasks, improve code quality, and accelerate the development lifecycle.

  • Air-Gapped Environment

    In simple terms, an air-gapped environment is a super-secure computer setup that's completely cut off from the internet and other external networks.

  • API (Application Programming Interface)

    An API (Application Programming Interface) is a mechanism for making data or capabilities from within an application available to other applications or services.APIs are published by developers who build applications, and consumed by others who want to use that data or service.

  • Application Portfolio Management

    Application portfolio refers to a collection of software applications that an organization uses to meet its varied business objectives, like improving operational efficiency, differentiating within the market, streamlining costs, or executing digital transformation.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    A general term that encompasses all autonomous technologies which generate outputs based on computer-generated pattern recognition. AI is the system of collecting and cleaning data sets, as well as the algorithmic processing and synthesis of that data. What is artificial intelligence in easy words?

  • Asynchronous Programming

    Asynchronous programming is a multithreaded model that’s most applicable to networking and communications. Asynchronous is a non-blocking architecture, which means it doesn’t block further execution while one or more operations are in progress.

  • Automation

    Automation improves processes that are already being offered. It leverages devices or software and relies on a series of rules written by business subject matter experts to accomplish tasks without any human intervention.

B

  • Back-End Development

    Refers to server-side elements of web development or software development, in contrast with the user-facing elements of front-end development. Think of everything that you see inside a web browser as the stage.

  • Business Technologist

    A business technologist is a professional who works outside of traditional IT departments. They focus on crafting innovative technological solutions and analytical capabilities tailored to internal and external business needs. What does business technologist do?

C

  • Channel Partner

    A channel partner is a company or individual that partners with a manufacturer or vendor to market and sell the manufacturer's products, services, or technologies.

  • Citizen Developer

    Citizen developers are business users with little to no coding experience who build applications with IT-approved technology. The concept of end-users creating their own solutions is not new.

  • Client Portal Software

    Client portal software is a secure, private platform that allows service providers, such as financial advisors and insurance agents, to offer clients access to sensitive financial information and tools.

  • Cloud Computing

    A method of storing, maintaining, and distributing digital resources remotely rather than on-premises; material that is accessed through the internet. While it doesn’t mean the data is up in the sky.

  • Cloud Migration

    Describes the process of moving files, data, and other digital resources from on-site servers to cloud infrastructure. Examples of popular cloud migration tools and services? AWS, Capgemini, Infosys are some companies that provide useful cloud migration services.

  • Cloud-Native

    You might be familiar with the “cloud,” the term of art for data storage over servers accessed remotely. “Cloud-native” applications, therefore are designed to work across the cloud both embedded in its architecture and facilitating cloud access.

  • Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS)

    COTS describes software that offers “one size fits all” default capabilities to organizations. In contrast, custom development or “bespoke software” is tailored specifically to the unique needs of an organization.  What is off-the-shelf software and what are some examples?

  • Composability

    Composability a business and IT philosophy. It refers to the ease and speed with which you can put together, rearrange, or upgrade various parts of a system, software, or process.

  • Containerization

    Containerization is a virtualization technique that focuses on packaging apps into portable computing environments to make development more flexible and streamlined.

  • Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)

    CI/CD is a software engineering method. Continuous integration (CI) automates code integration from multiple contributors into a single software project. Continuous delivery (CD) automatically deploys all code changes to a testing or production environment after the build stage.

  • Conversational UI

    Conversational UI (User Interface) refers to an interface that allows users to interact with digital systems in a natural, conversational manner, typically through text or voice.

  • CRUD

    The acronym stands for Create, Read, Update, and Delete—representing the four main operations performed on data. CRUD is a foundational concept in computer programming, databases, and application design. The process is applicable to relational database management system (RDBMSs) or NoSQL.

D

  • Democratization of Technology

    The democratization of technology means making technology tools easier to use so that more people can use them without needing advanced skills or training. What is an example of a democratized technology? WordPress and other CMS products are examples of tools that democratize technology.

  • Digital Dexterity

    is the ability to quickly learn and leverage new technologies to enhance productivity and drive business success.

  • Digital Ecosystems

    A digital ecosystem is a network of partners, technology resources, data, and customers.

  • Digital Execution

    Digital execution is taking your digital transformation strategy and implementing it across your entire business.

  • Digital Innovation

    At its core, digital innovation is the practice of implementing modern digital technology to solve business problems by optimizing processes, improving customer experiences, and delivering new business models.

  • Digital Maturity

    Digital Maturity is a key factor for successful digital transformation.

