IT management
Learn about the core elements of IT management, including operations, tech support and personal computing, as well as terms related to IT careers, certifications and project management.

Certifications
This glossary contains definitions related to IT Certifications.
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CompTIA Project+
CompTIA Project+ is the Computing Technology Industry Association's certification program designed to demonstrate a person has a validated understanding of and skills in project management.
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Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) is an information security certification developed by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, also known as (ISC)².
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cloud architect
A cloud architect is an IT professional who is responsible for overseeing a company's cloud computing strategy.
IT career paths
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software engineering
Software engineering is the process of developing, testing and deploying computer applications to solve real-world problems by adhering to a set of engineering principles and best practices.
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hard skills
Hard skills are specific abilities, capabilities and skill sets that an individual can possess and demonstrate in a measured way.
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cloud engineer
A cloud engineer is an IT professional responsible for any technological duties associated with cloud computing, including design, planning, management, maintenance and support.
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.
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service level indicator
A service level indicator (SLI) is a metric that indicates what measure of performance a customer is receiving at a given time.
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Virtual Machine Disk format (VMDK)
VMware Virtual Machine Disk format (VMDK) is a format specification for virtual machine (VM) disk image files.
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IT service management (ITSM)
IT service management (ITSM) is a general term that describes a strategic approach to design, deliver, manage and improve the way businesses use IT.
Personal computing
Terms related to personal computers, including definitions about computers sold as consumer products and words and phrases about laptops, tablets and smartphones.
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Apple AirDrop
Apple AirDrop is a native feature in iOS and macOS that lets users share data from one device to another on the same Wi-Fi network.
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Apple Bonjour
Apple Bonjour is a group of networking technologies designed to help devices and applications discover each other on the same network.
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death by PowerPoint
Death by PowerPoint is a phenomenon caused by the poor use of presentation software.
Project management
Terms related to project management, including definitions about project management methodologies and tools.
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project charter
A project charter is a formal short document that states a project exists and provides project managers with written authority to begin work.
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project constraint
A constraint in project management is any restriction that defines a project's limitations.
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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 in order 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.
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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.
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clock speed
Clock speed is the number of times a second that a circuit operates and is most associated with the central processing unit (CPU).
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defragmentation
Defragmentation is the process of locating the noncontiguous fragments of data into which a computer file may be divided as it is stored on a hard disk, and rearranging the fragments and restoring them into fewer fragments or into the whole file.