Buzzword decoder
Every term you'll hear from us or any other technology company, in English. Bookmark this one.
| What they say | What it means |
|---|---|
| The cloud | Someone else's computer, in a building with backup power and guards, that you rent a slice of. |
| SaaS | Software as a Service. Renting software monthly instead of buying it. |
| MSP | Managed Service Provider. A company that handles your technology for a monthly fee. Us. |
| CMS | Content Management System. The edit button on your website. |
| CRM | Customer Relationship Management. A customer list that remembers things. |
| ERP | Enterprise Resource Planning. The software that runs the boring middle of your business. |
| SEO | Search Engine Optimization. Work that helps you show up on Google. |
| Legacy system | Old software that still works and that everybody's a little afraid of. |
| Scalable | It won't fall over when you get busier. |
| Enterprise-grade | Built to the standard big companies use. Often also priced that way. |
| Migration | Moving your stuff from the old thing to the new thing. |
| Patching | Installing updates that close security holes. |
| Endpoint | A computer, laptop, or phone. |
| On-premises / on-prem | The computer is in your building, not rented. |
| Uptime | The percentage of time your stuff is working. |
| SLA | Service Level Agreement. A written promise about response times. |
| Vendor lock-in | When leaving your software company would cost so much you can't. |
| TCO | Total Cost of Ownership. The real cost including electricity, repairs, and downtime. |
| Open source | The code is public. Anyone can read it or take it over. |
| API | A way for two programs to talk to each other automatically. |
| Redundancy | A spare, so one failure doesn't stop you. |
| RBAC | Role-Based Access Control. Different staff see different things. |
| HIPAA | Federal rules about protecting patient health information. |
| PCI-DSS | Card industry rules about protecting credit card data. |
| Ransomware | A criminal locks up your files and demands payment. |
| Phishing | A fake email trying to trick someone into giving up a password. |
Heard something that isn't on this list? Call us at 281-699-2443 and we'll add it.