Understanding Tech Acronyms

If you are a subscriber to this blog, you know that each week we create content that aims to educate people about the value of managed services and the growing importance of information technology. We realize that every industry and many companies have their own internal acronyms, and as often as we try to remind ourselves of it, we sometimes forget that ‘outsiders’ don’t know what all those abbreviations stand for. We thought it would be useful to put together a glossary of some terms that we regularly use to ensure that you understand what we are referencing.

-aaS

Today, in IT as in other types of businesses, you are beginning to see things that once were the responsibility of an organization being outsourced to another company. These products are typically combined with others and delivered “as-a-service”. As costs continue to escalate, more “-aaS” businesses start. It allows businesses to get the core technology and consulting services they need at a price point that works for their budget.

BI

Business Intelligence is the strategy of tracking business metrics to find out more about the business. This allows for businesses to pivot to different plans, promoting revenue growth, smarter decision making, and more effective management of their business’ resources.

BYOD

Bring Your Own Device is a mobile device strategy where a business allows its workers to access business resources on their personal devices and be an overall productivity hub for the worker. This strategy demands that the business has a strong mobile device management platform, and that it adheres to industry best practices to protect a business’ network and data.

DoS

A Denial-of-Service attack (and sometimes, a DDoS, or Distributed-Denial-of-Service attack) is a popular cyberattack where hackers overwhelm a business’ network with traffic, forcing the network, or at least the network defenses, to fail.

EOL

When you see “EOL”, you are seeing a piece of software that is being retired. It stands for “end of life” and it means that the software title will no longer be getting updates, patches, and upgrades, making it a security and privacy risk.

IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of this generation’s largest contributions. By making products “smart”, more can be done, systems last longer, and are more reliable than before. The problem is that products are being rushed to market to fill demand and they are becoming more trouble than they are worth when it comes to keeping them secure. Don’t get us wrong, there is value in using IoT devices, but any business will want to take precautions to secure them.

LAN

A LAN, or a Local Area Network, is any network that is connected by cables. Hardware such as servers, workstations, network switches, printers, copiers, and more are connected to this type of network.

MFA (also referred to as 2FA)

These days, you have to be diligent about the type of security you have to protect your important digital assets. MFA, or multi-factor authentication, makes accounts a little more secure by introducing a randomized passcode tied to an individual.

SSL

A Secure Sockets Layer is a protocol for sending encrypted data. Used to keep data safe when sending it to outside servers and when it is sent back, the SSL is an essential tool used for online commerce.

UPS

Power surges can completely fry the components of a server, workstation, or any other computer that’s plugged in. An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is a power strip that comes equipped with its own battery system. If the power goes out or gets wonky, the UPS will take over to give you time to shut down your computers and avoid hardware failure.

VM

The virtual machine is an important part of many business’ computing infrastructures. Virtual machines can reduce the computing resources needed to run software by virtualizing all of the hardware or software. It can significantly cut computing costs when used across an organization.

VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol is a full-featured telephone system that is broadcasted through the Internet as opposed to traditional phone lines. VoIP providers offer a range of business tools such as telephone services, instant messaging, text messaging, and voice and video conferencing options.

VPN

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a tool to transmit data securely over any Internet connection. Using encryption, the VPN user can rely that their data won’t be intercepted.

WAN

WAN, or wide-area networks, are used by organizations that have multiple locations over a wider area by connecting multiple small networks into one larger network.

To learn more about these solutions, and many others that we can help you to implement, reach out to Ashton Technology Solutions at 216 397-4080.