IT management

IT career paths

• What is a chief technology officer (CTO)?

  A chief technology officer (CTO) is a high-level executive who is responsible for overseeing an organization's strategic use of IT.

• What are soft skills?

  Soft skills are personal attributes that support situational awareness and enhance an individual's ability to get a job done.

• What is management information systems (MIS)?

  Management information systems (MIS) is a department within an enterprise responsible for controlling the hardware and software systems that the organization uses to make business-critical decisions.

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 are soft skills?

  Soft skills are personal attributes that support situational awareness and enhance an individual's ability to get a job done.

• What is total cost of ownership (TCO)?

  Total cost of ownership (TCO) is an estimation of the expenses associated with purchasing, deploying, managing, using and retiring IT assets, such as a product or piece of equipment.

• What is sustainability risk management (SRM)?

  Sustainability risk management (SRM) is a business strategy that aligns profit goals with a company's environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies.

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 COPE (corporate-owned, personally enabled)?

  COPE (corporate-owned, personally enabled) is a mobile device management model that allows employees to use corporate-owned mobile devices for specific types of personal use.

• What is a remote desktop and how does it work?

  A remote desktop is a program or an operating system feature that allows a user to connect to a computer in another location, see that computer's desktop and interact with it as if it were local.

• What is an executable file (EXE file)?

  An executable file (EXE file) is a computer file that contains an encoded sequence of instructions the system executes when the user clicks the file icon.

Project management

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

• What is a SWOT analysis? Definition, examples and how to

  SWOT analysis is a framework for identifying and analyzing an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

• What is a project charter? Definition and examples

  A project charter is a formal short document stating that a project exists and providing project managers with written authority to begin work.

• What is Lean management?

  Lean management is an approach to managing an organization that supports the concept of continuous improvement, a long-term approach to work that systematically seeks to achieve small, incremental changes in processes to improve efficiency and quality.

Technical support

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

• What is troubleshooting and why is it important?

  Troubleshooting is a systematic approach to problem-solving often used to find and correct issues with complex machines, electronics, computers and software systems.

• What is a remote desktop and how does it work?

  A remote desktop is a program or an operating system feature that allows a user to connect to a computer in another location, see that computer's desktop and interact with it as if it were local.

• What is total cost of ownership (TCO)?

  Total cost of ownership (TCO) is an estimation of the expenses associated with purchasing, deploying, managing, using and retiring IT assets, such as a product or piece of equipment.