  • Digital Transformation

    Digital transformation is the strategic, ongoing practice of implementing new technologies and processes across all areas of an organization. Embracing this evolution helps organizations become more flexible, innovative, and efficient.

  • Digitization

    Digitization is the process of converting anything that’s in a hard copy to a digital format.

E

  • Enterprise Application Development

    Enterprise application development is the process of creating complex software applications that are designed to meet the specific needs of large organizations. These applications are typically robust, scalable, and capable of integrating with other enterprise systems.

F

  • Fintech

    The term, a portmanteau of finance and technology, reveals which two fields intersect in this emerging industry. Fintech organizations are financial institutions and startups that engage with AI, blockchain, data, and other digital technologies. What is an example of a fintech?

  • Fusion Teams

    Fusion teams are collaborative cross-functional teams made up of people with various digital talents, disciplines, and skill sets.

  • Future-Proofing

    Future-proofing means designing or building technology, systems, or products in a way that ensures they remain useful and effective as new technologies, trends, and needs emerge. The goal is to avoid making big, expensive changes later on by planning ahead now. Why Future-Proof Software?

G

  • Generative AI

    Refers to a type of artificial intelligence that involves content creation from training data and predictive models. Content is created when a prompt is entered. The output— which might be an image, music, text, code, or another form of content—is generated based on a corpus of other work.

H

  • HpaPaaS

    Application platform-as-a-service is a cloud service that offers development and deployment environments for application services. Add in tools for rapid development and delivery, and you have a high-productivity application platform-as-a-service (hpaPaaS).

  • Hybrid Cloud

    A hybrid cloud is a combination of public clouds, your private cloud, and your on-premises setup. All cloud services work together, share data and processes, and are managed in one computing environment.

  • Hyperautomation

    Refers to the rapid scale transformation of an organization with automation that increases efficiency. More specifically, the term tends to be used to describe the productivity gains that stem from workflow automation.

I

  • Independent Software Vendors (ISV)

    An Independent Software Vendor (ISV) is a business entity specializing in making and selling software, designed for mass or niche markets. This software is primarily focused on serving user needs in various industries, differing from in-house software developed by companies for their own use.

  • Industry 4.0

    Describes the era from the present into the near future, in which manufacturing has become turbocharged with robotics, embedded sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT), and other highly advanced automated systems. Industry 4.0 is also referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution or “4IR.

  • IT Governance

    IT governance is how an organization leverages IT solutions to support its enterprise. IT governance ensures that computers and internet and all things technology are managed internally in pursuit of a company’s mission and goals.

K

  • Kubernetes

    An open-source platform that manages “containerized” units to assist with running data consistently and resiliently across cloud-based services. Why is it used? Microservices like Kubernetes tend to provide more reliable, scalable solutions in contrast with monolithic architecture IT.

L

  • Legacy Application Modernization

    The process of updating obsolete and out-of-date systems to better serve an organization into the future. Organizations that have been in operation for extended periods often use applications with functionality that has eroded from its original purposes.

  • Low Code Mobile App Development

    Mobile Low-Code Development Platform is a type of software that provides a visual development environment to create mobile applications with minimal hand-coding.

  • Low-Code

    Low-code is an application development method that elevates coding from textual to visual.

M

  • Machine Learning

    An area of computing that begins with structured data as inputs, a model to train this data, and the discover of patterns in the data set, often to generate outputs based on these patterns. What is the difference between AI, ML, and DL?

  • Mission-Critical Application

    A mission-critical application is a software system vital to the core functions of an organization, where any disruption or failure can lead to significant financial, operational, or safety consequences.

  • Monolithic Architecture

    Monolithic architecture is a design where all parts of an application are bundled together into one cohesive unit. Essentially, everything—user interface, server-side logic, and database access—is tightly connected, making it easier to develop but harder to adapt as the system grows.

  • Multi-Cloud

    A multi-cloud strategy involves a combination of public clouds and/or private clouds. Sound familiar? Multi-clouds and hybrid clouds are often used interchangeably, but the strategies have a few key differences.

N

  • Neo-Bank

    Also known as “challenger banks,” Neo-Banks are fintech organizations that provide banking services online and typically have no brick-and-mortar locations. What are Neo-Banking examples?

  • No-Code

    No-code platforms use visual-based, drag-and-drop functionality to help you to create basic, but functional apps.

O

  • Omnichannel Strategy

    An omnichannel strategy integrates multiple customer touchpoints—such as online, in-store, and mobile—into a seamless experience. It ensures consistency across channels, allowing customers to switch between them without disruption. What is an example of an Omnichannel approach?

