IT management

IT career paths

• What is a CISO as a service (CISOaaS)?

  CISO as a service, or CISOaaS, is the outsourcing of CISO (chief information security officer) and information security leadership responsibilities to a third-party provider.

• What is a chief product officer (CPO)?

  A chief product officer (CPO) is a C-level executive responsible for the overall product strategy, development, and performance within an organization.

• What is a change agent (agent of change)?

  A change agent, or agent of change, is someone who promotes change and enables it to happen within any group or organization.

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 green networking?

  Green networking is the practice of selecting energy-efficient networking technologies and products to minimize resource use whenever possible.

• What is a power distribution unit (PDU)?

  A power distribution unit (PDU) is a device for controlling data center electrical power.

• What is change control?

  Change control is a systematic approach that includes the various steps needed to process changes made to a product or system.

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 the domain name system (DNS)?

  The domain name system (DNS) is a naming database in which internet domain names are located and translated into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

• What is a host (in computing)?

  A host is a computer or other device that communicates with other hosts on a network.

• What is mobile computing?

  Mobile computing refers to the set of IT technologies, products, services and operational strategies and procedures that enable end users to access computation, information and related resources and capabilities while mobile.

Project management

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

• What is a procurement plan?

  A procurement plan -- also called a procurement management plan -- is a document that is used to manage the process of finding and selecting a vendor.

• What is Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)?

  The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a document containing standard terminology, best practices and process guidelines around project management as defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI).

• What is change control?

  Change control is a systematic approach that includes the various steps needed to process changes made to a product or system.

Technical support

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

• What is an application support engineer (ASE)?

  An application support engineer (ASE) is an IT professional who is responsible for troubleshooting the software applications a company uses and ensuring that help desk tickets are resolved in a timely fashion.

• What is a host (in computing)?

  A host is a computer or other device that communicates with other hosts on a network.

• What is the blue screen of death (BSOD)?

  The blue screen of death (BSOD) -- also known as a stop error screen, blue screen error, fatal error or bugcheck -- is a critical error screen that can be displayed by Microsoft Windows operating systems (OSes).