IT management

IT career paths

• What is an automation engineer and how do you become one?

  An automation engineer designs and develops autonomous systems to manage repetitive tasks and improve efficiency and productivity.

• What is emotional intelligence (EI)?

  Emotional intelligence (EI) is the area of cognitive ability that facilitates interpersonal behavior.

• What is an IT project manager?

  An IT project manager is a professional charged with overseeing the process of planning, executing and delegating responsibilities around an organization's information technology (IT) pursuits and goals.

IT Operations

Terms related to the processes and services implemented and managed by an organization’s information technology (IT) department. Topics covered include systems management, configuration management, API management and DevOps, as well as real-time performance monitoring and management.

• What is synthetic monitoring?

  Synthetic monitoring is a proactive monitoring approach that uses scripted simulations of user interactions to assess the performance and availability of websites, applications and services.

• What is IT automation? A complete guide for IT teams

  IT automation is the use of instructions to create a clear, consistent and repeatable process that replaces an IT professional's manual work in data centers and cloud deployments.

• What is IT operations (IT ops)?

  The term IT operations (IT ops) describes the many processes and services an IT department manages and maintains within an organization.

Personal computing

Terms related to personal computers, including definitions about computers sold as consumer products and words and phrases about laptops, tablets and smartphones.

• What is a uniform resource identifier (URI)?

  A uniform resource identifier (URI) is a character sequence that identifies a logical (abstract) or physical resource -- usually, but not always, connected to the internet.

• What is an initialization vector?

  An initialization vector (IV) is an arbitrary number that can be used with a secret key for data encryption to foil cyber attacks.

• Twitter

  Twitter is a free social networking site where users broadcast short posts known as tweets.

Project management

Terms related to project management, including definitions about project management methodologies and tools.

• What is a think tank?

  A think tank is an organization that gathers a group of interdisciplinary scholars to perform research around particular policies, issues or ideas.

• What is root cause analysis?

  Root cause analysis (RCA) is a method for understanding the underlying cause of an observed or experienced incident.

• What is cost management? Definition, steps and benefits

  Cost management is the process of planning and controlling a business budget. A good cost management system helps an organization estimate and allocate its budget.

Technical support

Terms related to computer fundamentals, including computer hardware definitions and words and phrases about software, operating systems, peripherals and troubleshooting.

• What is direct-attached storage (DAS) and how does it work?

  Direct-attached storage (DAS) is a type of data storage that is attached directly to a computer without going through a network.

• What is pipelining?

  Pipelining is the process of a computer processor executing computer instructions as separate stages.

• What is pharming?

  Pharming is a scamming practice in which malicious code is installed on a PC or server, misdirecting users to fraudulent websites without their knowledge or consent.