  • Open Source

    Open source is a decentralized software development framework that prioritizes collaboration and transparency. The source code to this software is open for the public to see and modify.

  • Operational Excellence

    is a business philosophy focused on consistently achieving high performance across all areas of an organization by optimizing processes, reducing waste, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

P

  • Point Solution

    A "point solution" in technology or business describes a specialized offering - it can be a piece of software, product, or tool designed to address one specific problem within an organization or enterprise. What is an example of a point solution?

  • Private Cloud

    A private cloud is an isolated deployment option that a single organization accesses and controls.

  • Product Canvas

    A product canvas is a planning tool that combines Agile methodologies and UX principles to help teams build products that provide great user experiences.

  • Public Cloud

    Public clouds run on a shared infrastructure that’s managed and maintained by a third-party cloud provider, like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

Q

  • Quantum Computing

    Refers to a suite of emerging technologies that engage with quantum mechanics. A signature unit of quantum computing is the “qubit” or “quantum bit.” A quantum computer can process data millions of times faster than the fastest supercomputers.  What is quantum technology in simple words?

R

  • Rapid Application Development

    The Rapid Application Development (RAD) model of software development emphasizes the user design cycle of prototyping, testing, and refining. Where the waterfall method is planned and rigid, RAD is flexible and responsive to user input.

  • Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)

    Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) is a hybrid approach in natural language processing (NLP) that combines retrieval-based methods with generative models to improve the accuracy and relevance of AI-generated responses.

  • Reusable Components

    Includes data, connectors, templates, and other resources stored in digital libraries that an organization can leverage across multiple applications. Reusable components, which are a key offering of low-code platforms, result in consistency when developing digital solutions.

  • Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

    RPA is the use of technology to automate repetitive business tasks that would otherwise be done manually. You can program virtual bots to perform the same repetitive actions that your human workers do, like filtering information, migrating data, or completing forms.

S

  • Scrum

    Scrum is an Agile team structure in product development. Scrum teams use an iterative and incremental approach to solving complex problems by working in short timeframes of about 2 weeks, also known as sprints.

  • Shadow IT

    Shadow IT is the use of unauthorized IT applications and services by employees in an organization. These tools are used to meet specific, immediate needs, bypassing formal IT approval and control processes. What are the risks associated with Shadow IT?

  • Smart Applications

    Application-based technology that utilizes sensors often to gather and analyze data. In contrast with smartphones — mobile phones with computer functions and internet connectivity — smart appliations are associated with smart devices and the Internet of Things.

  • Software as a Service (SaaS)

    SaaS, or Software as a Service, is a way of delivering software where everything happens in the cloud. Instead of installing programs on individual computers, you access them online—like streaming a movie rather than downloading it.

  • Software Complexity

    Software complexity refers to how difficult a software system is to understand, maintain, and modify. It arises from factors like intricate code, system interactions, and varying requirements, making it harder to manage over time. How to measure software system complexity?

  • Synchronous Programming

    Synchronous is known as a blocking architecture and is ideal for programming reactive systems. As a single-thread model, it follows a strict set of sequences, which means that operations are performed one at a time, in perfect order.

T

  • Technical Debt

    Technical debt is created when software development teams put speedy delivery ahead of optimal code quality. This is often intentional. The user may need functionality in a hurry, and so developers elect to deploy code that’s “good enough,” intending to fix it later.

  • Technology Stack

    Think of a “technology stack” like the personal Swiss army knife of all types of technologies, tools, programming languages, and systems needed to develop an application. If it’s a technology or tool that’s needed to build the product, then it’s part of the technology stack.

U

  • User Experience (UX)

    Are you having a good time on this website? (We hope so!) That’s what UX is all about: designing for the user. As a discipline, UX involves all the considerations around how humans engage with technology products.

  • User Interface (UI)

    Simply put, UI is where a user meets and engages with a technology. It’s the doorway to your digital experience. Elements of UI are typically hardware surfaces and display screens.  For example, the interface of a smartphone includes both hardware and software.

V

  • Vendor Lock-In

    Vendor lock-in occurs when various restrictions prevent a customer from choosing a new vendor, product, or service.

  • Version Control

    This is the process of saving prior versions of a source code while making updates to it. You can imagine it like one of those old zoetrope cylinders with each frame as the moment in time representing the progress that you have saved from the previous version.

W

  • WYSIWYG

    WYSIWYG (pronounced WIZ-E-WIG) is an abbreviated term for "What You See is What You Get". It describes an editing interface that shows the user how images and text appear on screen as they compose and revise the file. WYSIWYG interfaces are in contrast with editing interfaces that show code.